Parent posts corrections to grammar in ‘error filled’ school union letter

‘Some of this could have been fixed by clicking on the squiggly blue line in Word. I’m embarrassed for them’

A letter from the president of a Virginia teachers union arguing for more stringent measures to stem the flow of Covid-19 was mocked on Twitter for its many grammatical errors.

Parent Ellen Gallery marked up the letter and posted the heavily corrected version on Twitter, writing: “Hey [Virginia Education Association], are you going to send out more of these grammar worksheets over break? My kids and I had a great time spotting errors! Did we find them all?”

Ms Gallery marked up about 20 errors in the letter sent by Arlington Education Association President Ingrid Gant to Arlington Schools Superintendent Dr Francisco Duran, calling for more on-site Covid tests to be provided amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the virus.

Ms Gant argued that classes shouldn’t resume as planned in January until the schools’ testing capabilities are improved.

According to data collected by The New York Times, Virginia saw 13,500 new cases on 30 December alone, bringing the seven-day average of new cases to 8,617. Arlington County saw 633 new cases on that day, with the seven-day average in the area reaching 424.

Ms Gant argued in her letter that students eating lunch inside would become a “super-spreader” event, writing that teachers would have to make the “ultimate sacrifice” as cases are on the rise.

“On behalf of the members of the Arlington Education Association, this dire expression lends great concerns for Arlington Public Schools return plans for January 3rd, 2022,” the letter began.

“The fire departments in are region are exemplifying domino outbreaks as well,” she added, mixing up “are” and “our”.

“My kids couldn’t write small enough to correct this letter but we shared some laughs and created this. I’d recently taught the [six-year-old] about homophones, so the are/our mistake really cracked him up,” Ms Gallery tweeted.

Other Twitter users were quick to join in the mockery. “Some of this could have been fixed by clicking on the squiggly blue line in Word. I’m embarrassed for them,” Jaime Marie wrote.

“The grammar is appalling. So is the level of whining,” another user added.

“People insist that these are the best schools in the nation. Insanity,” a third said.

The Independent has reached out to the Arlington Education Association for comment.

The US is in the middle of a spike in cases, with more than 582,000 cases being recorded on 30 December and the seven-day average reaching almost 347,000. That’s up from a seven-day average of almost 73,000 cases on 27 November.

The number of deaths has not seen the same increase as the number of cases, with slightly more than 1,400 deaths being reported on 30 December, when the seven-day average stood at 1,276 deaths.