WaPo: How D.C. and its teachers, with shifting plans and demands, failed to reopen schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean... This really lays the blame about 75% with the Union. The Mayor miscalculated politically and failed to engage enough with interested parties and to sell the plan... But the WTU really seems to have operated in bad faith throughout. Wow.

Oh shut up. Teachers are too underpaid for this, even in DC. Quit with the 100k BS, the average is 60k. 20 years to get to 100k is NOTHING.

Boo hoo nurses have been working in person, ok what does that have to do with teachers specifically. What do hospitals and schools have in common besides corrupt leaders, unfair pay for the backbones (nurses, teachers)?

And wow only 39% of teachers did the sick out and you all were acting like it was 80-90%. In case you suck at math 39% isn't even half. The mayor KNEW what would happen if she didn't include the WTU in the beginning.

I am a preschool teacher who went back and then got covid, I survived (likely because I am 24 and healthy) and I'm not going back without a vaccine.
4 years of pay freezes, a classroom whose lights won't turn off, broken heater and air conditioner, broken toilet, no pull ups, etc. but woooooow we have an HVAC. FU. Fix our schools!

Wow. You’re clearly reacting to posters that aren’t me, but literally none of that responds to my actual point. You can think teachers shouldn’t go back for safety reasons (although it’s not just nurses, obviously, it’s like 70% of all employees in DC at the moment), but that doesn’t change the fact that the WTU appears to have negotiated in bad faith. Nothing in your diatribe suggests otherwise. By the way, blaming the WTU isn’t the same as blaming every individual teacher. But, also, you clearly have no idea where you got COVID and have constructed a narrative in your head about where you probably got it. It doesn’t really work like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean... This really lays the blame about 75% with the Union. The Mayor miscalculated politically and failed to engage enough with interested parties and to sell the plan... But the WTU really seems to have operated in bad faith throughout. Wow.

Oh shut up. Teachers are too underpaid for this, even in DC. Quit with the 100k BS, the average is 60k. 20 years to get to 100k is NOTHING.

Boo hoo nurses have been working in person, ok what does that have to do with teachers specifically. What do hospitals and schools have in common besides corrupt leaders, unfair pay for the backbones (nurses, teachers)?

And wow only 39% of teachers did the sick out and you all were acting like it was 80-90%. In case you suck at math 39% isn't even half. The mayor KNEW what would happen if she didn't include the WTU in the beginning.

I am a preschool teacher who went back and then got covid, I survived (likely because I am 24 and healthy) and I'm not going back without a vaccine.
4 years of pay freezes, a classroom whose lights won't turn off, broken heater and air conditioner, broken toilet, no pull ups, etc. but woooooow we have an HVAC. FU. Fix our schools!

Wow. You’re clearly reacting to posters that aren’t me, but literally none of that responds to my actual point. You can think teachers shouldn’t go back for safety reasons (although it’s not just nurses, obviously, it’s like 70% of all employees in DC at the moment), but that doesn’t change the fact that the WTU appears to have negotiated in bad faith. Nothing in your diatribe suggests otherwise. By the way, blaming the WTU isn’t the same as blaming every individual teacher. But, also, you clearly have no idea where you got COVID and have constructed a narrative in your head about where you probably got it. It doesn’t really work like that.

You're part of the issue, nasty white parent who has no idea about the history of DCPS and it's teachers.
It is not 70% but sure even if it was I really don't care. And the WTU represents teachers thus your comment is about teachers. I don't really care about what you think about me individually.

Also I assume I got it from school because I do not go out and when I do there's really no people around. My husband works from home, pretty simple.

You don't care about children, you just care about b*tching since now you can't gossip about other mundane things. If you cared you'd complain about the state many of our schools are in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean... This really lays the blame about 75% with the Union. The Mayor miscalculated politically and failed to engage enough with interested parties and to sell the plan... But the WTU really seems to have operated in bad faith throughout. Wow.

Oh shut up. Teachers are too underpaid for this, even in DC. Quit with the 100k BS, the average is 60k. 20 years to get to 100k is NOTHING.

Boo hoo nurses have been working in person, ok what does that have to do with teachers specifically. What do hospitals and schools have in common besides corrupt leaders, unfair pay for the backbones (nurses, teachers)?

And wow only 39% of teachers did the sick out and you all were acting like it was 80-90%. In case you suck at math 39% isn't even half. The mayor KNEW what would happen if she didn't include the WTU in the beginning.

I am a preschool teacher who went back and then got covid, I survived (likely because I am 24 and healthy) and I'm not going back without a vaccine.
4 years of pay freezes, a classroom whose lights won't turn off, broken heater and air conditioner, broken toilet, no pull ups, etc. but woooooow we have an HVAC. FU. Fix our schools!

