A lot of teachers and their families took me up on it and sent in some thoughtful notes.

Here's what they said.

There's no time for hate mail

I was kind of flip in asking them to send in hate mail and, while one person told me to "go to hell you damn fool," several people made a point to say what they were writing was not "hate mail."

Barbara Cole, a nurse who wrote in saying health care workers have a much different responsibility than teachers, said her message was "not hate mail! We haven't the time for that. Wear the mask."

Schools are not like hospitals

A woman who described herself as an essential worker in a hospital said there's a big difference between a school and a hospital.

Please do not "shame" the teachers.

As an essential worker in a hospital ... I see where you are going with your argument.

But, the health care arena is totally different from school. We do NOT encounter large groups of patients as these teachers will be encountering large groups of children in class.

Kelly Crite is a retired junior kindergarten director:

I wish you would've highighted the fact that schools do have a safe option, albeit imperfect. Virtual learning is available for students and it is obviously the safer option. This type of learning also stops the spread of the virus, which in my humble opinion is the current priority goal.

Nurses and doctors cannot "virtually" treat the sickest patients. Walmart employees cannot "virtually" restock shelves or sanitize stores.

Another woman said school is not essential to life in the way health care and groceries are, and that people should patiently wait a few months.

School isn't essential in a life or death situation, which we ARE in. To demand teachers risk their lives because "it's time" and because others are truly essential to LIFE, is wrong. We will need all these teachers to be alive and well and ready to do everything for our kids, WHEN IT IT SAFE FOR THEM AND THE STUDENTS!

There are plenty of Americans who would debate her on this point.

Schools are not like grocery stores

This is from a man who wrote in from north of Atlanta and asked not to be identified:

The analogy of teachers vs. grocery store workers is also flawed -- stocking shelves and moving people through a register line one by one is hardly the same as moving 1,000 children through a crowded hallway or being forced into a room with 30 of their germy little hands, noses and mouths. Teachers are generally older and have greater health issues than other essential services professions.

I'm a teacher, and my district is engaged in a group hallucination right now, fantasizing that we can safely cram thousands teenagers into a building where they will all social distance, wash their hands and wear masks. As we've already seen in dozens of photos from around the country just in the past week, it ain't happening. I for one will not be singing the school fight song with my last, wheezing breaths, and