Barriers to more fully opening schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to determine the requirements that are preventing schools from opening more fully for a letter to DOH and the mayor/councilmembers. Here are the ones I have come up with so far and would appreciate it if others would chime in if there are others:

1. Six feet of distance between each student/desk in the classroom.

2. No classroom can be used for more than one cohort (is this per day? or needs to be cleaned between cohorts?)

3. Bathrooms- how many classrooms/kids can use at the same time?

4. No more than 11 students in a classroom at a time.

The 11-student cap needs to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s also difficult because the whole damn system is racist. The underfunding certain schools, standardized testing, school to prison pipeline. So in that sense, a call to return to that system is problematic. I understand the desire to burn the whole system to the ground. But I also worry that might be a pipe dream in a pandemic, and the collateral damage (to the very people they are claiming to speak for) might be huge. I’ve derailed the thread. I apologize.

No, your suggestion that schools can't reopen until racism is eradicated is ludicrous.

This comment in itself is racist. Thanks for caring about other children other than white ones. Sooooo appreciated.

OMG. I am a POC, and I this this whole rhetoric is insane and I am getting incredibly worried that this whole movement to call everything racist and take extreme actions in the name of eradicating such so-called racism is getting wildly out of hand and will backfire in a huge way. Not everything comes down to racism. Not even every situation that effects people differently is due to racism. And racism cannot be solved by dragging certain groups down or by hypersensationalizing everything as racism. In fact, that is more likely to further issues that contribute to racism. Keeping schools closed and thereby harming all families because a larger percentage of POC don’t want in-person is absolutely ludicrous. Saying someone is racist because they are pushing for inperson schooling since their kid is regressing academically and socially and their career is on the line due to virtual schools is pathetic, asinine, stupid, and actually dangerous to efforts to combat racism.

Amen. Thank you.

Come on. Saying that people are being called racist just for pushing in-person schooling is a red herring. Not everyone pushing for IPL is a racist and not everyone opposing it is an anti-racist. It depends on how selfish your advocacy is, how much you are willing to consider other's situations and your impact on them, your willingness to compromise some of your demands for the greater good, etc. If you're a white parent who's just yelling, get my kid back into school NOW, that is one thing. If you're a white parent who is working as part of a diverse group of parents to constructively push for faster reopening, while taking time to listen and consider other viewpoints, that is another.

You must not have spent much time on Twitter lately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason the open schools NOW debate comes off as racist is because people pose the argument from their own lens. My school has running water; my school has X, Y and Z, etc.

If you only know what your school looks like then you don't understand how the whole system works and in a city with a LOT of Black and Brown kids and in a city where being Black and Brown means a bigger income gap, it looks very very tone deaf.

It is like saying, if you just listen to the cop you won't die. We all know that isn't true.

I hear people saying oh the score card on dcps' website but they haven't been in the school; they haven't seen the system lie about what they have and don't have.

If all DCPS schools were the same why aren't you sending your kid to a school EOTR/P etc.

Also not understanding the challenges other families have about going back in person - real risk for medical problems; perceived risk of medical problems; access to healthcare; access to quarantine or recovery time, etc.

As people are learning to not be racist if you are white LISTEN first and then ask why what you said or did is perceived as racist.

its not about opening school for your kid its about opening it for all kids and all kids don't live like yours.

as for the problems we will have later what are you doing to ask for remediation for ALL kids. dcps summer camp is a huge help for families, are you screaming for it to be open, for it to be open more this summer, asking for summer school options for outside.

i see people in my community complaining we can't tent our school fields for outside school because the community (i.e. 20 year olds with no kids) need it for their outside time.

So Mayor Bowser and Lewis Ferebee are racist for wanting to allow kids to attend school? Gotcha.

I'd say the only racist thing here is shutting down schools mostly attended by black and brown children even as private schools mostly attended by white kids are allowed to remain open.

This. There’s a dynamic at play that you’re all missing.

Also, there’s a way to build trust not make the perfect the enemy of the good and bring down everyone because some people don’t trust their crappy school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS no one is suggesting only white children should get school in person. What should happen is very little extra funds should be given to non-title 1 schools and title 1 school remodels should be the priority.

Pretty sure that’s happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to determine the requirements that are preventing schools from opening more fully for a letter to DOH and the mayor/councilmembers. Here are the ones I have come up with so far and would appreciate it if others would chime in if there are others:

1. Six feet of distance between each student/desk in the classroom.

2. No classroom can be used for more than one cohort (is this per day? or needs to be cleaned between cohorts?)

3. Bathrooms- how many classrooms/kids can use at the same time?

4. No more than 11 students in a classroom at a time.

The 11-student cap needs to go.

