Glen Brown taught for many years in Illinois public schools.
This Retired Teacher’s Concerns
This is a letter to retired teachers who knowingly disregard the current crisis that teachers confront this fall and most likely next spring because of the dangerous Covid-19 pandemic.
Let me begin by asking them a few questions:
Where is your concern for current teachers (who, by the way, are funding your pension)? Have you forgotten or lost your love and respect for what teachers do each day? Is it because of your callous self-absorption or self-regard, or is it your indolence and complicity that make you uninterested, disinterested or indifferent?
I want to know where is your protest against the dangers of reopening schools in a pandemic? Where is your outrage? Where is your moral courage? Where is your sensibility and compassion? Where is your sense of community and sense of duty? Where is your responsibility and solidarity with today’s teachers?
I want to believe it is not because you are just too damn busy enjoying your retirement to care about the prevailing and serious quandary that current teachers contend with right now.
Of course, I presume many of you could have health issues, vulnerabilities, or other responsibilities; nevertheless, many working teachers have medical problems, susceptibilities, and other obligations as well.
Now, imagine you are a teacher today.
You are afraid that you cannot teach effectively because you are afraid: You are afraid of contracting the coronavirus and infecting your family and others. You are afraid of your students contracting the coronavirus and infecting their families. You are afraid for students who ride buses and for bus drivers who bring them to school and home each day.
You are afraid that frequent hand-washing is impossible for students to do throughout the entire day. You are afraid there is not enough space in your classroom for proper distancing. You are afraid social distancing and wearing cloth masks for hours is impossible for students. You are afraid of students eating lunches without masks, passing in hallways, and congregating in bathrooms or by their lockers. You are afraid your students cannot safely “socialize” in a pandemic despite the irrational push to send them to school. You are afraid some parents will undermine your safety concerns (“This pandemic is a political hoax”).
You are afraid of airborne transmission of the coronavirus that thrives indoors, especially in closed spaces. You are afraid the windows cannot be opened or will not be opened in inclement weather. You are afraid your school’s ventilation system is antiquated or poor (where “air is not properly filtered, diluted and exchanged”); that the HVAC system has not been upgraded and will easily spread the coronavirus. You are afraid that every surface in your school will not be sanitized every day.
You are afraid your school will have insufficient Personal Protective Equipment to keep everyone healthy and safe, such as portable HEPA air purifiers for each room, N-95 masks, Nitrile gloves, face shields, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizers…
You are afraid you will not be able to tell the difference between the symptoms of the coronavirus and the flu, or the difference between the coronavirus and the common cold, or the difference between the coronavirus and common allergies. You are afraid of asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus.
You are afraid your school cannot guarantee everyone’s health and safety through reliable and consistent testing and contact tracing. You are afraid administrators and the school board lack the expertise to determine health and safety measures for students, teachers and staff.
You are afraid of airborne transmission of the coronavirus that thrives indoors, especially in closed spaces. You are afraid the windows cannot be opened or will not be opened in inclement weather. You are afraid your school’s ventilation system is antiquated or poor (where “air is not properly filtered, diluted and exchanged”); that the HVAC system has not been upgraded and will easily spread the coronavirus. You are afraid that every surface in your school will not be sanitized every day.
You are afraid your school will have insufficient Personal Protective Equipment to keep everyone healthy and safe, such as portable HEPA air purifiers for each room, N-95 masks, Nitrile gloves, face shields, Clorox wipes, hand sanitizers…
You are afraid you will not be able to tell the difference between the symptoms of the coronavirus and the flu, or the difference between the coronavirus and the common cold, or the difference between the coronavirus and common allergies. You are afraid of asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus.
You are afraid your school cannot guarantee everyone’s health and safety through reliable and consistent testing and contact tracing. You are afraid administrators and the school board lack the expertise to determine health and safety measures for students, teachers and staff.
You are afraid of the blatant incompetence of some of your administrators, the risky agenda of the school board, and the selfish priorities of many parents in your school district. You are afraid for your students’ lives. You are afraid of dying needlessly for the U.S economy.
You would be afraid too.
Until this country has a unified and coherent federal, state and local strategy; until the federal government increases its funding for school health and safety for all schools across this nation; until there is federal funding for parents to assist with their at-home childcare and technology and federal funding to feed disadvantaged children; until business entrepreneurs and the Trump administration (and not the schools!) solve the false choice they have created for parents of school-age children—all schools across this nation should open only on online this fall and not until this pandemic is totally under control!
Furthermore, until the morons among us stop spreading misinformation and conspiracies because of their own gullibility and ignorance; until the Creons among us cease their stubbornness and spitefulness; until the pathological narcissists among us end their gas-lighting, this unabated coronavirus will continue to proliferate, and thousands of Americans will die.
-Glen Brown
Retired Teacher
Diane Ravitch's blog 
GREAT READ! FAB ADVISE.
Thank you, Retired Teacher Glen Brown.
About 1 in 20 people is infected with Covid-19. BEWARE: wear a mask and social distance … plus use disinfectant.
America is sure #1 and no country wants us. We made it! 😱
that tRump needs to GO.
From Leonard Pitts …
Commentary
Donald Trump: ‘Nobody likes me’
“Nobody likes me.” – Donald Trump “Truth or Consequences” is the name of a town in New Mexico and a game show dating from the 1940s. But it’s also one of the primal laws of existence. Where an important truth is denied, consequences follow.
So none of us can be surprised at the state of the union after seven months of Donald Trump’s lies, alibis and magical thinking in the face of one of the worst public health crises in history. More than 150,000 of us are dead, the U.S. economy just endured its worst quarter on record and there is no sign the disaster is going to abate any time soon.
To the contrary, the federal government is adding to the list of “red zone” states – i.e., states where the COVID-19 infection rate continues to climb. Twentyone states – nearly half the country – now make the list, including Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Mississippi.
And it should be lost on none of us that the “red zone” states are also mostly red states. Nineteen of the 21 – California and Nevada are the outliers – went for Trump in 2016. Red states, not to put too fine a point on it, are those we’d expect to be most susceptible to his lies, alibis and magical thinking – and most resistant to masks and social distancing.
Again, this is no surprise. As has been noted repeatedly in this space, truth doesn’t care about your feelings. Unfortunately, Trump doesn’t care about truth, so on behalf of 330 million of us, he chose consequences instead. And this country will be years in recovering, if it ever does.
