DCPS seems to be doing it right

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why teaching online what you would normally teach in the classroom is so difficult... Mute everyone, tell them you are taking questions at the end, and teach.

[Anonymous]

Teachers are making this way more difficult than it needs to be. Write out a few key demands such as adequate soap, hand sanitizer, PPEs, cleaning, smaller classrooms. If these are not met, plan ahead with your fellow teachers at your school to stage a mass walkout. Everyone will be sympathetic and the mayor will get you what you need especially when the press pays attention. But right now, when you fuss and whine about every little thing and refuse to even consider why it is important to get kids back in school, you just come across as a bunch of complainers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are making this way more difficult than it needs to be. Write out a few key demands such as adequate soap, hand sanitizer, PPEs, cleaning, smaller classrooms. If these are not met, plan ahead with your fellow teachers at your school to stage a mass walkout. Everyone will be sympathetic and the mayor will get you what you need especially when the press pays attention. But right now, when you fuss and whine about every little thing and refuse to even consider why it is important to get kids back in school, you just come across as a bunch of complainers.

+1. Many teachers did a crap job of distance learning in the spring. This is a nightmare we are going through but everyone needs to be flexible and step up including the teachers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are making this way more difficult than it needs to be. Write out a few key demands such as adequate soap, hand sanitizer, PPEs, cleaning, smaller classrooms. If these are not met, plan ahead with your fellow teachers at your school to stage a mass walkout. Everyone will be sympathetic and the mayor will get you what you need especially when the press pays attention. But right now, when you fuss and whine about every little thing and refuse to even consider why it is important to get kids back in school, you just come across as a bunch of complainers.

+1. Many teachers did a crap job of distance learning in the spring. This is a nightmare we are going through but everyone needs to be flexible and step up including the teachers

And what do you come across as Karens? Concerned parents?

Because you don't, you sound like whiny witches. Please take a look at what teachers would like, it's reasonable and things other essential workers have unless you work at a small place, and DCPS is not small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I heard Bowser says she’s meeting with teachers and it has been productive. Has there really been no consultation at all? Are you sure?

I'm sure. The union president has met with everyone, and the end result has been teachers are being told one thing while parents are being told another. When they assure you that ventilation is adequate, they're lying. When they tell you there will be extra cleaning, they're lying. When teachers tell you we don't always have trash bags, soap, paper towels, or air conditioning, that's the truth. When they tell you kids will be required to self-assess their own symptoms, that's the truth, and IT IS MADNESS. To be clear: there is no extra money, there is no extra staff, and the Mayor has stated she will not let anything teachers do affect her decision on schools.

As a parent who is otherwise pro schools opening, I am pissed. No extra money? Clearly we can’t just do nothing and re open it will take funds and staff. So sorry. In any case we are at a charter that already isn’t opening. This is just hell all around.

There is extra money. DCPS is receiving 22 million in CARES Act funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why teaching online what you would normally teach in the classroom is so difficult... Mute everyone, tell them you are taking questions at the end, and teach.

No, you don't understand. Have you been in a classroom recently? Particularly elementary? In college, I saw professors stand at the front of the room, give a lecture and then take questions at the end. That is not what instruction looks like in PK-12 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, they are not getting it right. DCPS, unlike surrounding school districts, CLOSED SCHOOL THREE WEEKS EARLY in the spring. Our kids not only had a crappy DL curriculum where they got little to no instruction time from their teachers, but then they stopped learning three weeks early.

DCPS has had months to prepare for different scenarios- numbers are going down, numbers are stable, numbers are going up, phase 1 2 3 or 4. But they clearly did not really have concrete plans for all scenarios. They were just banking on being in Phase 2 or 3 by the time the new school year started. Bad continuity planning.

And I'm willing to bet their DL plan is going to be horrific- probably little to no instruction time again in the name of "EQUITY".

I love our school and teachers, but it's hard to argue with the bolded. Our wonderful school gave us next to nothing this spring. We just had 40% of the school year cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why teaching online what you would normally teach in the classroom is so difficult... Mute everyone, tell them you are taking questions at the end, and teach.

No, you don't understand. Have you been in a classroom recently? Particularly elementary? In college, I saw professors stand at the front of the room, give a lecture and then take questions at the end. That is not what instruction looks like in PK-12 schools.

+1. That PP clearly doesn't have kids, or has toddlers.

My kid was in a private school that mostly did small virtual groups in the spring, which worked great but there wasn't enough of it. For the one virtual class that was a big group of 20+ kids, it was chaos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are making this way more difficult than it needs to be. Write out a few key demands such as adequate soap, hand sanitizer, PPEs, cleaning, smaller classrooms. If these are not met, plan ahead with your fellow teachers at your school to stage a mass walkout. Everyone will be sympathetic and the mayor will get you what you need especially when the press pays attention. But right now, when you fuss and whine about every little thing and refuse to even consider why it is important to get kids back in school, you just come across as a bunch of complainers.