Shouldn't it be a cap based on square footage of a classroom. Some classrooms could have 13, some 8, etc. and none to exceed X?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason the open schools NOW debate comes off as racist is because people pose the argument from their own lens. My school has running water; my school has X, Y and Z, etc.

If you only know what your school looks like then you don't understand how the whole system works and in a city with a LOT of Black and Brown kids and in a city where being Black and Brown means a bigger income gap, it looks very very tone deaf.

It is like saying, if you just listen to the cop you won't die. We all know that isn't true.

I hear people saying oh the score card on dcps' website but they haven't been in the school; they haven't seen the system lie about what they have and don't have.

If all DCPS schools were the same why aren't you sending your kid to a school EOTR/P etc.

Also not understanding the challenges other families have about going back in person - real risk for medical problems; perceived risk of medical problems; access to healthcare; access to quarantine or recovery time, etc.

As people are learning to not be racist if you are white LISTEN first and then ask why what you said or did is perceived as racist.

its not about opening school for your kid its about opening it for all kids and all kids don't live like yours.

as for the problems we will have later what are you doing to ask for remediation for ALL kids. dcps summer camp is a huge help for families, are you screaming for it to be open, for it to be open more this summer, asking for summer school options for outside.

i see people in my community complaining we can't tent our school fields for outside school because the community (i.e. 20 year olds with no kids) need it for their outside time.

Nothing of what you just said has anything to do with whether it’s safe for rich white kids in well maintained schools in ward 3 to return to in person learning. Obviously the mayors office and DCPS has a lot of trust to build with folks EOTR, and they should do that! Where you’re losing people is suggesting that kids in ward 3 should stay virtual - against the parents wishes, against CDC guidance - until that happens. It comes across like you’re trying to punish kids with virtual learning until their parents have all spent a sufficient amount of time learning to be anti-racist.

Actually it has everything to do with it. Kids in Ward 3 public schools are in a public system. You can't have one set of rules for one set of kids in a public system.

If DCPS opens schools it has to make it equitable not just catering to the loudest voices.

BTW so many Ward 3 families were saying open schools because of poor BIPOC kids, they know they will get their schools opened too if that is what happens. Are you telling me they would be fine if we just opened schools in Ward 7 and 8 and not in Ward 3 because those families can afford tutors and whatnot?

God. Yes, I would be happy for those schools to open first. Closing the achievement gap has been important to me for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s also difficult because the whole damn system is racist. The underfunding certain schools, standardized testing, school to prison pipeline. So in that sense, a call to return to that system is problematic. I understand the desire to burn the whole system to the ground. But I also worry that might be a pipe dream in a pandemic, and the collateral damage (to the very people they are claiming to speak for) might be huge. I’ve derailed the thread. I apologize.

No, your suggestion that schools can't reopen until racism is eradicated is ludicrous.

This comment in itself is racist. Thanks for caring about other children other than white ones. Sooooo appreciated.

OMG. I am a POC, and I this this whole rhetoric is insane and I am getting incredibly worried that this whole movement to call everything racist and take extreme actions in the name of eradicating such so-called racism is getting wildly out of hand and will backfire in a huge way. Not everything comes down to racism. Not even every situation that effects people differently is due to racism. And racism cannot be solved by dragging certain groups down or by hypersensationalizing everything as racism. In fact, that is more likely to further issues that contribute to racism. Keeping schools closed and thereby harming all families because a larger percentage of POC don’t want in-person is absolutely ludicrous. Saying someone is racist because they are pushing for inperson schooling since their kid is regressing academically and socially and their career is on the line due to virtual schools is pathetic, asinine, stupid, and actually dangerous to efforts to combat racism.

Amen. Thank you.

Come on. Saying that people are being called racist just for pushing in-person schooling is a red herring. Not everyone pushing for IPL is a racist and not everyone opposing it is an anti-racist. It depends on how selfish your advocacy is, how much you are willing to consider other's situations and your impact on them, your willingness to compromise some of your demands for the greater good, etc. If you're a white parent who's just yelling, get my kid back into school NOW, that is one thing. If you're a white parent who is working as part of a diverse group of parents to constructively push for faster reopening, while taking time to listen and consider other viewpoints, that is another.

Uh ok where is that perfectly formed group right now? Punishing people for doing what they can while they’re stretched to the breaking point is very sanctimonious of you.

[Anonymous]

Dont other countries use 3 feet distancing between younger students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason the open schools NOW debate comes off as racist is because people pose the argument from their own lens. My school has running water; my school has X, Y and Z, etc.

If you only know what your school looks like then you don't understand how the whole system works and in a city with a LOT of Black and Brown kids and in a city where being Black and Brown means a bigger income gap, it looks very very tone deaf.

It is like saying, if you just listen to the cop you won't die. We all know that isn't true.