All of which lends to a sense of astonishment at the morose monologue quoted above. It came during a recent news conference, called ostensibly to provide an update on the nation’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic. But the briefing also offered a squirm-inducing glimpse into Trump’s fragile psyche as he ruminated over the fact that Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the face of his coronavirus task force, is more popular than he is.
“It sort of is curious,” Trump said. “A man works for us and yet they’re highly thought of and nobody likes me. It can only be my personality.” And Lord, what to say about that?
It was pathetic, the miserableness of an unloved boy poking through the braggadocio of a 74-year-old man.
It was amazing, this most reality-resistant of men publicly conceding this most humiliating of facts.
It was sickening, 150,000 people dead, the nation in chaos, and yet, he can’t see beyond his own envy.
And it was revealing, testament to a failure of self awareness more epic than Greek tragedy.
Consider that shortly before the briefing, Trump retweeted the crackpot theories of some woman who claims, despite expert consensus to the contrary, that hydroxychloroquine can cure COVID-19. Mind you, she also believes doctors use alien DNA to treat patients, and researchers are creating a vaccine to stop people from being religious.
Called on his decision to amplify this woman, Trump insisted she is “very respected.” And also that “I know nothing about her.” Yet he muses that “nobody” likes him and it must be his “personality”?
Well, yeah. That, his imbecility and his utter inability to feel – or even fake – compassion for other human beings.
“Nobody likes me.” Boo hoo.
He denied the truth, and that’s one of the consequences. Here are some of the others: People are sick, people are dying, people are losing their homes, people are losing their businesses, the country is unraveling. So Trump’s operatic self-pity is a bridge way too far.
If anyone has compassion to spend, there are 330 million people who deserve it more.
Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald.
leONARd PiTTs JR.
McClatchy Newspapers
If schools across the nation reopen, soon the entire country will be a red zone. It’s freaking inevitable.
Without a doubt, Bob.
Word has it that closing the schools early (at least in those states that were smart enough to do so, & as early as the governors knew, given the ignoramus in the WH{it}), greatly prevented further spread & even greater death tolls.
Several school districts in IL had school board meetings tonight, & a number (if not all of them) decided to go back to remote learning. A suburban high school district nearby–with two high schools in two suburbs–had decided, early on, to stick to remote learning. Then the board changed course, reverting to the hybrid model. Just tonight, I’d heard that they once again decided to go remote. Smart move. These two suburbs have had a goodly number of covid-19 positives, as well as deaths, in part as there are many assisted living facilities in these two ‘burbs. Elderly residents became ill early on, & I had been wondering if, before the March shutdown, families w/school-aged kids had been visiting the grandparents.
& now look what is happening–yet again–see my comments below at 7:12 PM, & carolmalaysia’s at 9:41 PM.
Dear Mr. Glen Brown,
I am a retired teacher from the Teachers Retirement System of Illinois. I have been protesting regularly to my Governor Holcomb [R-IN] and to my state Senator Niemeyer [R-IN] and Representative Chyung [D-IN]. I’ve protested so many times about the poor treatment of public school teachers that they all are probably sick of reading my name ONE MORE TIME.
Please do not assume that because I am retired that I don’t care. I have been also sending my beliefs [opening schools too early during a pandemic] to my political leaders and Trump friends and others who think like I do, hoping to confirm their beliefs into even stronger knowledge of the truth. I fear terribly for what will happen to our school children and any adult who is inside public schools.
One child dying and any adult dying is TOO MANY. I’m sick of the horrors that are being put upon schools that have been underfunded for years. There is no such thing as a school that can open safely when class sizes are huge. Busses can’t handle 6 feet apart and young children will never keep on a mask all day. You have mentioned all the reasons that schools shouldn’t open.
You know exactly what is wrong and I salute you for understanding what is happening during the time of extreme crisis due to NO leadership on COVID-19.
Don’t kick retired teachers. I believe that it is my job to protest loudly since nobody can fire me for saying what I think.
Dear Carol:
My letter specifically states, “This is a letter to retired teachers who knowingly disregard the current crisis that teachers confront this fall and most likely next spring because of the dangerous Covid-19 pandemic.”
Of course, I know there are teachers who are caring activists. I have worked with them since retirement. I commend you for being an activist.
Respectfully,
Glen
Dear Mr Brown,
Your clause, “… who knowingly disregard …” coming immediately after “retired teachers”, implies that all retired teachers do “knowingly disregard”.
I kind of figured that, Glen. Obviously the regulars here are noisy & do a lot of communicating w/their legislators. But I related immediately– are retired teachers just some “silent majority” à la Nixon? Why aren’t we hearing from them, like, in the press? (Or is it just that the press doesn’t ask us…) Maybe we need a special division of the AARP. Or maybe we can be a subdivision of NPE!
Dear Glen Brown,
Thank you for getting back to me. I have been protesting for years and have a stack of protest signs against one wall in my guest bedroom. I do write letters to the editor of a newspaper in my area.
I appreciate your understanding of what is wrong with the current thinking put out by Trump and the GOP.
One district near where I live just announced that it would be starting school by doing online teaching. I sent this to a Trump supporter who said that was a bad decision. She is a retired teacher. So, I have to agree with you that not all retired teachers are working to make things better for public schools.
I am deeply worried about the damage that will happen once schools open up for person to person instruction. Most schools closed down in March and the situation now in the U.S. is much worse than it was in March. Opening up too soon will be a disaster.
Blindly following Trump doesn’t make any sense.
Respectfully back,
Carol
I had much the same reaction to this piece. It is time to VENT not at Retired Teachers but at the big businesses pushing politicians to place TEACHERS in harm’s way no matter what. Student lives are also being played with fast and dirty. Aim this Glen Brown megaphone in a different direction.
Please read the real deal on reopening from blogger Mercedes Schnieder. Read it now. She gives you a brilliant word picture of all the decisions she is making to protect herself and students in her classroom, one with terrible ventilation, too many desks for required social distancing, no storage for the extra desks. This is not to be missed.
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2020/08/02/the-covid-classroom-anything-but-normal/
Hello everyone,
This was a fantastic post by Mercedes. I am thinking the same things and more.
And I would add that my constant and first priority will be my safety and the safety of those around me (to the best of my ability). Sorry, but it’s not going to be teaching.
Agreed. This is a great post. As you say, “the real deal.”
