The Florida Education Association was disappointed in latest court decision:
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Education Association (FEA) was disappointed today that the First District Court of Appeal reinstated a stay on the temporary injunction against Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran’s emergency order. We look forward to continuing to press our case in court for the sake of students, educators and local communities.
“We are going to keep fighting because lives are at stake,” said FEA President Fedrick Ingram. “This is not about closing schools or opening schools. This is about allowing local districts to do what is best to protect local families. Who rightfully gets to make these decisions regarding safety? Is that state officials in the Capitol bubble, or people in our communities? That power should stay with the districts, where it belongs. Educators and parents don’t need directives. They need good solutions for educating kids during a pandemic.”
In removing the automatic stay on the temporary injunction, Judge Charles Dodson of the Second Judicial Circuit wrote: “The statewide reopening of school during the month of August 2020, without local school boards being permitted the opportunity to determine whether it is safe to do so, places people in harm’s way.” The judge warned that, under Commissioner Corcoran’s emergency order, students, teachers and communities could suffer “potential irreparable injury.”
Especially since the stay has been reinstated, it is in the best interest of our state that this case be decided as quickly as possible. The Florida Education Association would urge the First District Court of Appeal to take Judge Dodson’s words to heart, and to rule in favor of our students, educators and communities, and against Commissioner Corcoran’s unconstitutional emergency order.
As FEA asserts in Florida Education Association et al v. Ron DeSantis, as Governor of the State of Florida et al, emergency order 2020-EO-06 is counter to Florida’s Constitution, which mandates that Floridians have a right to “safe” and “secure” public schools.
Local districts should hold power in making local decisions that can be life or death. They also should have the best possible information in making those decisions, including accurate, up-to-date data on coronavirus infections and exposures in their schools.
Their ability to get that data appears increasingly doubtful. Duval County Public Schools recently was ordered to stop publishing information about Covid-19 exposures and cases in schools. And after inadvertently publishing statewide data on Covid cases in schools last weekend, the state health department pulled back the report, saying it was in draft form. The data will be available in the “coming days and weeks,” the department said.
Earlier, as school districts began to contemplate plans for fall, county health departments were reportedly under orders to restrain what they told districts in relation to the pandemic, and to provide information but not recommendations on opening or closing campuses.
Now many districts are open and struggling to contain the coronavirus. New Covid-19 cases in schools are reported nearly every day in counties throughout the state.
Apropos of nothing, since there’s no good place to post this: Lori Loughlin got 2 months in jail and Felicity Huffman 14 days for their roles in the college admission scandal. A homeless woman was just sentenced to 5 years in prison for using a friend’s address to enroll her child in school. Or course race an affluence have nothing to do with it….
Tell me how removing Trump is going to fix this. No, Trump won’t either. He’s just the alarm. Biden is the snooze button.
Shades of Jean Valjean.
Opening schools now will be an unprecedented disaster. All the latest science tells us so. Recent studies have shown that
The virus is spread by aerosols–very, very tiny droplets too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Kids under 10 can have 10 to 100 times as much viral load in their upper respiratory tracts as adults with full-blown coronavirus disease and yet be asymptomatic. Kids of these ages with the virus are TWICE as likely to transmit the virus as adults are.
Kids 10 and older transmit the virus at the same rate that adults do.
The virus lingers in the air for a long time–for many hours.
The virus is spread by air conditioning systems.
Opening schools now is idiotic, heedless, magical thinking driven by a Trump Mini-Me governor who is more concerned with falling in line behind Great Leader than with the science or the health of kids.
Two more things:
Recent studies have also shown that the virus causes blood clots throughout the body in organs such as the heart, brain, kidneys, and liver. And it can cause long-term neurological damage. Both in kids as well as in adults. This damage can happen in children who have shown no or only very, very mild overt symptoms.
And, ofc, the virus is transmitted by people who are asymptomatic. So, taking temperatures is no real protection against spread.
I live in the state of Flor-uh-dumb.
This is monstrous and heedless, and the lives of kids and teachers and everyone connected to them are at stake. The precautionary principle applies.
Two more:
Studies have shown that masks and shields of the kinds available to teachers and students are only partially effective.
Other studies have shown that the aerosalized virus can travel much, much further than six feet.
Chill out Bob.
Viruses don’t kill people.
Air conditioners do.
All we need to do is turn off the air conditioners and everything will be fine.
It’s difficult for me to chill out when the lives of kids and teachers are at stake!
It’s also difficult to chill out in Florida without the air conditioner.
As a result of this recklessness, we are going to have a truly tragic October and November. And the consequences will be felt for decades to come due to the long-term damage that the disease causes.
Our leaders in Flor-uh-duh are the sorts of people who want to believe in magic fairy dust.
One theme of the Trump National Convention is that Great Leader Who Shines More Orange than the Sun “will always protect Americans.” This decision, pouring down from the Whiter House through the Flor-uh-duh Governor’s office to the State Department of Education shows what a LIE that is.
These people are perfectly willing to put CHILDREN in harm’s way.
And they will do this a) to serve short-term political ends (Trump’s reelection) or b) to prove their abject loyalty to Great Leader.
