Are you sending your kids to school next month?

[DisneyJamieCA]

It is ironic but they have different functions. Schools are places to educate young people whereas the school board functions to make decisions. If the school board was comprised of young people then I’d probably think it was a head scratcher.

Then maybe a better comparison is it not being safe for adult board members to be together in person to make the decision about it being safe to send adult teaches back into schools.

Obviously there is more to be considered in opening schools and they do have to account for the well being of the students, but it does make it seem like teaches are expendable.

 

[SaintsManiac]

So our libraries just closed down due to staff testing positive. Not a good sign.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Rumor has it our city’s largest district (and the one my high schoolers are in), will announce today 100% distance learning through winter break.

 

[linzjane88]

I am a nurse and being the temp taker/door greeter at the hospital I work at today and a teenager and his dad came in. Dad had no mask, he had a mask but pulled down to his chin. I scanned their temps and asked if they had any Covid symptoms. Teen son blatantly gives a mocking 'your so stupid' laugh, rolls his eyes, and says "no"and dad stays silent, not answering my question or acknowledging the little brat. .

Maybe, Dad, since this is a hospital and we are in the middle of a pandemic you might use this as a teaching moment to your son to be A) respectful and B) a good human. I would smack my kid to next week if they gave an adult that attitude!

To all the middle and high school teachers out there and on this thread: I am sorry. I feel like you will need some wine to survive this year!

 

[lifesavacation]

Then maybe a better comparison is it not being safe for adult board members to be together in person to make the decision about it being safe to send adult teaches back into schools.

Obviously there is more to be considered in opening schools and they do have to account for the well being of the students, but it does make it seem like teaches are expendable.

I agree. I see it as a choice between the kids or the teachers and parents. IMHO, someone gets sacrificed. That’s the choice that school boards have to make.

 

[palavra]

Curious question, for those that think schools should remain closed in the fall for virus, how do you expect families to survive this? Many on these boards are from quite a privileged socio-economic position to be able to homeschool or stay home with kids who do distance learning.

What do families who are scraping by with two incomes do if there’s no school? Most people are back to work full swing at this point in a lot of places. Even wfh offices are expecting more productive work and are less flexible about people trying to work and provide child care.

I’ve seen a lot of outrage over the fact that Florida schools are required to be open for all students. However, I don’t really know what that alternative is. Closing schools will bankrupt families who need to working parents. Pretty much all benefits related to covid are ending in a few weeks and moratoriums on evictions are expiring, there’s so many people already in a hole from all this.

This is a societal problem. Why should schools have anything to do with your job? School teachers aren't babysitters. Two working parents will have to work it out with their jobs. When you choose to have kids, it is your responsibility to take care of them.

 

[gwynne]

I agree. I see it as a choice between the kids or the teachers and parents. IMHO, someone gets sacrificed. That’s the choice that school boards have to make.

I don't think school boards should be opting to sacrifice anyone.
Looking out for the health and safety of students and staff should be their job one.

 

[Lumpy1106]

This is a societal problem. Why should schools have anything to do with your job? School teachers aren't babysitters. Two working parents will have to work it out with their jobs. When you choose to have kids, it is your responsibility to take care of them.

Sorry, but I find that to be incredibly dismissive and not very helpful. My wife and I are LUCKY enough to both have jobs where our employers allow us to work from home AND have set "care of kids" to be the primary decider of who gets to continue working from home and who has to come back into the office to work. I do not take that lightly though; I know there are many who are not so lucky and are now having to decide between working or caring for and EDUCATING their kids. They did factor in the kids in school during the school day and now, thanks to COVID, that is a big problem. You know, it wasn't all that long ago when parents would have been chided if they kept their kids home for some reason (other than illness of course).

Also, I keep hearing, "well now parents will know how hard it is to teach kids", to which I have to say, given what remote learning is so far, it's not all that difficult. It is that, ON TOP OF my full-time job that I find difficult.