I very much second MSs sentiments. I feel fortunate for two reasons: AC will not be missed terribly at the year’s outset. We usually only have about ten days w uncomfortable dew points after Labor Day. Also where I work I can safely bring kids outdoors, which I will be doing in the event that I sense a lack of safety in my Classroom and no administrative support. Examples include students with aggressive behavior, extra kids w no subs, etc.
Plexiglass clipboard….yeah. That’s a good one.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around how teachers are going to clean desks in between classes. It’s crazy.
Students leaving…..students coming in…..meanwhile a medical professional told me that chemical disinfectants have “dwell times”….the time they need to be on a surface in order to be effective. It can be from seconds to….10 minutes. What!?
Hey, take care, Mercedes.
I am so with Mercedes on the anxiety attacks. I was feeling that daily as NJ began to flatten the curve in May, & I was on call for potential daycamp enrichment in June… But PreK’s [sensibly] cancelled.
Blessedly I am persona non gratis in Fall PreK’s as a visiting “special” who could potentially carry germs from one school to another during the course of the week– just got confirmation of this mid-July.
Of course it’s not “blessed”– my 20-yr PT teaching gig is basically over thanks to covid. My clients– private, w/razor-thin budgets– will be decimated. I lost a lot of work after ’08 fin collapse– PreK’s took a big hit. It took years to build back up: things were perking along well, w/ a new client added in each of the last 3 yrs. But this is a worse situation. By the time these places are up & running again, let alone solvent enough to afford enrichments I’ll be in my dotage…
But I so get the anxiety attacks. Have been going thro a prolonged one, just trying to get my head together for our usual summer vacation. Mercedes is looking at 14% positivity rate– for me it’s just transiting from a state w/1.45% to another at 2.45%! (Months of sheltering in place will do that to you…)
People are starting to mention different parent outreach to form private “pods”. Here’s just a sample of what came up today on my facebook feed:
1. A friend in the Bay area just posted this on her fb page:”just wow…found this on twitter just now: jason@calacanis.com @Jason 6h Looking for the best 4-6th grade teacher in Bay Area who wants a 1-year contract, that will beat whatever they are getting paid, to teach 2-7 students in my back yard #microschool If you know this teacher, refer them & we hire them, I will give you a $2k UberEats gift card” 2. An East coaster posted this: “In my area, retired teachers are offering to lead formal pods for about $1k per kid per month (so the pod as a whole is paying $6-7K/month). One teacher posted in the local mom group and she had filled her pod in a matter of hours with people willing to pay that kind of money.” Wealth is winning… Sonja Luchini
OMG now you’re giving me new hope. I really thought my career was over. By rights it should be, at my age… but I have a local following, & it’s a wealthy area, where this idea may be catching on among PreK parents. And I can picture how to run what I do in someone’s back yard.
I’m unschooled in social media, having always had a small agency to bring work to me. Do you have any tips on how to find such FB feeds?
Never mind, i see it’s twitter.
I am concerned for colleagues and family members that will return to the classroom this year even though I am retired. Once a teacher, always a teacher. Though I cannot share this burden with those returning to school, I can listen, empathize and help them in any way I can. One of my second cousins just reluctantly retired in Pennsylvania because she did not feel confident about the district’s opening plans. At least eight of my New York colleagues that are returning are over the age of fifty. I am worried about their safety and well-being. I pray for their safety and for a speedy, effective vaccine that can help us all return to some semblance of normal.
Amen, Mr. Brown. And thank you.
It seems to me that everything Mr. Brown says would also be true if instead of saying “Now, imagine you are a teacher today.” he said “Now, imagine you are a healthcare worker today” or “Now, imagine you are a grocery store clerk today” or “Now, imagine you are a delivery worker today.” or “Now, imagine you are a warehouse worker today”.
Dear Anonymous or “teaching economist”:
It was not the purpose of my letter to expatiate about healthcare workers, grocery clerks, delivery and warehouse workers. Indeed, they are essential and deserve our adulation and support.
Perhaps you will find what you are looking for if you read other posts on my blog. In particular, in the category entitled Covid-19. For instance, this was written on March 20:
“Let us continually thank the following people in this fight against COVID-19: our physicians, nurses, medical assistants, emergency medical technicians (paramedics, dispatchers, care assistants), laboratory technicians, respiratory therapists…, policemen, firemen, food service suppliers, grocery store and pharmacy employees, truck drivers, teachers…”
Sincerely,
Glen
I’m interested in the economics of how all this plays out. Why don’t health care workers and grocery store workers or any face to face employee get double pay if things are this dangerous?
Second specific to education, if state budgets collapse, will teachers be paid for a year to teach from home mostly on the honor system for their effort? How will taxpayers react?
If workers are paid $600 a week to stay home, what about the loss for parents for child supervision and supervised education? Why aren’t they reimbursed 10K per child for loss of benefit? Or special education high cost students who could easily cost the state 50K, a burden now shifted back to the parents?
Your worry about teachers working from home “mostly on the honor system” shows you know zilch about life in the pubsch ed bureaucracy.
What is the connection between workers qualifying for $600/wk enhancement to unempl ins got to do w/ parental loss of childcare/ supervised ed? Why would patents get $10k per child for “loss of benefit” when they don’t pay anywhere close to that in school taxes?
Yes BUT– and NO. Apples to eggplants on all counts.
Yes to healthcare workers– BUT I read a very detailed story in April [NYT Mag] by a nurse in one of the most overwhelmed Queens hospitals describing how they tamed high viral spread among hospital wkrs to near-zero w/n 2wks. None of the measures they used are available or even contemplated by “back-to-school-at-any-cost” pols/ school leaders– nor have schools the funds to even consider them.
No to your other examples. I shouldn’t have to spell this out for you. Walk through each of the other 3 jobs & look at cubic-footage of workspace vs total # of [masked] others in closely-spaced contact (if any). Of any, check length of proximity & how much (if any) conversation is involved.
Now compare to conducting 3-4 hrs’ class(es) w/12-15 folks in a closed indoor space of prox 1k sq ft.
Except that those other workers aren’t cramming so many into a small space at the same time, with kids and teens who may or may not be asymptomatic and who won’t wear masks, for 50-90 minutes breathing each other’s air. And medical workers, as horrible as they are being treated, at least get some PPE. Whereas teachers have to pay for and make their own PPE and are in small spaces with poor ventilation for much longer than average store employees. So no difference at all. That previous sentence was sarcasm.
