Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

I don't understand why you had to slam the unions in this post. I think it's easy to understand that a private school would have the ability to make changes on the fly that a public school in a public district can't just go out and engineer immediately. Whether it's red tape or resources or just the sheer numbers of people involved, it just isn't as smooth. Teacher's unions represent a wide swath of people, some older, some with health concerns. The great thing about unions is they stand up for their members. Why are you embarrassed that someone is standing up for public school teachers who, like you, are on the front lines? This has been the hardest thing we as a people have gone through in decades and no one had any idea how to manage.

 

What, exactly, is the teachers union stance? My wife teaches in the best district in our state and their union (by the way, you sound like every right-wing nutter when you refer to "the teachers union" as if it encompasses every public school in the country) wants nothing more than to get back to in-person teaching, which most have done. My son's district, also a top-rated district, is the same way. Other than starting a few weeks late, and a three-week stretch that had Christmas break in the middle, they have been in school every day of the year. Or at least had the option to. The union was for that.

You teach in a private school, where kids likely bathe in privilege. But there's no union there to help you, is there? So the teachers are the opposite of the pupils. They are generally crapped on. Get a job in a public district, then tell us again how embarrassing you think the union is.

 

Not sure how unions wanting teachers to be safe is embarrassing themselves. The unions are basically saying if we can guarantee the relative safety of the teachers and students with a specific plan, then sure, we can come back. If there is one thing everyone in education agrees is that students being away from the class on a computer is a bad thing. But the unions are weighing that against start-and-stops because teachers get sick not even to mention that some teachers have died after being in the classroom. And the students who have health concerns need to be thought about too.

My union has basically wanted us to wait until

• The high-incidence of cases in our district go down
• Access to vaccines
• And the county giving the OK to return
• And a structured plan from the district on returning either full or part time

I'm not going to apologize for a union whose job it is to look after my and my colleagues' safety for doing just that.

 

So, you're saying Arkansas is going wide-open, with no plan to protect those who will be made most vulnerable by this decision? I'm shocked, shocked, that a Republican-run state would make such a decision, since the GOP cares so much about the working man and woman and other little guys and gals.

 

I don't pretend to know the union well, and to the extent that they are reacting differently, I was overbroad - my apologies for that. I'm talking about the unions in my area who have been standing firm against returning in person. In my kids' school, there are teachers who didn't feel safe who are teaching in-person students over Zoom. It is a far from perfect solution, but it protects those individuals who opted out while not holding the entire system hostage. Most teachers would be comfortable returning to in-person classes with proper precautions taken.

 

People who lied, called it the "flu," ignored the need for planning, failed to understand the link between solving the heath crisis and solving the economic crisis, fought science, planned to kidnap a governor, attacked state government, attacked public health workers and doctors now angry things weren't done perfectly.
Is there any self-reflection going on?

 

"The left". LOL

Like we're France. LOL

 

Which models are you referring to in number 3?

 

Are any of those people here right now? What do they have to do with this particular conversation?

I promise there is more to discuss about the pandemic than the fascists. They are extremely important, yes, but they aren't literally the only relevant facet

 

IHME in particular has consistently managed to draw attention while being one of the worst performing

 

It seems that many have developed the idea that if there is any uncertainty at all about what gets identified as a risk, then they should exercise the most extreme caution they can think of. Many on “the left” have treated “GMO” food this way, as well.

 

My girlfriend has six classes usually and this year she took on a seventh (yes, she's getting paid for it); with how things broke down and there being a certain amount of kids who were kept home the entire year by their parents, there was the need for extra sections. Some older teachers also opted out for the year. She doesn't like teaching by Zoom. Her school is a hybrid model, meaning she has to teach for two sections of each class (the ones in Tu-Thu and the ones in Wed-Fri). That involves planning for each section, because sometimes one is off from another. They go back full-time March 16 and it will make planning easier on her.

The idea that teachers are taking afternoon siestas and drinking martinis while lounging on the couch watching Judge Judy as their kids slave away doing work is insane.

Also, I really hope our education officials are prepared for another pandemic. It stunned me last year when I learned that there was no emergency plans in place when the kids were sent home. A number of emergencies — fires in unraked forests, terrorism, a nuclear attack — could've shut down schools for an extended period of time, and kids still need to learn.