 

[palavra]

Sorry, but I find that to be incredibly dismissive and not very helpful. My wife and I are LUCKY enough to both have jobs where our employers allow us to work from home AND have set "care of kids" to be the primary decider of who gets to continue working from home and who has to come back into the office to work. I do not take that lightly though; I know there are many who are not so lucky and are now having to decide between working or caring for and EDUCATING their kids. They did factor in the kids in school during the school day and now, thanks to COVID, that is a big problem. You know, it wasn't all that long ago when parents would have been chided if they kept their kids home for some reason (other than illness of course).

Also, I keep hearing, "well now parents will know how hard it is to teach kids", to which I have to say, given what remote learning is so far, it's not all that difficult. It is that, ON TOP OF my full-time job that I find difficult.

That is the point. Did you read the whole thing? yes, it is incredibly dismissive, but so is telling teachers to suck it up or quit. Things have changed in our world. We have a new normal for now. Why should teachers be sacrificed for the economy any more than people in other professions are?

 

[amylevan]

I don’t know if some of you only see in black-and-white, or if that’s just the way your replies on here come across. (And I guess I’m including Facebook and other social media responses, because I get off Facebook and just want to shake my head by some people’s posts…). And don’t get me started on the current post that has gone viral amongst my locals with INCORRECT MATH!!!!

It’s not a simple choice of choosing who’s life is more valuable or who to put in jeopardy, or if we have virtual meetings for school board meetings we should have virtual school days. It’s a complicated choice full of evaluating risk versus benefit. There is no straight up, if we open schools everyone is going to get sick, and everyone dies. It is a conversation about what are the risks if we open up, how can we mitigate that risk, and when does the risk outweigh the benefits? When is the risk low enough that the benefits outweigh the risk? Even pre-Covid days, there was some amount of risk involved in sending your child to school. Whether you’re talking flu, school shootings, sexual abuse, bullying, there was always some risk in sending your child to school. In fact there is some risk in every choice you make whether you admit it or not.

 

[penn19]

Philadelphia is doing a hybrid model. A mix of in person and virtual. Yet they’ve cancelled all large public gatherings through March 2021.

But the Mayor says you can still protest.

 

[DLgal]

As of yesterday, we were officially notified that we WIlL be able to send our special education students back to school full time! I am so relieved! My kids will go back Aug 20. They are in high school and at this time, the only population that will be back 5 days a week in person are the special education students. The rest have to choose from the 3 options: 100% online via a Virtual Academy; Hybrid (2 days a week on person on a regular schedule and 3 days distance learning); Blended Learning (some classes in person, some classes through the Virtual Academy).

 

[lifesavacation]

I don't think school boards should be opting to sacrifice anyone.
Looking out for the health and safety of students and staff should be their job one.

There isn’t a solution which doesn’t sacrifice someone. There’s 16 pages here of people going back and forth on whether in-person school can be done safely and/or whether virtual school can be done effectively.

 

[Lumpy1106]

That is the point. Did you read the whole thing? yes, it is incredibly dismissive, but so is telling teachers to suck it up or quit. Things have changed in our world. We have a new normal for now. Why should teachers be sacrificed for the economy any more than people in other professions are?

OK, well, not an option where I am. We are all remote learning now. Here's the problem I have with that; let's ignore science for a minute and say the worst fear is right, everyone gets sick if schools open (evidence is HEAVILY stacked against this, but so be it). Remote learning was an unmitigated disaster in the Spring - really not worth even doing. OK, so now the school board has taken most of the summer sending out surveys and pretending they care what parents think. We OVERWHELMINGLY responded telling it like it was; remote learning was a unmitigated failure, thank you no, we want our kids back in school. The same survey was sent to the kids, same results. Now, here we are, middle of July, and do you think they spent ANY amount of time actually fixing remote learning? No way. It's going to be just as bad in the Fall - there is no question about that. So why bother with the survey then? Why waste any time on that? And if the experience is not better, why even bother with the remote learning? IT WAS TERRIBLE!! Think of it this way; say they were going to open the schools - why would they care what we thought of how CLOSING the schools in Spring went? Everyone agreed that it sucked. You don't need a survey for that.

This just leaves everyone questioning motives. Is the decision to keep schools closed based on science (where's the data?) or is it based on the whims of the teacher's Union? If schools are closed, why hasn't the school budget changed one bit? Where is the reassurance that improvements are being made to remote learning? I could go on. It just makes it look like the schools have no interest in the well-being of the kids, and really, try and convince me they do. I'm just not seeing it.

