How would you rate how Mayor Bowser has handled DCPS reopening?

[Anonymous]

With her response to coronavirus, Bowser has done more to advance the cause of school vouchers than anyone in the history of the District.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With her response to coronavirus, Bowser has done more to advance the cause of school vouchers than anyone in the history of the District.

A voucher for what? Those vouchers don’t give enough money for anyone to get into a popular private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am very happy with the way that DCPS is handling things. I am glad that parents are expressing their concerns and helping to keep everyone accountable. However, I think that overall the school is doing a good job with a strong focus on equity.

I was really impressed with the note that went out today with the technology plans for DCPS. It is great that the schools will be providing more than 12,000 devices for students with tech needs and some of them will arrive with free wireless internet connections or internet hot spots for those in need.

DCPS you are looking out for equity concerns and making sure that all kids are able to start out 2020 strong.

Thank you!

So many of these seem to be written by DCPS central office staff...

I'm not DCPS. I'm charter. We aren't "driven by the union", as the mayor/DCPS has been accused, but the perspectives of teachers are critically important. I am generally ok with the way things were handled although I think there could have been an earlier announcement. What too manyll fail to realize is that most teachers and school staff can't afford to live in DC as you do. When Prince Georges announced it would open virtually that reduced the available workforce for schools in DC and also opened up the possibility of exposing DC citizens to many more people from outside of DC.
DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the context of other reopening activities, not well (C-). If schools can't open, the administration needs to demonstrate they are serious about getting us to the point where schools can open (e.g., stop all indoor dining).

Outdoor pools are closed but you can go to church with 70 friends and grab a bite to eat being served by a waiter that's been in close contact with fellow waitstaff all day.

Things need to make more sense and priorities need to be clearer.

I agree. The priorities are not clear. I think they should have prioritized a return to school, even hybrid, which would mean shutting down indoor dining, bars, gyms, and larger gatherings to reduce community spread. It also would have meant stockpiling PPE, tests, and other necessary supplies for schools, and creating a real plan for how school would work and how schools would deal with COVID cases among students and staff.

Everyone is winging it, I get that, and I think that DC government has done a decent job of listening to scientists and public health experts, but the decisions being made now don't make a lot of sense to me.

A thousand times this

Why should they have prioritized schools? There are over 700k people living in this city and only a quarter of them have children let alone children in DCPS.
I think the mayor no matter how much she wanted to make schools a number one priority she couldn’t because they aren’t. Schools are certainly in the top 5 but they’re not #1. A simple look at the past of public education could tell you that.
I’m honestly not sure why people are surprised.

I’d rate her a B- and the chancellor a C+

Because education is fundamental to a functioning society.

And education is STILL BEING PROVIDED. The fact that you're mad about the delivery method is 100% a You Problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

By positive results you mean COVID results right??

+1. The poster you quoted is freaking DELUSIONAL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With her response to coronavirus, Bowser has done more to advance the cause of school vouchers than anyone in the history of the District.

A voucher for what? Those vouchers don’t give enough money for anyone to get into a popular private school.

They’ll certainly help. I’d love to take the $20,000 in tax dollars per student and use it to send my kids to a private school where they actually might learn something this year.

I wasnt in favor in vouchers before but I am now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

By positive results you mean COVID results right??

No, I mean kids butts in seats.

Look, I'm going to be honest, if you open schools you are going to get /or some kids with COVID. Luckily, as I said, all evidence points to children being at far less risk of serious complications from the virus.

Look, I dont like to talk about problems facing those less well off as I am very aware that me and my family are incredibly blessed with wealth, health and happiness and it isnt my place to speak to the plight of people whose lives I havent lived, but the fact is that even if we do get some kids sick with what will amount to a mild kr moderate flu like sickness, schools are far too important to just shut down indefinitely. Parents, many of whom are going back to work in retail/restaurants and dont have the finances, especially now, to hire dedicated nannies and tutors and depend on the school system to provide meaningful instruction and supervision for their kids. And furthedmore, many of these same families want to see their children further their well being past their parents' current struggles, which gets harder and harder the longer we deny them proper education, letting their kids fall further and further behind, especially considering schools in low income areas are already underfunded and underacheiving. It has been proven that as people get older, playing educational catch up gets harder and harder.

