Do DC parents still blame teacher unions for everything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you would have a lot more credibility if you stopped acting like DL is difficult.
I’ve done both and we are all begging to be quarantined. DL is insanely easy and that’s why folks won’t give it up.

Start from a place of integrity and we can gain credibility.

You obviously have no idea what it's like to be a teacher. DL for me and my colleagues has added hours of extra work. We haven't had a free weekend as we constantly create new content each week. We can't wait for the hybrid and simulcast teaching to end.

We know this is true from a teacher’s POV - but your union and their s hills hate kids and scared families into staying home. The city was ready to open until your body bag stunt you pulled last August, and your union fought tooth and nail to keep things shut down until February. I want you to look my senior in the eye and explain why you stole their senior year, while they watch friends and cousins elsewhere enjoy being in school, activities, prom, etc. Bottom line is that the WTU bullied the city into submission, and the still draconian health department guidelines show the complicity. I feel for the teachers who put kids first - you are the true heroes, but what the union did is just criminal.

It’s so sad that this is how you choose the to see the world. Nobody on an anonymous site is going to change your mind but you really need to reset your brain if you think teachers hate kids or stole time from students. None of this had anything to do with negative feelings toward children, but decades of lost trust between DCPS and the teachers. Lapsed contracts/broken promises/class size violations/refusals to update tech in the before times all add up to a teaching population that had no faith in their district to put together a reopening that would best serve children while also providing safety per cdc guidelines. DCPS is STILL not meeting their side of the MOU, but now that I’m vaccinated I can feel a little better being in a situation that did not meet CDC guidelines from January on.

And it’s because of educators like you that my senior never set foot in their building after March 2020. I am well aware that the vast majority of teachers in our buildings wanted to be there and didn’t agree with the union. The WTU scare tactics not only kept kids out of school but eroded confidence in reopening to communities that were afraid enough already about being back in buildings. I’ll say this too - kids at the high school level who are fully vaccinated should be able to have a normal year next year with full activities, unmasked. We shouldn’t have to continue living in pandemic times to accommodate people who are quite frankly selfish morons who won’t go get a simple shot, particularly teachers who had the opportunity to get vaccinated before just about everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you would have a lot more credibility if you stopped acting like DL is difficult.
I’ve done both and we are all begging to be quarantined. DL is insanely easy and that’s why folks won’t give it up.

Start from a place of integrity and we can gain credibility.

You obviously have no idea what it's like to be a teacher. DL for me and my colleagues has added hours of extra work. We haven't had a free weekend as we constantly create new content each week. We can't wait for the hybrid and simulcast teaching to end.

We know this is true from a teacher’s POV - but your union and their s hills hate kids and scared families into staying home. The city was ready to open until your body bag stunt you pulled last August, and your union fought tooth and nail to keep things shut down until February. I want you to look my senior in the eye and explain why you stole their senior year, while they watch friends and cousins elsewhere enjoy being in school, activities, prom, etc. Bottom line is that the WTU bullied the city into submission, and the still draconian health department guidelines show the complicity. I feel for the teachers who put kids first - you are the true heroes, but what the union did is just criminal.

It’s so sad that this is how you choose the to see the world. Nobody on an anonymous site is going to change your mind but you really need to reset your brain if you think teachers hate kids or stole time from students. None of this had anything to do with negative feelings toward children, but decades of lost trust between DCPS and the teachers. Lapsed contracts/broken promises/class size violations/refusals to update tech in the before times all add up to a teaching population that had no faith in their district to put together a reopening that would best serve children while also providing safety per cdc guidelines. DCPS is STILL not meeting their side of the MOU, but now that I’m vaccinated I can feel a little better being in a situation that did not meet CDC guidelines from January on.

