Teachers Not Wanting to Go Back in Person

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are back at school. Keep up.

I believe the question pertains to those who are not, as the subject says, back in person.

I wanted to go back in person and then my doctor said “We need to talk.” It was a very long, dark, and confusing conversation. I went home with this nice packet of brochures and a handful of prescriptions. My entire life has changed. There are a lot of things that I would love to do in-person. None of them are worth leaving my kids without a mom. So grateful for FMLA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are back at school. Keep up.

I believe the question pertains to those who are not, as the subject says, back in person.

I wanted to go back in person and then my doctor said “We need to talk.” It was a very long, dark, and confusing conversation. I went home with this nice packet of brochures and a handful of prescriptions. My entire life has changed. There are a lot of things that I would love to do in-person. None of them are worth leaving my kids without a mom. So grateful for FMLA.

What did you get diagnosed with?

[Anonymous]

This is just an anecdote, but one division of my company sells a product to school districts. We have a lot of sales and customer support staff, all in work from home roles. It's nice when we can hire former teachers, administrators, etc because they have more credibility with our clients.

Our applications from current teachers have gone absolutely through the roof. Most commonly before we would see applications from either teachers who took an extended parental leave (3 - 5 years) and wanted to get back into the workforce or people in that 2-3 years of experience range where they realized teaching wasn't for them.

We are seeing massive numbers of applications from current teachers with experience 10+ years. It seems they have gotten a taste of the work from home life and don't want to go back. It is a lifestyle thing for many of them. Technically longer workday hours and a year round work schedule (summer is our busy time), for the same total pay as they are making as teachers. But to not have to go back in person they are willing to do it.

[Anonymous]

100% support teachers having a choice

[Anonymous]

You see this a lot if you read between the lines of people who are upset with reopening (in general, not just schools). They have self-diagnosed “social anxiety,” don’t want to go back to interacting in person, love the working at home lifestyle, no commute or getting dressed in nicer clothes every day. Plus with teachers in particular, when working from home, there’s less stress about classroom behavior management.

There are some very vocal people who never want the Covid lifestyle to end and some of them happen to also be teachers. I do think most teachers who actually enjoy teaching and are good at their jobs want to be back in the classrooms, so don’t paint all teachers with a broad brush here. It’s far easier to be an EFFECTIVE teacher in the classroom with students who are also in person in the classroom. But it’s an easier lifestyle to work at home and never leave your house.

[Anonymous]

I think teachers can make a personal choice on this but yes it may effect whether not they have a job just like it would for the rest of us. The thing that has upset me the most this year is there is a representation by some, certainly not all, teachers that they are the only ones facing risk in the pandemic. I have gone to work every day in my very crowded government office and so have thousands of others who work on classified systems. We also did not sign up for it. We worked before the vaccines were even created. We changed our hours and made crazy schedules in order to be home for virtual school. But it often feels like a vocal group of teachers act like they’re the only ones taking risks and making sacrifices when the reality is they are one of the most protected groups during this. I think this is where the relationship with teachers went South for many parents.

[Anonymous]

We're keeping our kids at home because we feel that the in-school operations are unsafe. If we feel that way for our kids then I can COMPLETELY understand why teachers feel that way for themselves. The kids who have gone back already are either 1) the kids whose moms want them out of the house because they are hellions, or 2) the kids who have special needs or need extra support. I think most of the kids are in the #1 category. No way do I want our kids in that mix and, again, I can completely understand why teachers would want to avoid them. I would, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are back at school. Keep up.

I believe the question pertains to those who are not, as the subject says, back in person.

I wanted to go back in person and then my doctor said “We need to talk.” It was a very long, dark, and confusing conversation. I went home with this nice packet of brochures and a handful of prescriptions. My entire life has changed. There are a lot of things that I would love to do in-person. None of them are worth leaving my kids without a mom. So grateful for FMLA.

What did you get diagnosed with?

I feel uncomfortable sharing my exact diagnosis as it is identifying, but the category is on the list of known very high risk conditions. It’s not obesity (obviously since that would not be identifying). It’s not due to lifestyle or anything I actively did. I already had two other conditions on the likely high risk list. Again, nothing in my power. Managing my health is a big thing to do even without the context of extra precautions in a pandemic. I think people are experiencing empathy fatigue that causes them to lose perspective about the inherent value and contributions of others who are old, ill, or have disabilities. There’s a lot of trolls who take pleasure in saying people like me should just quit or die, but I’m starting to suspect that they are just voicing what many others think silently. It can happen to any of us at anytime. I was one of those “cheap”, first year teachers when I got my first autoimmune condition.