This post was a bit of a wake up call to me, a currently working teacher, reminding me how fortunate we teachers are in Los Angeles and San Diego to be staying safe at home. It’s a reminder that, in addition to fighting for our own safety, we need to stand together with teachers in other districts less fortunate.
Your letter is excellent.
Perhaps, I missed something. Are retired teachers complaining about current teachers returning to schools?
I am a retired teacher. My daughter is a kindergarten teacher for NYC DOE, in Queens. My grandkids attend public schools on Long Island.
My heart is in my throat everyday because she may have to return to teaching in person. Every single teacher is scared to death and I would do anything to stop this nonsense until we get a vaccine.
Teachers should have been given this time to improve their remote teaching lessons. This is a waste of time because nobody knows what they are doing! If numbers tick up they will only close again and someone will be sacrificed, in fact many someone’s.
My grandkids have to attend school at different times and different days. So, I am going to Long Island to help my daughter. I am almost 70. My life will be on the line, as my daughter and son in-law and grandkids will all be, they are all going in different directions everyday coming into contact with hundreds of people. I am scared for my daughter and my son in law, my grandkids and myself. We are all put in danger now!!
Teachers are not soldiers,nor are they law enforcement, their lives should NOT be on the line to teach children.
I don’t know where your letter is coming from but it’s my belief that most retired teachers are behind today’s teachers 100%.
I’ve been telling teachers across the country to go on strike. The AFT backs them!
It’s their LIFE that’s at stake.
Well, and then you’re afraid of your own state’s health department (Utah) that says that if a staff member or student has been exposed, they can still come to school if “they have no symptoms.” I mentioned that to my doctor at my check up this morning. He said “well, we’ll never get rid of this virus then. Schools are Petri dishes.” And he’s right. How in the world did the Utah State Health Department make that sort of decision? It should be criminal.
That’s insane. Sorry to hear this news. Take care.
In a world that seems to be governed by stupid, this is as stupid as it gets. I’m waiting for “Arbeit heilt” signs soon (Work heals).
I can see why you are so threatened. You are dealing people that treat the pandemic and you by association with callous indifference.
Yep. My name is not for this reason, but it works here, sadly.
Although the writer’s fears are well founded, I cannot condone knocking retirees and others. What is required is unity among us to support colleagues and not name calling. Our unions, both local and national, are fighting for what is best in their respective areas. As an old Italian saying goes, “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.”
One of the teachers who has given me some of the best ideas to teach through this pandemic retired 19 years ago. And, he’s still a great friend who inspires me.
So, thanks, Mr. Brown and all the retirees out there who are staying involved…thanks for your service and for continuing to support those of us still in a classroom. We will certainly need your help this coming school year.
This on ABC World News: In Georgia, 300 students & staff called in sick/tested positive or were exposed to those who were.
Also-an asymptomatic high school athlete gave the virus to his mom & dad. They became ill. They both passed away. (The youth was interviewed; this is probably on YouTube.)
&, thank you, Glen. In fact, I was going to contact the IRTA to please put out a statement of support for keeping IL schools CLOSED.
retiredbutmissthekids: Great idea. I am also a member of IRTA. [Illinois Retired Teachers Association]
“Where is your concern for current teachers (who, by the way, are funding your pension)?”
Whoever built that pyramid system is to blame. If a pension system is underfunded, blame the organizers, not the participants.
Ted,
In Illinois, the pension systems are underfunded because the State of Illinois has not consistently paid its full constitutional and obligatory contributions to the public pension systems throughout the decades; thus, the unfunded liability (the debt service owed) has increased to approximately 80% of the pension payments needed today. Furthermore, the money that should have gone to the public pensions was diverted to other operating expenses and special interests’ groups.
“I’m interested in the economics of how all this plays out. Why don’t health care workers and grocery store workers or any face to face employee get double pay if things are this dangerous? Second specific to education, if state budgets collapse, will teachers be paid for a year to teach from home mostly on the honor system for their effort? How will taxpayers react? If workers are paid $600 a week to stay home, what about the loss for parents for child supervision and supervised education? Why aren’t they reimbursed 10K per child for loss of benefit? Or special education high cost students who could easily cost the state 50K, a burden now shifted back to the parents?”:
Since there are six rhetorical questions here, why not have this discussion in an appropriate forum?
Going back to school in person is going off to a great start. /s
…………………………………..
As students and teachers go back to school, they’re bringing the virus with them.
Many schools in Indiana started on Thursday. On Saturday, the superintendent of the Elwood Community School Corporation in the central part of the state sent a note thanking students and parents for “a great first two days of school!”
But the optimistic tone quickly gave way: Staff members had tested positive, and the high school was forced to close its doors and move all students in seventh through 12th grades to online learning for at least a week.
And similar developments occurred across the country. Just hours into the first day of classes at Greenfield Central Junior High School, also in Indiana, the county health department notified the school that a student had tested positive. The student was isolated, and others who had been in proximity were forced to quarantine for two weeks.
At a high school in Corinth, Miss., someone also tested positiveduring the first week back, and exposed students there were asked to stay home for 14 days. And in the Atlanta area, more than 200 employees of a single school district in Gwinnett County tested positive or were in quarantine last week before classes even resumed.
Gwinnett County Public Schools is the largest school system in Georgia, with more than 180,000 students. Teachers returned to work last Wednesday, in preparation for starting classes remotely on Aug. 12. But as of Thursday, about 260 employees had been excluded from work because they tested positive or had potentially been exposed to the virus.
Oh, & with respect to retired teachers & the IL Retired Teachers Assn–the IRTA did put out a call for retired teachers to sign up & help w/remote learning, as there were, I believe, some personnel shortages (this was when the shutdown occurred in March)–which may have happened as a result of teachers having their own children at home (I’d have to look up the particulars). As it turns out, SO many retirees volunteered that the void was filled, & then some. (I’ll have to look up the particulars & comment on another post later.)
An new article by Dale Chu, on the Fordham Institute website, describes remote learning as being like the “security theatre” that we got in response to 9/11. I found that quite interesting. Oddly, the question about whether we should reopen schools has some folks in Deformist/Disrupterist organizations arguing that remote learning stinks and some members of the Resistance to arguing that it’s what we have to do given the circumstances. These positions are exactly the opposite of those for which they usually advocate.
I’m definitely of the second camp, though I have long defined remote learning as a purported educational system in which there is a remote chance that learning is taking place.