And it’s because of educators like you that my senior never set foot in their building after March 2020. I am well aware that the vast majority of teachers in our buildings wanted to be there and didn’t agree with the union. The WTU scare tactics not only kept kids out of school but eroded confidence in reopening to communities that were afraid enough already about being back in buildings. I’ll say this too - kids at the high school level who are fully vaccinated should be able to have a normal year next year with full activities, unmasked. We shouldn’t have to continue living in pandemic times to accommodate people who are quite frankly selfish morons who won’t go get a simple shot, particularly teachers who had the opportunity to get vaccinated before just about everyone else.

LOL. Educators like me who have been back as long as schools have been opened? And please stop with the vaccination priority nonsense we had a small % of the small % of available shots in dc. I went out of state to get mine.

If you want to continue to blame game against a toothless organization, nobody is stopping you. I only bothered to respond bc the only way this ever gets better is if all you DCUM parents bring your indignation to people that actually matter. Bowser, ferebee, mendelson make these choices, not me or my friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you would have a lot more credibility if you stopped acting like DL is difficult.
I’ve done both and we are all begging to be quarantined. DL is insanely easy and that’s why folks won’t give it up.

Start from a place of integrity and we can gain credibility.

You obviously have no idea what it's like to be a teacher. DL for me and my colleagues has added hours of extra work. We haven't had a free weekend as we constantly create new content each week. We can't wait for the hybrid and simulcast teaching to end.

We know this is true from a teacher’s POV - but your union and their s hills hate kids and scared families into staying home. The city was ready to open until your body bag stunt you pulled last August, and your union fought tooth and nail to keep things shut down until February. I want you to look my senior in the eye and explain why you stole their senior year, while they watch friends and cousins elsewhere enjoy being in school, activities, prom, etc. Bottom line is that the WTU bullied the city into submission, and the still draconian health department guidelines show the complicity. I feel for the teachers who put kids first - you are the true heroes, but what the union did is just criminal.

It’s so sad that this is how you choose the to see the world. Nobody on an anonymous site is going to change your mind but you really need to reset your brain if you think teachers hate kids or stole time from students. None of this had anything to do with negative feelings toward children, but decades of lost trust between DCPS and the teachers. Lapsed contracts/broken promises/class size violations/refusals to update tech in the before times all add up to a teaching population that had no faith in their district to put together a reopening that would best serve children while also providing safety per cdc guidelines. DCPS is STILL not meeting their side of the MOU, but now that I’m vaccinated I can feel a little better being in a situation that did not meet CDC guidelines from January on.

And it’s because of educators like you that my senior never set foot in their building after March 2020. I am well aware that the vast majority of teachers in our buildings wanted to be there and didn’t agree with the union. The WTU scare tactics not only kept kids out of school but eroded confidence in reopening to communities that were afraid enough already about being back in buildings. I’ll say this too - kids at the high school level who are fully vaccinated should be able to have a normal year next year with full activities, unmasked. We shouldn’t have to continue living in pandemic times to accommodate people who are quite frankly selfish morons who won’t go get a simple shot, particularly teachers who had the opportunity to get vaccinated before just about everyone else.

LOL. Educators like me who have been back as long as schools have been opened? And please stop with the vaccination priority nonsense we had a small % of the small % of available shots in dc. I went out of state to get mine.

If you want to continue to blame game against a toothless organization, nobody is stopping you. I only bothered to respond bc the only way this ever gets better is if all you DCUM parents bring your indignation to people that actually matter. Bowser, ferebee, mendelson make these choices, not me or my friends.

If you have been in the building as long as schools have been opened you had access to the vaccine at the end of the January through the partnership with Children's, by mid- February those of us who received the vaccine through that partnership (vaccine priority) were fully vaccinated.

While the union bumbled around most of the summer/fall/winter where they were successful was filing a complaint with PERB which stopped the reopening in Nov. The silly performative sick-out that followed that decision seemed to have energized some of the membership in a "fight the power" sort of posture that fueled the ridiculous #onlywhenitsafe mantra, claiming DC hospitals were "overflowing" and selectively choosing data to scare anyone who believed the crap messaging. So while the union ultimately lost its dumb pissing battle with the city and is toothless during non pandemic times, where they were successful was keeping kids from accessing a credible education for more than a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you would have a lot more credibility if you stopped acting like DL is difficult.
I’ve done both and we are all begging to be quarantined. DL is insanely easy and that’s why folks won’t give it up.