[Anonymous]

Because they’re insane risk averse paranoid people who want zero risk. They need a new job. They should not be teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're keeping our kids at home because we feel that the in-school operations are unsafe. If we feel that way for our kids then I can COMPLETELY understand why teachers feel that way for themselves. The kids who have gone back already are either 1) the kids whose moms want them out of the house because they are hellions, or 2) the kids who have special needs or need extra support. I think most of the kids are in the #1 category. No way do I want our kids in that mix and, again, I can completely understand why teachers would want to avoid them. I would, too.

JFC. You’re insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Construction is different as you are in a persons home or building and separated. Much easier to keep safe than with 30+ students to a room. You sound entitled. Hire a nanny.

I can't find the reference right now, but I think construction workers as a group were an occupation that was shown to have very high risk of contracting COVID from the job. Especially if they are working on inside construction with several workers working in the same area, they have a lot of exposure.

I agree that no one seemed to care very much about all the construction workers getting COVID. Or the people who worked in meat-processing plants. Or many other places were workers worked in person, and had high exposure to COVID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're keeping our kids at home because we feel that the in-school operations are unsafe. If we feel that way for our kids then I can COMPLETELY understand why teachers feel that way for themselves. The kids who have gone back already are either 1) the kids whose moms want them out of the house because they are hellions, or 2) the kids who have special needs or need extra support. I think most of the kids are in the #1 category. No way do I want our kids in that mix and, again, I can completely understand why teachers would want to avoid them. I would, too.

Interesting that you see it as unsafe when they're following the CDC guidelines to a tee. I've come to understand that the "believe the science" folks only believe the science that they like.

My HS kids are back in hybrid in FCPS. They are in neither of your two categories. I love having them home because I'm fortunate to be able to be home. The pace is easier, no morning rushing, more time spent together and less time spent in the bus or car. I have one away at college so the reality of how little time I have left with them here is front and center for me. But I know it's not what's best for them. They need to be with their peers.

You should send your kids to school. Their home environment sounds toxic and I'm guessing they would LOVE a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're keeping our kids at home because we feel that the in-school operations are unsafe. If we feel that way for our kids then I can COMPLETELY understand why teachers feel that way for themselves. The kids who have gone back already are either 1) the kids whose moms want them out of the house because they are hellions, or 2) the kids who have special needs or need extra support. I think most of the kids are in the #1 category. No way do I want our kids in that mix and, again, I can completely understand why teachers would want to avoid them. I would, too.

+1 Our kids have taken a look at who is in the classrooms and there is absolutely no way that our kids want to be there with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only people unwilling to go back to work have protected jobs (teachers, state and federal workers). The poor lowly grocery store worker has zero options.

This is mostly true. I have some white collar private sector friends in fields like tech and management consulting who've been told they don't have to go back to their offices this year or maybe ever. And i have fed friends who have never been allowed to WFH due to the classified nature of their work, and state worker friends who got called back so as not to look lazy.

But it's absolutely true that public sector workers have been able to stay home because their jobs are more protected, while tons of essential private sector workers who often have lower pay and far less ability to negotiate safety conditions have had to work in person. And it has NOTHING to do with their jobs being safer than teaching, they are not. Teaching is not the most uniquely dangerous type of work in the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're keeping our kids at home because we feel that the in-school operations are unsafe. If we feel that way for our kids then I can COMPLETELY understand why teachers feel that way for themselves. The kids who have gone back already are either 1) the kids whose moms want them out of the house because they are hellions, or 2) the kids who have special needs or need extra support. I think most of the kids are in the #1 category. No way do I want our kids in that mix and, again, I can completely understand why teachers would want to avoid them. I would, too.

+1 Our kids have taken a look at who is in the classrooms and there is absolutely no way that our kids want to be there with them.

I seriously can’t even imagine who would be keeping their kids virtual by choice right now unless they are at high risk of Covid complications. Maybe PPs have middle or high school aged kids and virtual works for them. My ES kids just went back and they are like different people now (for the better). I assure you that most of the kids in our ES are not “behavior problems”.