Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

Every idea I've heard for making school safer in the fall involves spending more money, not less. The issue isn't just state funding, which is going to be cut significantly unless the federal government steps up and provides the stimulus funding necessary to the states. I don't have much hope of that happening. The Republicans in the Senate are just going to follow McConnell's lead and he has made his thoughts on this clear. I just don't think there is enough public pressure to get them to move on that issue.

Local funding is also going to be an issue. With unemployment being so high, local voters aren't going to improve increases in their school district budgets. If districts have less money to work with, how do they keep enough staff to avoid crowding in the classrooms and pay for any of the measures that might be in place to re-open schools?

I haven't heard of any teachers who is happy about online instruction. The lack of interaction with students is a problem. You just can't do that job remotely as well as you can do it in person. As that article suggests, we are going to lose a lot of teachers at both ends of the spectrum. The older teachers who have the option of retiring aren't going to want to adapt to the new approach and technology. Young teachers bail within the first five years at a fairly high rate, mostly because they feel overwhelmed under normal circumstances. That is much worse right now.

You are right to bring up the political issue. Too many voters see any funding for education as something to placate teachers' unions rather than what that money really pays for, which is the education their children need.

 

I certainly hope we go back to school as close to normal as possible. I want to be in my classroom with my kids.
One idea that has been floated was part of the students come some days, part comes others days.
Uhhhh, Ok. Teachers and staff are exposed every day.
I already teach the exact same lesson/content from start to finish three times a day. Doing it essentially twice as many times doesn't sound like much fun, but whatever if that's what we need to do. I can make anything work.
Then, they throw out extending the school year so students get the same number of days of instruction.
Now you have a problem. Remember, teachers/staff would be there every day. Teachers aren't paid for extending the school year. We are contracted and paid for 10 months. I love my job, but at the end of the day, it's my job. I do it to provide for my family. You want me to work an extra 20-40 days? Fuck you. Pay me.

 

Back to school will be coming around well before the election. There are a lot of folks who have had to deal with teaching their kids and got enough of it fast. There is also the issue of trying to go to work when your kids are not at school. McConnell and the R's are going to find their nuts in a vise if they play games about doing what it takes to get the schools taken care of. Even wingnut R's want their kids to get educated. A lot of people are going to tell them to cut a few F-35's and get the schools funded.

I mentioned earlier that Alabama was intending to restore education funding to 2008 pre-crash levels, and they abandoned that once Covid-19 hit. They're going to get some heat, even in lowest taxes in the country Alabama.

 

This is showing my age but back in the early 70s, there was a baby boomlet. Kids in my area of northern New Jersey did go to elementary school in shifts, fFWIW.

 

Immovable object meets irresistible force:
State requires balanced budget.
State requires 180 days of instruction.
State employees are only paid for 180 days of labor.
State wants to extend school year.

Pick 3. You don't get 4.

 

Like I said - this is going to be a helluva mess.

 

I assume it's because of a three-day Holiday Weekend backlog but around only 1,800 deaths since Saturday night

 

I hope you are right, but it takes a little bit of thought to get there. The schools need funding from the states. The states need funding from the federal government. The fight is already going on right now. The Democrats are pushing for that funding. The Republicans are insisting it isn't necessary. There is no public outcry at all. They may change their tune in the fall, but that is going to be too late for the 2020-21 school year.

 

You forgot an option.
State places blame for a system that doesn't work on greedy teachers' unions.

That kind of thing won't just happen in red states, either. New York is as blue as they come, but Gov. Cuomo isn't exactly friendly to teachers.

 

Not if the Dems are smart enough to start making an issue of "How do we get the kids back in school without funding?" early and often.

That's not a sure thing, of course, they'll probably piss it away.