 

[gwynne]

There isn’t a solution which doesn’t sacrifice someone. There’s 16 pages here of people going back and forth on whether in-person school can be done safely and/or whether virtual school can be done effectively.

Lots of opinions, that's the DIS.
It may be that some districts are going to find planned sacrifice ethical, but there will be others that won't.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Of 1,400 Israelis diagnosed with COVID-19 last month, 657 (47 percent) were infected in schools. Now 2,026 students, teachers, and staff have it, and 28,147 are quarantined.

These were schools that were using masks and social distancing.

 

[palavra]

OK, well, not an option where I am. We are all remote learning now. Here's the problem I have with that; let's ignore science for a minute and say the worst fear is right, everyone gets sick if schools open (evidence is HEAVILY stacked against this, but so be it). Remote learning was an unmitigated disaster in the Spring - really not worth even doing. OK, so now the school board has taken most of the summer sending out surveys and pretending they care what parents think. We OVERWHELMINGLY responded telling it like it was; remote learning was a unmitigated failure, thank you no, we want our kids back in school. The same survey was sent to the kids, same results. Now, here we are, middle of July, and do you think they spent ANY amount of time actually fixing remote learning? No way. It's going to be just as bad in the Fall - there is no question about that. So why bother with the survey then? Why waste any time on that? And if the experience is not better, why even bother with the remote learning? IT WAS TERRIBLE!! Think of it this way; say they were going to open the schools - why would they care what we thought of how CLOSING the schools in Spring went? Everyone agreed that it sucked. You don't need a survey for that.

This just leaves everyone questioning motives. Is the decision to keep schools closed based on science (where's the data?) or is it based on the whims of the teacher's Union? If schools are closed, why hasn't the school budget changed one bit? Where is the reassurance that improvements are being made to remote learning? I could go on. It just makes it look like the schools have no interest in the well-being of the kids, and really, try and convince me they do. I'm just not seeing it.

Remote learning in the spring was a disaster because it was an emergency procedure with no time to prepare. Teachers are good at what they do. Given time over the summer, teachers can and will provide remote learning opportunities that will not be disastrous.

As to your scientific information, let's just say, I disagree. Remember that opening schools is not just about the students. Many adults work in schools. Some of those adults are older with health problems and some have people at home who are at high risk. Are potential deaths worth that risk?

In the interest of disclosure, I am a teacher, but I have been out of the classroom for several years. I teach virtual school (high school English), and I can say with confidence that remote learning can be well done and provide excellent learning opportunities for many students.

 

[palavra]

Lots of opinions, that's the DIS.
It may be that some districts are going to find planned sacrifice ethical, but there will be others that won't.

True, however, some people do have more facts and experience to back up their opinions

 

[quandrea]

Sorry, but I find that to be incredibly dismissive and not very helpful. My wife and I are LUCKY enough to both have jobs where our employers allow us to work from home AND have set "care of kids" to be the primary decider of who gets to continue working from home and who has to come back into the office to work. I do not take that lightly though; I know there are many who are not so lucky and are now having to decide between working or caring for and EDUCATING their kids. They did factor in the kids in school during the school day and now, thanks to COVID, that is a big problem. You know, it wasn't all that long ago when parents would have been chided if they kept their kids home for some reason (other than illness of course).

Also, I keep hearing, "well now parents will know how hard it is to teach kids", to which I have to say, given what remote learning is so far, it's not all that difficult. It is that, ON TOP OF my full-time job that I find difficult.

@palavra said it’s a societal problem. If ever we were going to reconsider the two parent income model, now is the time. If one parent was home, this would be a non issue. Schools would not feel the pressure to open because the kids would already be taken care of by a parent. People will scream that it can’t be done, but it can be done.

 

[quandrea]

In the interest of disclosure, I am a teacher, but I have been out of the classroom for several years. I teach virtual school (high school English), and I can say with confidence that remote learning can be well done and provide excellent learning opportunities for many students.

Agreed. My daughter finds the online classes she takes far superior to the in class counterparts.