I hear people saying oh the score card on dcps' website but they haven't been in the school; they haven't seen the system lie about what they have and don't have.

If all DCPS schools were the same why aren't you sending your kid to a school EOTR/P etc.

Also not understanding the challenges other families have about going back in person - real risk for medical problems; perceived risk of medical problems; access to healthcare; access to quarantine or recovery time, etc.

As people are learning to not be racist if you are white LISTEN first and then ask why what you said or did is perceived as racist.

its not about opening school for your kid its about opening it for all kids and all kids don't live like yours.

as for the problems we will have later what are you doing to ask for remediation for ALL kids. dcps summer camp is a huge help for families, are you screaming for it to be open, for it to be open more this summer, asking for summer school options for outside.

i see people in my community complaining we can't tent our school fields for outside school because the community (i.e. 20 year olds with no kids) need it for their outside time.

Nothing of what you just said has anything to do with whether it’s safe for rich white kids in well maintained schools in ward 3 to return to in person learning. Obviously the mayors office and DCPS has a lot of trust to build with folks EOTR, and they should do that! Where you’re losing people is suggesting that kids in ward 3 should stay virtual - against the parents wishes, against CDC guidance - until that happens. It comes across like you’re trying to punish kids with virtual learning until their parents have all spent a sufficient amount of time learning to be anti-racist.

Actually it has everything to do with it. Kids in Ward 3 public schools are in a public system. You can't have one set of rules for one set of kids in a public system.

If DCPS opens schools it has to make it equitable not just catering to the loudest voices.

BTW so many Ward 3 families were saying open schools because of poor BIPOC kids, they know they will get their schools opened too if that is what happens. Are you telling me they would be fine if we just opened schools in Ward 7 and 8 and not in Ward 3 because those families can afford tutors and whatnot?

God. Yes, I would be happy for those schools to open first. Closing the achievement gap has been important to me for years.

Why on earth is this an either or situation? I don’t think we even need to solve this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s also difficult because the whole damn system is racist. The underfunding certain schools, standardized testing, school to prison pipeline. So in that sense, a call to return to that system is problematic. I understand the desire to burn the whole system to the ground. But I also worry that might be a pipe dream in a pandemic, and the collateral damage (to the very people they are claiming to speak for) might be huge. I’ve derailed the thread. I apologize.

No, your suggestion that schools can't reopen until racism is eradicated is ludicrous.

This comment in itself is racist. Thanks for caring about other children other than white ones. Sooooo appreciated.

OMG. I am a POC, and I this this whole rhetoric is insane and I am getting incredibly worried that this whole movement to call everything racist and take extreme actions in the name of eradicating such so-called racism is getting wildly out of hand and will backfire in a huge way. Not everything comes down to racism. Not even every situation that effects people differently is due to racism. And racism cannot be solved by dragging certain groups down or by hypersensationalizing everything as racism. In fact, that is more likely to further issues that contribute to racism. Keeping schools closed and thereby harming all families because a larger percentage of POC don’t want in-person is absolutely ludicrous. Saying someone is racist because they are pushing for inperson schooling since their kid is regressing academically and socially and their career is on the line due to virtual schools is pathetic, asinine, stupid, and actually dangerous to efforts to combat racism.

Amen. Thank you.

Come on. Saying that people are being called racist just for pushing in-person schooling is a red herring. Not everyone pushing for IPL is a racist and not everyone opposing it is an anti-racist. It depends on how selfish your advocacy is, how much you are willing to consider other's situations and your impact on them, your willingness to compromise some of your demands for the greater good, etc. If you're a white parent who's just yelling, get my kid back into school NOW, that is one thing. If you're a white parent who is working as part of a diverse group of parents to constructively push for faster reopening, while taking time to listen and consider other viewpoints, that is another.

You must not have spent much time on Twitter lately.

My point is that if there are voices on twitter or elsewhere saying that everyone pushing for IPL is racist, those of us who favor IPL should not respond by implying that this advocacy is *never* racist, which is what the bolded statement above does. We need to acknowledge that some are pushing for reopening in a way that would entrench or widen racial inequities, or that some seem totally unconcerned with equity issues to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s also difficult because the whole damn system is racist. The underfunding certain schools, standardized testing, school to prison pipeline. So in that sense, a call to return to that system is problematic. I understand the desire to burn the whole system to the ground. But I also worry that might be a pipe dream in a pandemic, and the collateral damage (to the very people they are claiming to speak for) might be huge. I’ve derailed the thread. I apologize.

No, your suggestion that schools can't reopen until racism is eradicated is ludicrous.

This comment in itself is racist. Thanks for caring about other children other than white ones. Sooooo appreciated.