So yes, while I am lucky that we have the money that we can disenroll our child and go through the process, with the help of expensive tutors and curriculum, of giving him an excellent education at home, that is a luxory many in this city do not have.

Which is why this is only a debate in ohr wealthy bubble of DCUM and the far upper NW. Because in poorer areas, they dont have any other options. And so they are screaming for the reopening of schools.

Ah, the tired "but think of the poor kids!" line yet again. OK, we'll send all the poor kids and not yours. You'll lie here and say "I'd be fine with that!" but it's a lie of convenience on an anonymous message board. The Poor Kids are just a wedge to get your kids into full-time, in-person school.

And your bolded would be super convenient if it were actually true, but it's not. Search the many conversations already on these boards of the large percentage of FARMS and low-income families who responded to surveys opting AGAINST in-person school -- very likely because they live in multigenerational or crowded households, with multiple people working frontline customer service jobs and they KNOW what the virus can do and is doing -- and not those of you sitting in your ivory towers pontificating about "it's soooo safe. I don't even know anybody who got really sick! Think of the poors! I want my manicure appointments and massages back without dealing with my stupid kids!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With her response to coronavirus, Bowser has done more to advance the cause of school vouchers than anyone in the history of the District.

A voucher for what? Those vouchers don’t give enough money for anyone to get into a popular private school.

They’ll certainly help. I’d love to take the $20,000 in tax dollars per student and use it to send my kids to a private school where they actually might learn something this year.

I wasnt in favor in vouchers before but I am now.

What private school will you send your child to that is open for in person learning?

[Anonymous]

The positivity rate in DC is 2.0 percent. Schools should be open. The only reason they aren’t is because Bowser doesn’t want to fight with the teachers union.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The positivity rate in DC is 2.0 percent. Schools should be open. The only reason they aren’t is because Bowser doesn’t want to fight with the teachers union.

Why are charters closed then? They have no union and have autonomy to do what they want.

[Anonymous]

Awful since indoor dining continues and schools are closed.

A for Abysmal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With her response to coronavirus, Bowser has done more to advance the cause of school vouchers than anyone in the history of the District.

A voucher for what? Those vouchers don’t give enough money for anyone to get into a popular private school.

They’ll certainly help. I’d love to take the $20,000 in tax dollars per student and use it to send my kids to a private school where they actually might learn something this year.

I wasnt in favor in vouchers before but I am now.

Where is this private school that will definitely stay open throughout the fall? Friends with kids in private schools are mostly being told that they'll get DL. More will surely follow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With her response to coronavirus, Bowser has done more to advance the cause of school vouchers than anyone in the history of the District.

A voucher for what? Those vouchers don’t give enough money for anyone to get into a popular private school.

They’ll certainly help. I’d love to take the $20,000 in tax dollars per student and use it to send my kids to a private school where they actually might learn something this year.

I wasnt in favor in vouchers before but I am now.

We are going to be spending a fortune for child care for our school age kids even though we already paid a fortune in taxes for them to go to school. We have to pay twice because teachers refuse to work. Thanks teachers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The positivity rate in DC is 2.0 percent. Schools should be open. The only reason they aren’t is because Bowser doesn’t want to fight with the teachers union.

Why are charters closed then? They have no union and have autonomy to do what they want.

Bump.
Tell me about the teachers union @ charter schools....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With her response to coronavirus, Bowser has done more to advance the cause of school vouchers than anyone in the history of the District.

A voucher for what? Those vouchers don’t give enough money for anyone to get into a popular private school.

They’ll certainly help. I’d love to take the $20,000 in tax dollars per student and use it to send my kids to a private school where they actually might learn something this year.

I wasnt in favor in vouchers before but I am now.

We are going to be spending a fortune for child care for our school age kids even though we already paid a fortune in taxes for them to go to school. We have to pay twice because teachers refuse to work. Thanks teachers!

You’re welcome.