How do we get the law reversed requiring in-person school?

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, it is an election year. Going back to virtual is political suicide for the Dems.

I guess the supts could implement hybrid/concurrent again if COVID starts looking really bad again, but no. No 100% virtual learning this upcoming year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think anyone thinks it was successful last year. You should do homeschooling instead (and it doesn't have to be you teaching- they have excellent online programs)

I do not wish to homeschool. I wish to have credentialed teachers teaching my children. Stop suggesting home schooling.

Virtual education was very successful for most kids. A few struggled.

Most of the people bellyaching were just resentful that they didn't have child care. They're flailing was never about the kids' or their communities' best interests. They were just selfish assholes and it makes me angry the legislature caved.

Give the local districts the flexibility back to make good decisions.

Where's your data on this?

The problem is: the local districts didn't make good decisions, when they were given flexibility. The legislators did NOT want to go on record on this hard topic. They were forced to by paralyzed school boards.

My data on this is that it's the future of education. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tremendously successful?

Are you a troll? NO ONE thinks it was 'tremendously successful'.

No, I am absolutely not a troll. MOST PEOPLE WERE PRETTY HAPPY WITH THE VIRTUAL OPTION. Please don't confuse your own distaste for it for being common reaction. That was a fringe position.

I concur. Unfortunately, the furious parents were the most vocal on DCUM, and organized themselves into groups, some of which now appear to have been aided (possibly funded) by outside right-wing organizations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, it is an election year. Going back to virtual is political suicide for the Dems.

I guess the supts could implement hybrid/concurrent again if COVID starts looking really bad again, but no. No 100% virtual learning this upcoming year.

Why? Democrats should run on preserving local control over schools. That is always the popular position to have.

The reality is the local schools here did a great job managing this under difficult circumstances. LCPS led the way -- people out here in Western Loudoun are pretty happy with how it all went. FCPS was good. APS good. I don't know about ACPS, but that's a different cluster-eff.

There was some grouchy malconents who made a lot of noise, but those idiots are inconsequential and easily dismissed. Most of the groups campaigning to recall the various school board members are just right-wing agitators with ulterior motives who want things like the Bible to be taught in schools, etc. A few gullible Democrats jumped on that bandwagon, but most of us are supportive of local control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t this what homeschooling is for?

No. Try to keep up. I want regular teachers doing instruction online. It was tremendously successful last year and I don't know why this isn't being continued under the circumstances.

What school systems are at least making it an option?

Successful?

You are better off contacting the various and sundry gubernatorial candidates’ campaign offices.

Of course it was successful. For some, it was even optimal. It was a great new model that needs to be preserved as an option at the very least. For one thing, it's the same model most workforces are going to.

Most workforces?

You cannot use a few personal observations and generalize them like this. Do a little research. Most offices are asking people to come back in. Most students fell behind academically. Most students and most parents suffered negative emotional consequences because of virtual learning. Yes there are exceptions but virtual learning is not good for kids.

Assuming you aren't a troll, please don't try to get the law reversed. We need kids in school.

(Also I am homeschooling this year just because I did it for the latter half of last school year and enjoyed it, so I'm not looking for free babysitting or anything. I am just looking at research and hoping that we do the right thing and have in-person school five days a week)

[Anonymous]

If you love distance learning for your child and family, there are plenty of existing, established online virtual programs. Enroll in one of those. Local school districts are not properly equipped to run them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tremendously successful?

Are you a troll? NO ONE thinks it was 'tremendously successful'.

No, I am absolutely not a troll. MOST PEOPLE WERE PRETTY HAPPY WITH THE VIRTUAL OPTION. Please don't confuse your own distaste for it for being common reaction. That was a fringe position.

I concur. Unfortunately, the furious parents were the most vocal on DCUM, and organized themselves into groups, some of which now appear to have been aided (possibly funded) by outside right-wing organizations.

The gullible ones who got in bed with those groups are going to be shocked to learn what their real agenda is. A lot of right-wing nonsense like vouchers, requiring school prayer, etc. And the money those people contribute to those organizations is already being steered to national right-wing groups focused on undermining the pillars of American democracy.

