Historian and former teacher John Thompson sat in on three different panels about the reopening of schools. He heard the concerns of leading educators and medical experts. The latter were all in favor of masking and vaccinations, but the educators were cautious about making powerful people angry.
The Oklahoma state legislature has banned mask mandates and vaccinations are out of the question. The medical experts stressed the importance of the measures that have been banned.
Legislators in states like Oklahoma are putting the lives of children, families, and communities at risk. Unnecessarily.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
That’s pretty much Utah, too. Despite the urging a of both UEA and AFT, no district will mandate masks and go against the Legislature, and a lot of teachers aren’t even wearing masks themselves. It’s like everyone wants to wish it away. School starts today and next Monday in many districts in the state, and I wonder how long it will be before a major outbreak
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We are embarking on a grand experiment in this country. The subjects? Public School teachers and students. Where I live, most of the population is unwilling to admit that they are experimenting. Soon we can compare hospitalization and death rates to see who has the best method. Of can we? Will my state suppress numbers to make it appear better than it should? How can we trust the figures supplied by those who would boil children if it made them a dime? Are there ways to gather statistics that will circumvent those with a political advantage to be gained by not gathering them at all?
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such a scary analogy, but so true: people who would boil children if it made them a dime…
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My grandson started middle school in El Paso two weeks ago. So far, one student has been infected. Most students and teachers are wearing masks. They are ignoring Abbott. My grandson is in 6th grade where most of the students are not eligible for the vaccine, and neither is my grandson. As soon as he turns 12 or if an emergency order is issued for 11 year olds, he will be vaccinated. While the infection numbers in El Paso are climbing, they are not experiencing the same death rate that they had at the beginning of the pandemic since most of the adults got the vaccine.
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I have 4 grandsons. The older two got vaccinated as soon as they could. The 13-year-old was first in line when authorities opened up vaccinations to children his age. The youngest is 8, and he wears a mask all the time except at home.
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The same state leaders who were screaming that schools had to open and stay open now won’t allow any infection mitigation.
Does this sound like good faith to you? If it doesn’t make any sense there’s a reason it doesn’t make any sense and the reason is political. They’ve once again decided public schools will take the blame- for everything. They’ve given them all the responsibility but none of the power. They set them up.
Over and over and over. This is not and was never about students who attend public schools. It’s about promoting an anti-public school ideological position. The schools and students are just props to be used in that campaign.
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Pass laws disallowing any gun regulations, blame public schools for shootings. Refuse to regulate or prosecute the companies who pushed opiates on millions of people, blame public schools for the fallout. Don’t do anything to improve neighborhoods or raise wages, blame public schools for poverty.
They’ve been doing this for 30 years. Public schools are an endlessly useful and convenient scapegoat for powerful people in this country. Ed reformers gave them all something to blame, and they eagerly and gratefully jumped on it.
You-all are now solely responsible for the pandemic. Good luck!
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So true, so frustrating and so very sad.
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“Steve Ellis, owner of Top Guns, says that Top Guns and Climbing Café are donating space on the campus to Eastside Christian Academy to offer private schooling as an option for south end kids.
The school teaches the ABEKA curriculum, according to the Top Guns Facebook site. The Facebook page also states that no masks are required”
The ed reform lockstep ideology on “choice” inevitably got us here. There’s absolutely no reason within the ed reform echo chamber’s current line of thinking that this school shouldn’t be funded and promoted with public dollars.
There’s no quality measure in their privatization plans. The one and only metric is “choice”. Ed reformers can’t oppose publicly funding this school. That would fly in the face of the rest of the dogma. The parents chose it, therefore it should be publicly funded.
https://www.tribstar.com/news/local_news/gun-store-to-give-space-to-christian-academy/article_9cf2ffd2-06f2-53df-9422-66890a440bfc.html?fbclid=IwAR17gThpJ94I9IWb8tg6gHHhsmQ8DCnTX3B7iMqdWZg8nEL8xlSIDSjkkUM#utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=fac
In order to remain consistent, I really think they have to start lobbying against compulsory school attendance. The whole concept of “truancy” or mandated “attendance” can’t fit within the ed reform free market ideology. What if the parents choose “no education”? Why wouldn’t that be a valid choice?
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Wimps!!! Does not take a lot of words express my feelings on this subject. But, teachers and administrators seem more worried about themselves then the students.
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Yep!
“The mass of men [and women] serves the state [education powers that be] thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailors, constables, posse comitatus, [administrators and teachers], etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt.”- Henry David Thoreau [1817-1862], American author and philosopher [my additions]
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And:
“Should we therefore forgo our self-interest? Of course not. But it [self-interest] must be subordinate to justice, not the other way around. . . . To take advantage of a child’s naivete. . . in order to extract from them something [test scores, personal information] that is contrary to their interests, or intentions, without their knowledge [or consent of parents] or through coercion [state mandated testing], is always and everywhere unjust even if in some places and under certain circumstances it is not illegal. . . . Justice is superior to and more valuable than well-being or efficiency; it cannot be sacrificed to them, not even for the happiness of the greatest number [quoting Rawls]. To what could justice legitimately be sacrificed, since without justice there would be no legitimacy or illegitimacy? And in the name of what, since without justice even humanity, happiness and love could have no absolute value?. . . Without justice, values would be nothing more than (self) interests or motives; they would cease to be values or would become values without worth.”—Comte-Sponville [my additions]
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“go meek”
Hmmmm. . . We’ve seen that before, eh! Can you say GAGA Good German teachers? Almost all have been “going meek” for all of this century.
The only thing an abuser understands is power thrown right back in their face with more force than they do in abusing. GAGAGGs believe in turn the other cheek which only emboldens the abusers all the more.
Sad, indeed very sad that the ethic of the teachers to obey the authorities overrides their ethical duty to the students. And the GAGAGGs willingly harm the most innocent in their charge, the students by prioritizing the implementation of educational malpractices such as the standards and testing malpractice regime, and now, face to face teaching without the proper health and safety protocols being implement. It’s gone from mental harm to death. . . Didn’t take that long did it?
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Duane, you often use “good German” as a term of derision. This is blatantly unfair. Sure, plenty went along with those who had the weapons, but read up on those who bravely resisted. Read about the White Rose Society. Greg B can supply other examples. They were “good Germans,” brave Germans, courageous Germans.
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My reference in no way diminishes what those who resisted did. The fact is that far too many, just like with today’s educational malpractices, turn a blind eye and obey the authorities.
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Those states are also showing the world that if you want to live in a safe country and/or community, you do not want a government like the one in the United States.
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