Wow. You’re clearly reacting to posters that aren’t me, but literally none of that responds to my actual point. You can think teachers shouldn’t go back for safety reasons (although it’s not just nurses, obviously, it’s like 70% of all employees in DC at the moment), but that doesn’t change the fact that the WTU appears to have negotiated in bad faith. Nothing in your diatribe suggests otherwise. By the way, blaming the WTU isn’t the same as blaming every individual teacher. But, also, you clearly have no idea where you got COVID and have constructed a narrative in your head about where you probably got it. It doesn’t really work like that.

You're part of the issue, nasty white parent who has no idea about the history of DCPS and it's teachers.
It is not 70% but sure even if it was I really don't care. And the WTU represents teachers thus your comment is about teachers. I don't really care about what you think about me individually.

Also I assume I got it from school because I do not go out and when I do there's really no people around. My husband works from home, pretty simple.

You don't care about children, you just care about b*tching since now you can't gossip about other mundane things. If you cared you'd complain about the state many of our schools are in.

Wow. You mentioned in a previous post you were thinking about quitting to accept another job or be a SAHM. I think it’s time you took a break from teaching if you’re this angry. It’s not good for you, the school you’re in, or anyone in your classroom. Yes, everyone was correct, teaching is a thankless job. Get out of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean... This really lays the blame about 75% with the Union. The Mayor miscalculated politically and failed to engage enough with interested parties and to sell the plan... But the WTU really seems to have operated in bad faith throughout. Wow.

Oh shut up. Teachers are too underpaid for this, even in DC. Quit with the 100k BS, the average is 60k. 20 years to get to 100k is NOTHING.

Boo hoo nurses have been working in person, ok what does that have to do with teachers specifically. What do hospitals and schools have in common besides corrupt leaders, unfair pay for the backbones (nurses, teachers)?

And wow only 39% of teachers did the sick out and you all were acting like it was 80-90%. In case you suck at math 39% isn't even half. The mayor KNEW what would happen if she didn't include the WTU in the beginning.

I am a preschool teacher who went back and then got covid, I survived (likely because I am 24 and healthy) and I'm not going back without a vaccine.
4 years of pay freezes, a classroom whose lights won't turn off, broken heater and air conditioner, broken toilet, no pull ups, etc. but woooooow we have an HVAC. FU. Fix our schools!

Wow. You’re clearly reacting to posters that aren’t me, but literally none of that responds to my actual point. You can think teachers shouldn’t go back for safety reasons (although it’s not just nurses, obviously, it’s like 70% of all employees in DC at the moment), but that doesn’t change the fact that the WTU appears to have negotiated in bad faith. Nothing in your diatribe suggests otherwise. By the way, blaming the WTU isn’t the same as blaming every individual teacher. But, also, you clearly have no idea where you got COVID and have constructed a narrative in your head about where you probably got it. It doesn’t really work like that.

You're part of the issue, nasty white parent who has no idea about the history of DCPS and it's teachers.
It is not 70% but sure even if it was I really don't care. And the WTU represents teachers thus your comment is about teachers. I don't really care about what you think about me individually.

Also I assume I got it from school because I do not go out and when I do there's really no people around. My husband works from home, pretty simple.

You don't care about children, you just care about b*tching since now you can't gossip about other mundane things. If you cared you'd complain about the state many of our schools are in.

Wow. You mentioned in a previous post you were thinking about quitting to accept another job or be a SAHM. I think it’s time you took a break from teaching if you’re this angry. It’s not good for you, the school you’re in, or anyone in your classroom. Yes, everyone was correct, teaching is a thankless job. Get out of it.

+1

[Anonymous]

Failures on both sides but clearly the Union obstructed the goal of re-opening and backed out of deal after deal. Mayor and city made some mistakes but they were following the science and wanted schools to open all along.

In addition, they realized the huge impact of the kids left behind in the city. Many of these kids will never catch up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That article goes FAR too easy on the unions and their concerted efforts to deny and distort the science and reject public health recommendations.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean... This really lays the blame about 75% with the Union. The Mayor miscalculated politically and failed to engage enough with interested parties and to sell the plan... But the WTU really seems to have operated in bad faith throughout. Wow.

Oh shut up. Teachers are too underpaid for this, even in DC. Quit with the 100k BS, the average is 60k. 20 years to get to 100k is NOTHING.

Boo hoo nurses have been working in person, ok what does that have to do with teachers specifically. What do hospitals and schools have in common besides corrupt leaders, unfair pay for the backbones (nurses, teachers)?