This is what we are asking for.
We are planning ahead, being proactive rather than reactive.
How do we walkout with kids in the building? We can’t so we’re doing that now.
Mayor seems to be listening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, they are not getting it right. DCPS, unlike surrounding school districts, CLOSED SCHOOL THREE WEEKS EARLY in the spring. Our kids not only had a crappy DL curriculum where they got little to no instruction time from their teachers, but then they stopped learning three weeks early.

DCPS has had months to prepare for different scenarios- numbers are going down, numbers are stable, numbers are going up, phase 1 2 3 or 4. But they clearly did not really have concrete plans for all scenarios. They were just banking on being in Phase 2 or 3 by the time the new school year started. Bad continuity planning.

And I'm willing to bet their DL plan is going to be horrific- probably little to no instruction time again in the name of "EQUITY".

I love our school and teachers, but it's hard to argue with the bolded. Our wonderful school gave us next to nothing this spring. We just had 40% of the school year cut.

You realize that was a Bowser/Ferebee decision right????? The union and teachers were not asked. We were just as surprised as the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I heard Bowser says she’s meeting with teachers and it has been productive. Has there really been no consultation at all? Are you sure?

I'm sure. The union president has met with everyone, and the end result has been teachers are being told one thing while parents are being told another. When they assure you that ventilation is adequate, they're lying. When they tell you there will be extra cleaning, they're lying. When teachers tell you we don't always have trash bags, soap, paper towels, or air conditioning, that's the truth. When they tell you kids will be required to self-assess their own symptoms, that's the truth, and IT IS MADNESS. To be clear: there is no extra money, there is no extra staff, and the Mayor has stated she will not let anything teachers do affect her decision on schools.

As a parent who is otherwise pro schools opening, I am pissed. No extra money? Clearly we can’t just do nothing and re open it will take funds and staff. So sorry. In any case we are at a charter that already isn’t opening. This is just hell all around.

There is extra money. DCPS is receiving 22 million in CARES Act funding.

They are likely using it on all the lost revenue and unemployment. They 'can't' use enough for public schools...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I heard Bowser says she’s meeting with teachers and it has been productive. Has there really been no consultation at all? Are you sure?

I'm sure. The union president has met with everyone, and the end result has been teachers are being told one thing while parents are being told another. When they assure you that ventilation is adequate, they're lying. When they tell you there will be extra cleaning, they're lying. When teachers tell you we don't always have trash bags, soap, paper towels, or air conditioning, that's the truth. When they tell you kids will be required to self-assess their own symptoms, that's the truth, and IT IS MADNESS. To be clear: there is no extra money, there is no extra staff, and the Mayor has stated she will not let anything teachers do affect her decision on schools.

As a parent who is otherwise pro schools opening, I am pissed. No extra money? Clearly we can’t just do nothing and re open it will take funds and staff. So sorry. In any case we are at a charter that already isn’t opening. This is just hell all around.

There is extra money. DCPS is receiving 22 million in CARES Act funding.

They are likely using it on all the lost revenue and unemployment. They 'can't' use enough for public schools...

Wait specifically to DCPS? I have to do more research. Where is all of that money going? Laptops?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just read through a lot of these chains. IMHO I think DCPS is doing it right. They are planning for an in person following guidelines and say they will go virtual if DC Health says it isn’t safe. What’s wrong with that? It sounds like the chancellor and mayor and DC Health are all working on this together. I work in a hospital and I see the doctors and nurses (and the rest of us admin types) move all day working, talking, dare I say laughing with masks on. We are not worried about it.

You might have had credibility until that last sentence. Then it all came crashing down. I hope beyond hope that you are a troll making up stories and that you don't actually work in a hospital. Because if you do and you think actual medical professionals aren't worried about COVID and spread then I would respectfully suggest that, no matter what your admin function, you may not posses the minimum level of awareness or brainpower to go anywhere near patients, medical records, or anything other than vending machines.

There are reasonable arguments and there are a lot of unknowns. But the transmission rates, impact of catching this thing and negative medical consequences (including death!) are not generally debatable.

In conclusion, I'd rather you a troll than this dumb. That is all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I heard Bowser says she’s meeting with teachers and it has been productive. Has there really been no consultation at all? Are you sure?

Unless she has had a secret council of teachers that no one knows about she has not met with any DCPS teachers. There are 200 teachers,instructional coaches and related service providers on the WTU's reopen taskforce and I can guarantee NONE of us have spoken to the Mayor, we have spoken to the Chancellor in a 45 minute meeting where he was less about listening to suggestions and more about telling us what he would like to see. Most conversations have been thru DCPS legal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are being consulted and are helping with converting the curriculum into something that can be used for distance learning. That is, of course, only one small element of the plans that should be taking place. It does not account for building management, health and safety for teachers/students/family, student and teacher absences, substitution plans, attendance requirements, required teacher instruction time, emergency planning, entry/exit protocols, etc, etc, etc

Yes teachers are helping with curriculum--but why make PK plans when there is no distance learning option? Communication is really not happening in any meaningful way. It's a clear case of the right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing.

Converting curriculum is minute at this point if the bigger and more important health and safety needs are not met in a system where parents TRULY don't know the true state of the schools in terms of cleaning, lack of supplies, lack of funding and lack of properly working HVAC systems.