Alas, we now know, from recent studies, that while children under ten are less likely than adults to show overt symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, they have 10 to 100 times as much viral load in their upper respiratory tracts as adults do and are twice as likely to transmit the infection to others. We also know that even people who get through an infection without major overt symptoms can suffer serious long-term health consequences due to the effects of the virus on the rest of the body–bloodclotting and inflammation throughout bodily systems. For these and many other reasons, I think that reopening schools would be (alas, will be) an unprecedented catastrophe.
A few states are now rejoicing that their numbers of infections and deaths are decreasing, but it’s pretty obvious, or ought to be, I think, that the ideal way to turn that around–to ensure that those states will once again become Covid-19 hotspots, is to reopen schools.
Which leaves us to think about what we might do as an alternative to reopening schools. Clearly, if we are to depend on remote learning, we must address some serious issues:
–How do we ensure that kids have home access to high-speed internet connections and computers and software?
–How do we ensure that poor kids who no longer have access to free breakfast and lunch programs have regular meals?
–What do we do about kids whose parent or parents have to work? Who is going to watch the kids?
–What do we do to compensate for the loss of the safety checks that schools provide with regard to dangerous home environments, ones in which kids are inadequately cared for or subject to abuse?
–What kinds of learning can be conducted remotely and how? What would ideal remote/distance learning look like? Yes, we ALL understand that remote learning stinks. It’s child’s play to make the long, long list of its deficiencies, but, if we haven’t a sane alternative, what can we do given the circumstances? What does the best better-than-nothing remote learning pedagogy look like?
These are all big questions. We should be thinking very seriously about them, now. Instead, we are thinking about how to “reopen safely,” which is like thinking about how to jump safely out of airplanes without parachutes.
One way to begin thinking about the last question–the one about remote learning pedagogy–is to ask, what can we do well at a distance? In what ways can computers actually be used effectively, at a distance, as learning tools? What are they good at? Well, they can be used
to provide easy, ready access to enormous numbers of texts. What if every poor kid in the US had a gift card for purchasing online books from a curated list, for example?
for direct instruction videos. (How many teachers have simple video-editing software and know how to use it?)
to provide directions for projects to be carried out by students on their own.
to provide demonstrations–walkthroughs of procedures, for example (think of how-to recipe videos, for example).
to provide curated links to instructive materials online. The Internet is the freaking Library of Alexandria writ large.
to collect assignments and return them with feedback. (How many teachers have been instructed in how to use Word editing features or Adobe Acrobat mark-up tools for marking manuscripts? Precious few, I imagine.)
to do online check tests or quizzes with immediate feedback. (How many teachers know how to use Zoom’s built-in quiz feature? How many know how to use online quiz-making programs like Kahoot?)
to provide instructive graphics–picture galleries, maps, timelines, and so on.
to conduct online discussions and some modicum of community via Zoom.
to provide sharepoint folders for collections of class documents. (How many teachers are skilled at organizing such sharepoints?)
to present beautifully typeset equations. (How many teachers know how to use the Mathtype add-in for Word to do that?)
NONE OF THIS IS IDEAL. OF COURSE IT ISN’T. But it’s better than risking the lives of students, teachers, administrators, staff, and relatives and acquaintances of all these. But here we are, wasting time discussing safely jumping out of airplanes without a parachute when we could be spending this time instructing teachers on using these tools and setting up mechanisms for teachers to share with one another what has been working for them in their online classes.
One thing that should be avoided like the plague, I think: online computer instruction programs with diagnostic tests and instructional modules. These are failed behaviorist programmed instruction modernized with graphics. They are extremely demotivating. Kids hate them, and what they learn from them, mostly, is to hate what they are supposed to be learning.
“Amen,” Mr. Shepherd, and thank you too!
OMG, BOB! I don’t know how to do most of the online things you mention!
Check out the Acrobat editing software. It’s great!
It generates standard editorial mark-up symbols that are very easy for kids to read, unlike the mess of editing in Word and flipping back and forth between the Show Markup and No Markup versions.
Great list, Bob. I would add:
YouTube is a great source for any teacher reading here who wants to learn how to use some of the tools you listed. So is a simple Google search, specifying which Windows version is on your laptop.
Until Spring 2020 I was a true tech dummy. I used my laptop– besides searching/ reading– exclusively for typing/ importing images/ printing/ filing/ mailing. I learned how to videoconference, and how to film and transmit entertaining videos for my PreK students through Google & youtube searches. You pubsch teachers are probably way beyond me at this point– just a reminder that the same sources can teach you the high-level tools Bob lists.
Thanks, Ginny!
SCHOOLS SHOULD NOT OPEN AT THIS TIME. No public school has the money to provide safety for everyone in the school. Even if every child has his/ her temperature taken daily, that isn’t enough to prevent COVID-19 away from students and any adult inside the school.
No public school has the money for safe distancing, washing regularly of hands, decent circulation of filtered air, sanitizing all of the equipment all of the time and masks for children who will be taking them off regularly throughout the day. No school has the room for 10 or even 15 in a classroom. No bus has the room for 6 feet apart. No substitute teacher will come into a school when anyone has been tested positive.
Businesses are struggling to provide a decent environment for their workers….well SOME do care. Too many don’t. Schools have people who care about children but they don’t have the necessary money to build more classrooms and hire more teachers, even if they were to be available..AND THEY AREN’T AVAILABLE. Many substitute teachers were retired and they don’t want to come into a school under these conditions.
Horrible things will happen once schools open up permanently well before it is time. It will start another rise in deaths and confirmed cases.
Public schools don’t have the necessary equipment to keep all adults and all children safe during this time of extreme crisis due to a lack of leadership from the top. Nobody should have their child miss school but it is worse if they die.
Indiana is off to a wilting start:
Elwood school closes after positive tests
INDIANAPOLIS – A central Indiana school has shut down two days after opening after at least one staff member tested positive for COVID-19, while other districts in the state also are reporting positive tests among students and employees. Elwood Junior-Senior High School is temporarily closing this week, Superintendent Joe Brown said. The district of roughly 1,500 students about 75 miles southwest of Fort Wayne conducted coronavirus testing prior to school starting July 30 and “multiple staff” came back positive for the virus…
Meanwhile, parents and caregivers of football players at an Indianapolis high school have been told to monitor their children after a player at Warren Central tested positive for the virus.
The Warren Township school district told those who had been in close contact with the student to quarantine 14 days. Classes start Thursday at Warren Central, which has 3,677 students and 178 full-time teachers….