Start from a place of integrity and we can gain credibility.

You obviously have no idea what it's like to be a teacher. DL for me and my colleagues has added hours of extra work. We haven't had a free weekend as we constantly create new content each week. We can't wait for the hybrid and simulcast teaching to end.

We know this is true from a teacher’s POV - but your union and their s hills hate kids and scared families into staying home. The city was ready to open until your body bag stunt you pulled last August, and your union fought tooth and nail to keep things shut down until February. I want you to look my senior in the eye and explain why you stole their senior year, while they watch friends and cousins elsewhere enjoy being in school, activities, prom, etc. Bottom line is that the WTU bullied the city into submission, and the still draconian health department guidelines show the complicity. I feel for the teachers who put kids first - you are the true heroes, but what the union did is just criminal.

It’s so sad that this is how you choose the to see the world. Nobody on an anonymous site is going to change your mind but you really need to reset your brain if you think teachers hate kids or stole time from students. None of this had anything to do with negative feelings toward children, but decades of lost trust between DCPS and the teachers. Lapsed contracts/broken promises/class size violations/refusals to update tech in the before times all add up to a teaching population that had no faith in their district to put together a reopening that would best serve children while also providing safety per cdc guidelines. DCPS is STILL not meeting their side of the MOU, but now that I’m vaccinated I can feel a little better being in a situation that did not meet CDC guidelines from January on.

And it’s because of educators like you that my senior never set foot in their building after March 2020. I am well aware that the vast majority of teachers in our buildings wanted to be there and didn’t agree with the union. The WTU scare tactics not only kept kids out of school but eroded confidence in reopening to communities that were afraid enough already about being back in buildings. I’ll say this too - kids at the high school level who are fully vaccinated should be able to have a normal year next year with full activities, unmasked. We shouldn’t have to continue living in pandemic times to accommodate people who are quite frankly selfish morons who won’t go get a simple shot, particularly teachers who had the opportunity to get vaccinated before just about everyone else.

LOL. Educators like me who have been back as long as schools have been opened? And please stop with the vaccination priority nonsense we had a small % of the small % of available shots in dc. I went out of state to get mine.

If you want to continue to blame game against a toothless organization, nobody is stopping you. I only bothered to respond bc the only way this ever gets better is if all you DCUM parents bring your indignation to people that actually matter. Bowser, ferebee, mendelson make these choices, not me or my friends.

If you have been in the building as long as schools have been opened you had access to the vaccine at the end of the January through the partnership with Children's, by mid- February those of us who received the vaccine through that partnership (vaccine priority) were fully vaccinated.

While the union bumbled around most of the summer/fall/winter where they were successful was filing a complaint with PERB which stopped the reopening in Nov. The silly performative sick-out that followed that decision seemed to have energized some of the membership in a "fight the power" sort of posture that fueled the ridiculous #onlywhenitsafe mantra, claiming DC hospitals were "overflowing" and selectively choosing data to scare anyone who believed the crap messaging. So while the union ultimately lost its dumb pissing battle with the city and is toothless during non pandemic times, where they were successful was keeping kids from accessing a credible education for more than a year.

kids who were 4 in 2020 are going to start 1st grade in 2021-2022 without having had any formal schooling. It’s going to be a crazy experiment, and totally tragic for a city with universal preschool aspirations.

[Anonymous]

kids who were 4 in 2020 are going to start 1st grade in 2021-2022 without having had any formal schooling. It’s going to be a crazy experiment, and totally tragic for a city with universal preschool aspirations.

Not really. Many/most of those kids were in Pre-k3 the year before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

kids who were 4 in 2020 are going to start 1st grade in 2021-2022 without having had any formal schooling. It’s going to be a crazy experiment, and totally tragic for a city with universal preschool aspirations.