And wow only 39% of teachers did the sick out and you all were acting like it was 80-90%. In case you suck at math 39% isn't even half. The mayor KNEW what would happen if she didn't include the WTU in the beginning.

I am a preschool teacher who went back and then got covid, I survived (likely because I am 24 and healthy) and I'm not going back without a vaccine.
4 years of pay freezes, a classroom whose lights won't turn off, broken heater and air conditioner, broken toilet, no pull ups, etc. but woooooow we have an HVAC. FU. Fix our schools!

Wow. You’re clearly reacting to posters that aren’t me, but literally none of that responds to my actual point. You can think teachers shouldn’t go back for safety reasons (although it’s not just nurses, obviously, it’s like 70% of all employees in DC at the moment), but that doesn’t change the fact that the WTU appears to have negotiated in bad faith. Nothing in your diatribe suggests otherwise. By the way, blaming the WTU isn’t the same as blaming every individual teacher. But, also, you clearly have no idea where you got COVID and have constructed a narrative in your head about where you probably got it. It doesn’t really work like that.

You're part of the issue, nasty white parent who has no idea about the history of DCPS and it's teachers.
It is not 70% but sure even if it was I really don't care. And the WTU represents teachers thus your comment is about teachers. I don't really care about what you think about me individually.

Also I assume I got it from school because I do not go out and when I do there's really no people around. My husband works from home, pretty simple.

You don't care about children, you just care about b*tching since now you can't gossip about other mundane things. If you cared you'd complain about the state many of our schools are in.

Wow. You mentioned in a previous post you were thinking about quitting to accept another job or be a SAHM. I think it’s time you took a break from teaching if you’re this angry. It’s not good for you, the school you’re in, or anyone in your classroom. Yes, everyone was correct, teaching is a thankless job. Get out of it.

Encouraging a teacher to quit while simultaneously begging for schools to reopen is counterintuitive. If a teacher quits now in January, during a pandemic, no one is replacing them. There are numerous vacancies in the district already with no one to fill them.

You’re right, teaching is a thankless job. Not many people want to do it, let’s value the people who do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean... This really lays the blame about 75% with the Union. The Mayor miscalculated politically and failed to engage enough with interested parties and to sell the plan... But the WTU really seems to have operated in bad faith throughout. Wow.

Oh shut up. Teachers are too underpaid for this, even in DC. Quit with the 100k BS, the average is 60k. 20 years to get to 100k is NOTHING.

Boo hoo nurses have been working in person, ok what does that have to do with teachers specifically. What do hospitals and schools have in common besides corrupt leaders, unfair pay for the backbones (nurses, teachers)?

And wow only 39% of teachers did the sick out and you all were acting like it was 80-90%. In case you suck at math 39% isn't even half. The mayor KNEW what would happen if she didn't include the WTU in the beginning.

I am a preschool teacher who went back and then got covid, I survived (likely because I am 24 and healthy) and I'm not going back without a vaccine.
4 years of pay freezes, a classroom whose lights won't turn off, broken heater and air conditioner, broken toilet, no pull ups, etc. but woooooow we have an HVAC. FU. Fix our schools!

Wow. You’re clearly reacting to posters that aren’t me, but literally none of that responds to my actual point. You can think teachers shouldn’t go back for safety reasons (although it’s not just nurses, obviously, it’s like 70% of all employees in DC at the moment), but that doesn’t change the fact that the WTU appears to have negotiated in bad faith. Nothing in your diatribe suggests otherwise. By the way, blaming the WTU isn’t the same as blaming every individual teacher. But, also, you clearly have no idea where you got COVID and have constructed a narrative in your head about where you probably got it. It doesn’t really work like that.

You're part of the issue, nasty white parent who has no idea about the history of DCPS and it's teachers.
It is not 70% but sure even if it was I really don't care. And the WTU represents teachers thus your comment is about teachers. I don't really care about what you think about me individually.

Also I assume I got it from school because I do not go out and when I do there's really no people around. My husband works from home, pretty simple.

You don't care about children, you just care about b*tching since now you can't gossip about other mundane things. If you cared you'd complain about the state many of our schools are in.

Wow. You mentioned in a previous post you were thinking about quitting to accept another job or be a SAHM. I think it’s time you took a break from teaching if you’re this angry. It’s not good for you, the school you’re in, or anyone in your classroom. Yes, everyone was correct, teaching is a thankless job. Get out of it.

Encouraging a teacher to quit while simultaneously begging for schools to reopen is counterintuitive. If a teacher quits now in January, during a pandemic, no one is replacing them. There are numerous vacancies in the district already with no one to fill them.