[Anonymous]

OP, come take a look at the DCPS thread about a virtual option. The same anti-virtual trolls are visiting your thread. I'm so sorry. I agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t this what homeschooling is for?

No. Try to keep up. I want regular teachers doing instruction online. It was tremendously successful last year and I don't know why this isn't being continued under the circumstances.

What school systems are at least making it an option?

LOL. You must not have had any kids who took AP classes that required labs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think anyone thinks it was successful last year. You should do homeschooling instead (and it doesn't have to be you teaching- they have excellent online programs)

I do not wish to homeschool. I wish to have credentialed teachers teaching my children. Stop suggesting home schooling.

Virtual education was very successful for most kids. A few struggled.

Most of the people bellyaching were just resentful that they didn't have child care. They're flailing was never about the kids' or their communities' best interests. They were just selfish assholes and it makes me angry the legislature caved.

Give the local districts the flexibility back to make good decisions.

Homeschooling with REAL virtual teachers is having credentialed teachers teach your kids. And the quality is way above what our public school teachers put out when they half ass virtual schooling

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, come take a look at the DCPS thread about a virtual option. The same anti-virtual trolls are visiting your thread. I'm so sorry. I agree with you.

The VAST majority of parents feel the way I do. The malcontents who are hell bent on exposing my children and their teachers (breakthrough infections are happening) to a wildly deadly disease is insane.

All I will say is if and when the vaccines are approved for use in children under 12, it better be a requirement for any child attending in-person school. It should be a requirement right now for all secondary school students who will attend in-person school. No exceptions. None. Zip. Zero. Not for religion, not for health -- if you are that unhealthy, you should be confined to your home during a pandemic.

So, I guess that's where I fall. If we can't reinstate local control and the virtual option, I expect the legislature to mandate vaccines for all in-person students. In the meantime, my teen is vaccinated as is my child and they will both wear masks and I have instructed them to dress down any peers who refuse to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think anyone thinks it was successful last year. You should do homeschooling instead (and it doesn't have to be you teaching- they have excellent online programs)

I do not wish to homeschool. I wish to have credentialed teachers teaching my children. Stop suggesting home schooling.

Virtual education was very successful for most kids. A few struggled.

Most of the people bellyaching were just resentful that they didn't have child care. They're flailing was never about the kids' or their communities' best interests. They were just selfish assholes and it makes me angry the legislature caved.

Give the local districts the flexibility back to make good decisions.

Oh, please, get out of your bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:tremendously successful?

Are you a troll? NO ONE thinks it was 'tremendously successful'.

+1 op, have actually looked at any data? Our town analyzed all our youngest kids (we went back full time for k-2 in January) against 17 years of assessments for mid and end of year benchmarks. 75% of our kids were significantly below prior years in every single metric. This is a wealthy New England town that provided laptops to everyone who needed it.

You need to homeschool

To add, here’s some comparison results from PALs testing compared to 2019. https://pals.virginia.edu/public/pdfs/login/PALS_Spring2021_Impact_COVID-19.pdf

It’s not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t this what homeschooling is for?

No. Try to keep up. I want regular teachers doing instruction online. It was tremendously successful last year and I don't know why this isn't being continued under the circumstances.

What school systems are at least making it an option?

Arlington made it an option for anyone who wanted it. It's an option through Virtual Virginia, though you probably missed the deadline to sign up for that (no idea). If there is anyone who actually believed that virtual was "tremendously successful" I assume they would have already looked into ways to continue in virtual, delta variant or no. Which is how you know this poster is just trolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, come take a look at the DCPS thread about a virtual option. The same anti-virtual trolls are visiting your thread. I'm so sorry. I agree with you.

Is it that hard for you to believe that actual parents find virtual schools useless and in some cases detrimental to their kids’ learning? OP is the one who is a troll. Her talking points are so obvious. “Huge success, parents just wanted child care?”