It’s really up to the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) to decide, on whether their kids return to public school or not. 🤔
But they should have information on the risks and cases and the State of Florida appears to be taking orders from Trump to not report data and the county health departments are of no help.
In Florida, a school district is defined by the county borders. Some counties have more swampland that places to build. Some counties are populated by families who are migrant workers. I think the teachers should appeal this case. There should also be school-by-school policies, not one size fits all for a whole county.
In North Florida where I live, districts are offering in person, remote and virtual options. I hope other parts of the state are doing the same.
I think, school by school policies already exists. 😐
Yup. I expect DeSantis can yell all he wants, school districts will follow the druthers of their residents [taxpayers/ voters]. What’s he going to do, start arresting people?
Both Corcoran and DeSantis have partially walked back/ muddied waters, claiming press didn’t reflect the flexibility to locals in the directive’s text. Nevertheless lawsuit is called for & should be appealed to highest level. You can’t let a politically-motivated emergency directive stand, it weakens public trust in govt institutions. The next emergency directive might actually be about saving lives.
“It’s really up to the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) to decide, on whether their kids return to public school or not. ” BINGO!
The state isn’t their “Mommy” or “Daddy”, YOU are.
Ponder NOTwhat the state “parents” can do for the children, but what
YOU can do for them. After all, you are their ultimate sponser, their “car”.
Who’s gonna tell you when
It’s too late
Who’s gonna tell you things
Aren’t so great.
You can’t go on, thinkin’
Nothing’s wrong, but bye
Who’s gonna drive you home
Tonight?
Who’s gonna pick you up
When you fall?
Who’s gonna hang it up
When you call?
Who’s gonna pay attention
To your dreams?
And who’s gonna plug their ears
When you scream?
You can’t go on, thinkin’
Nothing’s wrong, but bye
Who’s gonna drive you home, tonight?
Who’s gonna hold you down
When you shake?
Who’s gonna come around
When you break?
You can’t go on, thinkin’
Nothin’s wrong, but bye
Who’s gonna drive you home, tonight?
Oh, you know you can’t go on, thinkin’
Nothin’s wrong
Who’s gonna drive you home, tonight?
The Cars “Drive”
You can’t go on, thinkin’ it’s the states “job” to drive the children home.
You can’t go on, thinkin’ the blame game is a source of redemption.
You can’t go on, thinkin’ one guy is the source of all the problems or
one guy will “cure” all the problems.
You can’t go on, thinkin’ the institutional mechanisms established by
power, were established to hobble their power.
You can’t go on, thinkin’ parroting the mythology surrounding government
will hold the demons at bay.
excellent summation line
Schools have already opened…& closed…& will open again…& close again.
My friend, who works at a Catholic university (that went remote even before school opened) while the Catholic schools opened–& closed (so far, one permanently, another w/the open-close), remarked that “open-close/open-close is the new ‘hybrid’ model.”
Nah…it’s the usual “building a plane while it’s in the air” model of U.S. education.
&–keep your fingers crossed for Iowa–now that guv. “Dim” Reynolds had her time on the dais at the RNC (prior to which she was brown-nosing it45 like crazy), it appears that she granted some IA school districts temporary waivers from in-school attendance. One school district, at least, postponed the beginning of school until 9/8, then approved remote for 2-4 weeks, so bought some time. Iowa (esp. Johnson County, where the U. of IA opened its campus early) has a high & increasing rate of positive covid tests. For a time, these higher numbers were not made public (wonder why?), the same way the derechos & extreme storm damage (crops, etc.) were unheard of until at least 2 days passed (Dim blamed the national press but, actually, coverage was suppressed). it45 psychophant
wanted IA to look good, it is supposed, prior to her RNC appearance.
The Iowa State Education Addn. filed a lawsuit against the Governor’s Office, & the Iowa City Community School District was invited to join in the lawsuit, which it did, (AP, 8/25/20) The Des Moines School District filed suit, as well.
News stories from FL are announcing average state positivity has been under 10% for 14 days, and noting discussions underway in different locales re: further reopening (including schools).
WHO recommends a region maintain a 5% positivity rate for at least 2 wks before lifting shelter-at-home and social-distancing protocols. Countries which have successfully reopened schools did it by slow phase-in and started when well under 5%. Yet somehow our Surg Gen comes along on July 24 speculating “we like to see under 10%” for reopening schools. ?! (Guess that was a special recommendation for red state govrs looking to please it45.)
Meanwhile FL’s “under 10% for 14 days” is an average across a not-small state. Would you feel comfy opening schools in Bradford County [10.6%] or Bay County [12%] because “hey, close enough”? Cheer in Miami-Dade [9.3] because you’re under 10? All the while knowing you’re using an unproven benchmark double the WHO guideline that the Surg Gen established by spitting on his finger & holding it up to the wind?
NJ’s positivity rate has been under 2% for months. As of July, 8% of districts chose fully in-person, 24% all-remote, 68% hybrid. The all-remote cohort is rising. Elizabeth e.g. hasn’t enough teachers for hybrid (too many in high-risk group). Jersey City cites slow test results and insufficient contact-tracing. Other districts are opting out because they can’t meet safe bldg conditions [poor ventilation, lack of funding for sanitizing supplies et al].