You’re right, teaching is a thankless job. Not many people want to do it, let’s value the people who do.

But the poster you are referencing clearly does not and is fed up so for the sake of metal health and well being she should act in her own best interest.

[Anonymous]

WTU may have won the battle to close schools for a year or so, but I wonder if they’ve lost the war to fund public schools in the future. Surely the union’s behavior over the past few months has lost the hearts and minds of many voters. I know I’ll think twice before voting for any candidates who touts their WTU endorsement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTU may have won the battle to close schools for a year or so, but I wonder if they’ve lost the war to fund public schools in the future. Surely the union’s behavior over the past few months has lost the hearts and minds of many voters. I know I’ll think twice before voting for any candidates who touts their WTU endorsement.

+1

I am a DCPS teacher and worry that any support we had from parents or any goodwill is squandered by the union. I wonder if budgets will be cut and Bowser won’t negotiate to increase them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wish they had managed to show the inside story from Central Office. Based on people I know who work there, that has been a cluster all year as well. People scrambling, doing tons of work that ends up being useless, changing things last minute, only a select few people making decisions, etc.

This has been a nightmare all around.

Same. Central office, chancellor, mayor — I have zero trust in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTU may have won the battle to close schools for a year or so, but I wonder if they’ve lost the war to fund public schools in the future. Surely the union’s behavior over the past few months has lost the hearts and minds of many voters. I know I’ll think twice before voting for any candidates who touts their WTU endorsement.

+1

I am a DCPS teacher and worry that any support we had from parents or any goodwill is squandered by the union. I wonder if budgets will be cut and Bowser won’t negotiate to increase them.

I am a DCPS parent. Don’t worry. We know the mayor and chancellor have cut parents and teachers out of this process
And we back the union.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTU may have won the battle to close schools for a year or so, but I wonder if they’ve lost the war to fund public schools in the future. Surely the union’s behavior over the past few months has lost the hearts and minds of many voters. I know I’ll think twice before voting for any candidates who touts their WTU endorsement.

+1

I am a DCPS teacher and worry that any support we had from parents or any goodwill is squandered by the union. I wonder if budgets will be cut and Bowser won’t negotiate to increase them.

I am a DCPS parent. Don’t worry. We know the mayor and chancellor have cut parents and teachers out of this process
And we back the union.

Why? I am a DCPS parent and a DCPS parent and I feel like the union has mishandled this from the beginning. I am grasping at reasons to support the union at this point because I feel like it has let me down. I am wondering what a DCPS parent feels like the union has done right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTU may have won the battle to close schools for a year or so, but I wonder if they’ve lost the war to fund public schools in the future. Surely the union’s behavior over the past few months has lost the hearts and minds of many voters. I know I’ll think twice before voting for any candidates who touts their WTU endorsement.

+1

I am a DCPS teacher and worry that any support we had from parents or any goodwill is squandered by the union. I wonder if budgets will be cut and Bowser won’t negotiate to increase them.

I am a DCPS parent. Don’t worry. We know the mayor and chancellor have cut parents and teachers out of this process
And we back the union.

Not this DCPS parent. My perception of teachers and the union has completely changed. Agree with PP that that I don’t understand the WTU’s long game here, and I won’t be backing any politician who endorses the WTU moving forward. Already regretting my vote for Robert White.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WTU may have won the battle to close schools for a year or so, but I wonder if they’ve lost the war to fund public schools in the future. Surely the union’s behavior over the past few months has lost the hearts and minds of many voters. I know I’ll think twice before voting for any candidates who touts their WTU endorsement.

+1

I am a DCPS teacher and worry that any support we had from parents or any goodwill is squandered by the union. I wonder if budgets will be cut and Bowser won’t negotiate to increase them.

I am a DCPS parent. Don’t worry. We know the mayor and chancellor have cut parents and teachers out of this process
And we back the union.

Why? I am a DCPS parent and a DCPS parent and I feel like the union has mishandled this from the beginning. I am grasping at reasons to support the union at this point because I feel like it has let me down. I am wondering what a DCPS parent feels like the union has done right.

I don’t know why you’re not well-educated on this issue, but let me fill you in:
The mayor doesn’t care or can’t manage education, and plus she’s heavily influenced by charter school lobbyists. She doesn’t care about DCPS.
The chancellor came from a Broad academy charter program where he was taught how to ignore parents and teachers while paying them lip service. Paul Kihn same thing.

Together, this means there is NO real PLAN to open schools.
The principals are not being consulted!

I love my kids teachers and principal and the chancellor is trying to ram down a PR-first BS plan without asking them, or parents, what we can help with.

And the chancellor and central office are horrible at planning.

This is all pretty simple.