Positive virus tests have been reported in other Indiana school districts.
LaPorte High School has suspended boys’ football, wrestling and tennis team activities due to a positive test in the tennis and football program.
A New Palestine High School football player tested positive days before the school was set to open, Southern Hancock schools confirmed Saturday. Greenfield-Central schools confirmed Thursday night a student tested positive for the virus on the first day of school.
The Avon school district said Thursday that it learned a high school staff member tested positive for COVID-19. That person had not been at the school during the week or in close contact with any employees or students, according to a district spokesperson…
https://journalgazette.net/news/local/indiana/20200804/elwood-school-closes-after-positive-tests
SPORTS (grrr).
This reminds me of my utter ire driving home yesterday from a 3-min masked transaction in a masks-only/ customer#-limited convenience store. There are 2 sports fields used by schools just a few blocks from my home. Despite NJ’s flattening the curve– our success at keeping infection rate at 1.45% for weeks– our supt’s sensible mostly- [optionally, all-] online reopening policy: there they were. Unmasked players gathered on the field. Unmasked moms pretending to distance while swapping gossip by their parked cars.
WTH?!
There is no link to this article. I think it is important because teachers are beginning to speak out. As one said, “I do not want to be a sacrificial lamb.” Once again, there is no leadership from the top. Teachers are babysitters who are replaceable. [Put that up against Trump’s getting tested several times a day.]
The demonstrations come shortly after the nation’s second-largest teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers, said it would support protests, lawsuits, and strikes over educator safety.
Educators rally on national day of action as school reopening debate continues
By Kalyn Belsha, Sneha Dey, Erica Meltzer, and Melanie Asmar Aug 3, 2020, 7:13pm
Educators in several cities rallied on Monday during a national day of action to call attention to their concerns about reopening schools as coronavirus cases continue to rise in many parts of the country.
Though educators have held protests in recent weeks, Monday’s event marked the first unified show of force as teachers and their unions continue to play an increasingly vocal role in the debate over when and how schools should reopen.
“I do not want to be the sacrificial lamb, because you’re forcing us to go back into an environment that is dangerous,” said Andrea Parker, an elementary school teacher in Chicago, where many teachers rode in a car caravan from the teachers union’s headquarters to the city’s downtown.
Teachers in some of the nation’s largest school districts participated in the demonstration, including Chicago and New York City, as well as Boston, Denver, Milwaukee, and others.
All of this is happening amid a larger national conversation about what students will need in order to learn this fall, what teachers and other staff will need to feel protected, and what schools can reasonably provide — both in places where soaring coronavirus caseloads have made it impossible to reopen schools, and in places like New York and Chicago, which are not considered virus “hot spots” and are considering some in-person learning.
The demonstrations come shortly after the nation’s second-largest teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers, said it would support protests, lawsuits, and strikes over educator safety. Already, Florida’s teachers union has sued the state’s governor and education commissioner over an order to reopen schools five days a week for in-person instruction.
Some of the common demands for the day of national action, according to a website set up to promote the event, included keeping schools closed “until the scientific data supports” reopening them, providing schools with resources like protective equipment and cleaning supplies, and providing more equitable access to online learning — a necessity as many school districts have decided they will begin the school year virtually.
Teachers also included demands unique to their cities and states.
Milwaukee teachers, for example, tacked demands to the door of the state’s education agency that included a statewide order to keep school buildings closed and an end to standardized testing. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education allowed every state to skip their annual tests, but officials have indicated they’re not likely to do that again this year.
In Chicago, teachers drew attention to their demand to begin the school year remotely, as the school district continues to plan some in-person instruction.
Though contact with a contaminated surface doesn’t appear to be the main way that the coronavirus spreads, schools will still be expected to take on additional cleaning measures — especially if a student or staff member shows up to school sick and a classroom needs to be disinfected.
This has left many educators worried about school cleanliness, especially in cities like Chicago where that’s been a longstanding concern. At the day of action, some teachers said they feared that the additional custodians the Chicago school district has pledged to hire won’t be enough, and that not every school has good ventilation — something many schools across the country are trying to change in an attempt to stop the virus from lingering in the air.
“Cleanliness is not in every single school,” said Maximilian Cole, a special education teacher at Chicago’s Manley Career Academy High School. “That is a problem.”
Many school districts are pushing Congress for more federal dollars to help them cover new coronavirus-related costs. The latest Republican-backed coronavirus relief package contains $70 billion for K-12 schools, but a majority of that money would be tied to physically reopening schools.
In Denver, where students will start the school year remotely, teachers gathered and taped red balloons to their cars — though they blew them up inside their vehicles to avoid breathing too hard on anyone.
They announced an effort to meet virtually with 500 families by the end of the week to hear their concerns about the fast-approaching school year. Their goal is to bring those concerns to district, city, and state officials and advocate for creative solutions.
“Educators appreciate that the district moved back our start date for in-person learning,” said Tiffany Choi, a high school French teacher who heads Denver’s teachers union. “We look forward to working with the district to identify evidence-based metrics for a safe return to school, and to discussions of safe working conditions.”
Seventy miles away in Colorado Springs, educators from a number of school districts held a public will-signing event to highlight their concerns about returning to school. Most districts in the surrounding county are planning to hold classes in person.
Meanwhile, the state teachers union, which hosted the Denver teachers in its parking lot for Monday’s demonstration, has been calling for a remote start to school and for the state to set a threshold for when it’s safe to hold classes.
“The state needs to be providing more clarity, so we can have some consistency,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, the head of the Colorado Education Association. “There is no place that educators would rather be than back in our classrooms, but we want to do that when it’s safe.”
“At the day of action, some teachers said they feared that the additional custodians the Chicago school district has pledged to hire won’t be enough, and that not every school has good ventilation.”
I subbed in Chicago at Sub Center South. Some older schools had windows that were large but wouldn’t open. Some bathrooms had poop on the floor at the entrance. [I didn’t enter the bathroom but was shocked at the filth.]
Some rooms had holes in the floor and badly needed repairing.
How are these schools going to be safe? The Chicago Teachers Union had a line of cars to protest opening of schools. Teachers know what is best but who listens to teachers?
Glen and all-
Of course I, as a newly retired teacher, care. I care because I will always be a teacher, retired or not. I care because my grandchildren are in public schools in VA and CA, and I want them to be safe. I care because many of my former students are now teachers, and I want them to be safe too. I care because my daughter-in-law teaches kindergarten in VA, and I see her angst as she approaches the new school year as part of a hybrid plan- part remote and part online.