OMG. I am a POC, and I this this whole rhetoric is insane and I am getting incredibly worried that this whole movement to call everything racist and take extreme actions in the name of eradicating such so-called racism is getting wildly out of hand and will backfire in a huge way. Not everything comes down to racism. Not even every situation that effects people differently is due to racism. And racism cannot be solved by dragging certain groups down or by hypersensationalizing everything as racism. In fact, that is more likely to further issues that contribute to racism. Keeping schools closed and thereby harming all families because a larger percentage of POC don’t want in-person is absolutely ludicrous. Saying someone is racist because they are pushing for inperson schooling since their kid is regressing academically and socially and their career is on the line due to virtual schools is pathetic, asinine, stupid, and actually dangerous to efforts to combat racism.

Amen. Thank you.

Come on. Saying that people are being called racist just for pushing in-person schooling is a red herring. Not everyone pushing for IPL is a racist and not everyone opposing it is an anti-racist. It depends on how selfish your advocacy is, how much you are willing to consider other's situations and your impact on them, your willingness to compromise some of your demands for the greater good, etc. If you're a white parent who's just yelling, get my kid back into school NOW, that is one thing. If you're a white parent who is working as part of a diverse group of parents to constructively push for faster reopening, while taking time to listen and consider other viewpoints, that is another.

Uh ok where is that perfectly formed group right now? Punishing people for doing what they can while they’re stretched to the breaking point is very sanctimonious of you.

At our school such a parent effort is underway. Of course it could always fall apart, but for now we are trying.

[Anonymous]

This thread makes it clear that Democrat run areas will never again have 5 day a week school. Between race hysteria and hygiene theater (hint: hybrid exposes everyone to more germs due to kids going to daycare on off days), it’s just never going to happen.

It’s so depressing. Meanwhile, even NPR has acknowledged that Florida (schools open, took tons of flak) is doing well covid-wise. We are being scammed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am trying to determine the requirements that are preventing schools from opening more fully for a letter to DOH and the mayor/councilmembers. Here are the ones I have come up with so far and would appreciate it if others would chime in if there are others:

1. Six feet of distance between each student/desk in the classroom.

2. No classroom can be used for more than one cohort (is this per day? or needs to be cleaned between cohorts?)

3. Bathrooms- how many classrooms/kids can use at the same time?

4. No more than 11 students in a classroom at a time.

The 11-student cap needs to go.

This! It's untenable.

[Anonymous]

Reducing the number of required live teaching hours for third, fourth and fifth graders. At our school, K-2 kids are able to come in for half days and so most kids who wanted to were able to get an IPL spot. But the principal told us this was not an option for the older elementary grades because the required number of live learning hours per day was too high to be met by a half day of in person instruction and DCPS wouldn’t waive the requirement. Personally, my fourth grader would get so much extra benefit from being in person half day, even if it means losing an hour of live virtual learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s also difficult because the whole damn system is racist. The underfunding certain schools, standardized testing, school to prison pipeline. So in that sense, a call to return to that system is problematic. I understand the desire to burn the whole system to the ground. But I also worry that might be a pipe dream in a pandemic, and the collateral damage (to the very people they are claiming to speak for) might be huge. I’ve derailed the thread. I apologize.

No, your suggestion that schools can't reopen until racism is eradicated is ludicrous.

This comment in itself is racist. Thanks for caring about other children other than white ones. Sooooo appreciated.

OMG. I am a POC, and I this this whole rhetoric is insane and I am getting incredibly worried that this whole movement to call everything racist and take extreme actions in the name of eradicating such so-called racism is getting wildly out of hand and will backfire in a huge way. Not everything comes down to racism. Not even every situation that effects people differently is due to racism. And racism cannot be solved by dragging certain groups down or by hypersensationalizing everything as racism. In fact, that is more likely to further issues that contribute to racism. Keeping schools closed and thereby harming all families because a larger percentage of POC don’t want in-person is absolutely ludicrous. Saying someone is racist because they are pushing for inperson schooling since their kid is regressing academically and socially and their career is on the line due to virtual schools is pathetic, asinine, stupid, and actually dangerous to efforts to combat racism.

Amen. Thank you.

Come on. Saying that people are being called racist just for pushing in-person schooling is a red herring. Not everyone pushing for IPL is a racist and not everyone opposing it is an anti-racist. It depends on how selfish your advocacy is, how much you are willing to consider other's situations and your impact on them, your willingness to compromise some of your demands for the greater good, etc. If you're a white parent who's just yelling, get my kid back into school NOW, that is one thing. If you're a white parent who is working as part of a diverse group of parents to constructively push for faster reopening, while taking time to listen and consider other viewpoints, that is another.

There's no requirement for white parents to consult with black and brown parents prior to advocating for their children. Enough with this crap that centuries of systemic racism must be eradicated before children get to go to full-time school again.