I participate in protests via petitions, emails, calls, and letters to persuade those in power to keep schools closed and continue remote learning. Since I know every one of us can do something, I created a set of videos with stories that my daughter-in-law can use in her online classroom. I can teach sign language online to groups. I can teach a seminar class to students about topics of interest in their fields of study. I can do something to make the load a bit lighter, Can I change the status quo with regard to misinformation and the politicizing of our schools? Can I wave my wand to make it all go away? Hardly. But I, along with all of you, can make a difference in the ways that I can, which I consider both my responsibility and my duty.
My heart remains with learners and their teachers who must navigate these uncertain times. I hope my small contributions to their days make a difference. My sincere hope is that the system of schooling in America will use this experience and instructional design to create something that is valuable, makes sense, and matches each individual learner’s wants and needs.
As I always told my students, do not think that you can solve all the problems all of the time or you will become overwhelmed and feel like giving up. Do what you can in your own way, in your corner, with the talents you have. When I asked them what they could do, they always had answers. I reminded them that their good ideas would remain ideas spinning in their heads until they put them out there and just made them happen.
All of my text this morning may seem simplistic and dull, yet the actions one takes provides hope for what can be.
First, congrats on your retirement, Ms. Kitts! It’s bittersweet, isn’t it? Second, I loved this:
Do what you can in your own way, in your corner, with the talents you have. When I asked them what they could do, they always had answers. I reminded them that their good ideas would remain ideas spinning in their heads until they put them out there and just made them happen.
Great advice. I think I would love seeing you at work in a classroom or having you as a colleague across the hall.
Thank you- I would love to be back there on many of my days now…. and having you as a colleague would have been great- keeping an open mind for how to facilitate learning. And the wonderful piece of this is that letting them think for themselves always worked, with just a bit of encouragement from me.
I am a retired teacher who shares your Writer’s concern and outrage at expectations of teachers. However, I find your wholesale assumptions about retired teachers and the tone in which you express them harsh. Perhaps you could encourage retired teachers by making some concrete suggestions for ways to support our colleagues. For my part, I have volunteered online tutoring for students doing distance learning.
Gramsci: “The prevailing social explanation tends to perpetuate the given
social orders.”
Is the prevailing “due to a lack of leadership from the top” meme, a
confirmation of the role as a subordinate and deracinated “other”?
Is it a statement of belief in electoral/appointed “savior/custodians”?
For all their eulogiums, all their exhortations, all their promises of redemption,
RESULTS articulate their function.
Fly the snotus flag (it’s not us) till the cows come home. Damn, name and shame,
“leaders” for NOT blowing the “right” whistle, to guide the flock.
Sooner or later, you must decide, whom you are living for, whom you are
working for…
“You are afraid of the blatant incompetence of some of your administrators…” Yes. Everything will differ from one school to the next based upon who is placed “in charge.”
Adminimals*–REALLY the most minimal of adminimals will do their governor’s bidding. Of course, GA already opened (“Uh, I didn’t know people w/coronavirus could be asymptomatic,” said Duh guv. (not really–voter suppression & stole the election), Brian Kemp.
(This is why we need to vote as if our lives depend upon it, because they DO!)
Imagine how many more people might–no, would– be alive in Georgia today had Stacey Abrams won?
&–Threatened Out West–we are rooting for you & the citizens of Utah.
Are you reading this, Randi & Lily? Get yourselves out there!!!
(*Creds to Senor Swacker for the term.)
Senator Mike Braun [R-IN] is a wealthy businessman who won the election by proclaiming that he is the strongest Trump supporter. Two other Republican candidates lost.
Grrr. “Take a little risk…address this disease head on.” HOW CUTE! It’s not his head on the line. He was speaking on Fox Business. Figures.
……………………………………………
Senator urges Hoosiers to ‘take a little risk’ by reopening schools amid COVID-19 pandemic
U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., has a message for Hoosier students, parents and teachers concerned about returning to classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic: “Take a little risk.”
Speaking Tuesday on the Fox Business channel, the first-term lawmaker condemned the plans of some school districts that are beginning the school year with online classes because Braun contends students learn best through in-person instruction.
“That’s taking kind of a stick your head in the sand approach, try nothing, hunker down. That’s not going to work,” Braun said. “Be safe, take a little risk, address this disease head-on. Don’t hunker down.”…
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/education/senator-urges-hoosiers-to-take-a-little-risk-by-reopening-schools-amid-covid-19-pandemic/article_f7274b6c-4c64-5f1d-a764-fee4a26197b1.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
Gov. Holcomb [R-IN] is chicken-shitting out of his previous requirement that all children age 8 and older must wear a mask. Three feet is not acceptable. How is even keeping that distance that going to happen?
Teachers in Indiana are going to strike if conditions aren’t safe. It is illegal to strike in Indiana.
[NWI Times] WATCH NOW: Governor modifies schools’ mandatory mask rule
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Eric Holcomb modified the mandatory mask rule for schools and signed the executive order Thursday keeping Indiana at Stage 4.5 of the statewide reopening plan until August 27.
Holcomb announced the signing of the executive order that extends the public health emergency for 30 more days in a news release.
In addition, the governor revised state guidance to say that students may remove their masks in the classroom when they are able to keep a distance of 3 to 6 feet from each other. Holcomb said the decision was the result of a consultation from the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Holcomb’s executive order also extends the moratorium on evictions from rental properties and the prohibition on foreclosure filings through Aug. 14.
In light of the current restriction, Holcomb said local governments may impose further guidelines….
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/watch-now-governor-modifies-schools-mandatory-mask-rule/article_b96dd8de-ff55-53b1-ae27-d808d69f79b2.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
[NWI Times] Indiana teachers might walk out if state, local leaders don’t prioritize school safety
46 min ago
Indiana teachers are calling on school administrators to prioritize safety as schools prepare to reopen this month amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
State leaders in the American Federation of Teachers are encouraging Indiana and local school leaders to make decisions based on community testing and tracing capacities, available safeguards for teachers and students and adequate school funding — otherwise, teachers might walk out.
AFT-Indiana represents 4,500 members across the state in 27 local unions consisting of teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff.
“Teachers, parents, students and administrators want and need to go back to school,” AFT-Indiana President GlenEva Dunham said in a Tuesday morning news conference. “But, going back to school must be done safely.”
Last week, Indiana saw some of its first districts reopen for the start of the 2020-21 school year. Lake County health director shares new guidance for school reopenings
At least three already have identified positive cases in their school communities, including in the Indianapolis suburb of Avon, which saw the state’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 in a school this spring, and at Greenfield Junior High School, where a student reported testing positive after their first day back to class…
“The members of AFT-Indiana will not be threatened or bullied into returning into situations that are not safe,” Dunham said. “Our lives, as well as our children’s lives, are at stake because we do know, make no mistake, that COVID-19 kills.” …
In a call with Indiana AFT presidents last week, teachers shared with The Times their concerns for community mask wearing, an inability to social distance on buses and in some classrooms, and increased teacher responsibilities instructing students in both in-person and online formats
While some said Gov. Eric Holcomb’s recent mask order has helped, others are still concerned about positivity rates, especially given recent suspensions of summer sports programs….
Although Indiana labor laws prohibit teacher strikes, the AFT-Indiana president advocated for “safety strikes” where teachers feel administrators are not meeting the needs for a safe reopening…
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/indiana-teachers-might-walk-out-if-state-local-leaders-dont-prioritize-school-safety/article_42af9dd6-257c-5da6-9646-194be6322e1c.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
Chicago Tribune:
Chicago Public Schools expected to announce all-remote learning plan as Chicago Teachers Union plans to convene its governing body next week: sources
Chicago Public Schools is expected to announce as soon as Wednesday an all-remote learning plan to start the school year amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a move that could avert a potential Chicago Teachers Union strike, sources said.
REALITY CHECK FOR COVID-19
To date (2 Aug 2020) There have been 4.7 million confirmed cases of people contracting COVID-19 in the United States. The population of the United States is approximately 330 million. Do the arithmetic: 4.7/330 x 100 = 1.4 %.
Herd immunity is 55% with an R-zero of 2.5 for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The 2.5 infections induced per infected person is roughly the average individual infection multiplier in a mixed population that is taking no protective measures to prevent transmission from one person to another, within a population all of whom are susceptible. Like the idiots at an indoor rally, or at a bar, or at a church service, or on a cruise ship, or at a table having dinner indoors or out.
For people wearing masks and face shields and other PPE, and standing more or less six feet from one another in public indoors or out, or spacing themselves while sitting for hours in a classroom while wearing a mask, the risk of transmission is significantly less in the short run, BUT NO LESS CERTAIN IN THE LONG RUN, inviting the same adverse effects.
The only way to avoid a surge, or a long protracted infection rate producing the SAME number of deaths (not death rate), is to have a vaccination available that will prevent an individual from acquiring the disease. Like we did with the polio vaccine.
We will have a vaccination available in a few short months. Do we not have the patience, fortitude and foresight to wait that short length of time, while supporting others who cannot support themselves? Apparently many people do not think so, and they are the ones who are currently driving our health care system into the ground throughout the United States.
Now there is a great hue and cry to “open” schools in the fall. This is the most insane idea I have ever heard of in my lifetime given the information I have just shared with you. There is no supportable, logical, reason to do so. The people making such demands remind me of the same people who decide to ride out a hurricane. Or who depend on statistics to guarantee the safety of others, having no conception that statistics are an after-the-fact evaluation of an event, not an a priori one. For that appraisal you need to look at probabilities, of which practically no one in the general public has any real understanding.
If anyone tells you that we can make it “safe”, i.e., that no one will be endangered if they take appropriate preventive measures (at great cost and inconvenience), they are full of …..
(Retired, but one look at my FB posts will show that I am still actively involved in working to change the educational system to a more user friendly environment. I have also posted many articles pointing out the dangers of opening up anything not essential to in-person presence, especially schools. I have also modeled the infection dynamics of the virus to illustrate my points. No need to be so hard on retired teachers. I am sure they get it, and are working hard in their communities to support the staffs of their local schools.)
GOOD move. My grandson in Indiana is starting school online.
Boise Schools will start online to slow COVID-19. ‘The risk is way too high right now.’
The Boise School District will open on time Aug. 17. But all students will begin the year in online classes as it tries to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Ada County, one of the state’s hot spots.
The Boise School Board abandoned its plan to reopen schools for in-person learning five days a week Tuesday. Instead, all classes will remain online for at least three weeks until Sept. 8, the day after the Labor Day holiday.
Boise will reevaluate if it can safely reopen school buildings after Labor Day on Aug. 24. It needs two weeks to fully prepare for in-person education, Boise Superintendent Coby Dennis said during Tuesday’s meeting…
Read more here: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/education/article244700747.html?#storylink=cpy
I’m retired as of 01/02/2020. I still communicate regularly with my colleagues and stay up to date through my chapter leader’s and and UFT leader’s emails. I’m actively involved with helping out when and where I can.
I’m extremely concerned about the welfare of my friends and colleagues as well as the ripple effect that could easily ensue as a result of opening up the schools this September.
Let’s be real: every fall I and many of my colleagues would get sick within a month or so of returning to school. And after the winter break, as well. Yet we’d do our best to be there, if at all possible. The schools are enclosed germ factories. And this was just a cold or, at worst, a case of the flu.
Covid-19 is not a flu. It’s a killer. While it may make business sense in the short term to free the parents to return to work; we’re taking a huge risk, here, for the long term.
Teachers could have spent the summer honing their skills of remote learning. Instead they’re going to be put at extreme risk and be expected to maintain a “safe” environment while teaching kids K-12, within a NYC education budget that’s been slashed by four hundred million dollars.
There’s a reason why the NYC Health Commissioner resigned in protest.
My wife just posted this to her FB page:
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/teacher?fbclid=IwAR2fAiuhV0sU9AsBPIpkTo3rOvVllrCt59_8V_3Npx1hunyV6opraWvM0oA
Where is the sanity? There’s nothing “normal” about what’s happening in the world, today…so why are we trying to go back to “normal” instead of thinking outside the box in order to stabilize?
So much like so many teachers and administrators I have worked with through the years. ” am afraid …”, “I am scared …” etc. So much hand ringing and complaining, yet I don’t hear any solutions. Our Governor has allowed local districts to steer the opening. My grand daughters are going to high school and have elected to Stay at home for “distance” learning during the first few weeks, maybe more. Too many whiny teachers continue to whine, as they always did about every day challenges to our profession. I realize you will take exception to my views but that is your right.