Not really. Many/most of those kids were in Pre-k3 the year before.

Not in the high needs neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

This is the problem with the people on this site. You don’t get to tell other people what to do. Your feelings are no more valid than those of those in title 1 schools (in fact, I’d argue that they are less valid bc you are trying to tell people what to do with their children).
I swear people love the idea of DC being a diverse city until it impacts them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

This is the problem with the people on this site. You don’t get to tell other people what to do. Your feelings are no more valid than those of those in title 1 schools (in fact, I’d argue that they are less valid bc you are trying to tell people what to do with their children).
I swear people love the idea of DC being a diverse city until it impacts them

this was in response to a post claiming nobody cared about reopening title 1 schools. I cared, and still care. Frankly DC has done a historical disservice to Title 1 schools that is going to impact them for a generation. But sure, go ahead and tell me again that I don’t care, and also that I am racist for caring and believing black families should have equal access.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

This is the problem with the people on this site. You don’t get to tell other people what to do. Your feelings are no more valid than those of those in title 1 schools (in fact, I’d argue that they are less valid bc you are trying to tell people what to do with their children).
I swear people love the idea of DC being a diverse city until it impacts them

And you would agree that this goes both ways? Do families in T1 schools get to tell those not in T1 schools what they are allowed to feel and do for their kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

This is the problem with the people on this site. You don’t get to tell other people what to do. Your feelings are no more valid than those of those in title 1 schools (in fact, I’d argue that they are less valid bc you are trying to tell people what to do with their children).
I swear people love the idea of DC being a diverse city until it impacts them

this was in response to a post claiming nobody cared about reopening title 1 schools. I cared, and still care. Frankly DC has done a historical disservice to Title 1 schools that is going to impact them for a generation. But sure, go ahead and tell me again that I don’t care, and also that I am racist for caring and believing black families should have equal access.

We agree on almost all of that, honestly, but I don’t think families would’ve come back into schools if they were reopened 5 days a week. It goes back to a point I had made earlier on this thread. DCPS and mayor Bowser were so haphazard on their organizing for reopening that there is no way that they would’ve gotten buy in from families who felt uneasy or were generally insistent on staying virtual. If Bowser wanted kids in seats, the outreach to these families needed to happen sooner. If she wanted parent buy in, she should have worked with the schools and admin from day 1. People hate WTU on this site, but remember that the principals union also spoke out against reopening. There’s no chance that families were going into the unplanned reopening envisioned by the higher up’s in DC.
I’m really hoping that people take this seriously over the summer and try and work with families, explain how and why these schools will be safe, so that next year is equitable for everyone. Reopening was a disaster for many reasons; one of the biggest was that families WOTP went to school en masse (talking purely ES here), while schools remained much emptier in W7 & 8.
If people keep saying the union failed everyone and continue to pound that narrative, all that is going to happen is more of what we saw this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

This is the problem with the people on this site. You don’t get to tell other people what to do. Your feelings are no more valid than those of those in title 1 schools (in fact, I’d argue that they are less valid bc you are trying to tell people what to do with their children).
I swear people love the idea of DC being a diverse city until it impacts them

And you would agree that this goes both ways? Do families in T1 schools get to tell those not in T1 schools what they are allowed to feel and do for their kids?

I hope you’re not comparing the plight of UMC families to low income neighborhoods

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

This is the problem with the people on this site. You don’t get to tell other people what to do. Your feelings are no more valid than those of those in title 1 schools (in fact, I’d argue that they are less valid bc you are trying to tell people what to do with their children).
I swear people love the idea of DC being a diverse city until it impacts them

this was in response to a post claiming nobody cared about reopening title 1 schools. I cared, and still care. Frankly DC has done a historical disservice to Title 1 schools that is going to impact them for a generation. But sure, go ahead and tell me again that I don’t care, and also that I am racist for caring and believing black families should have equal access.

We agree on almost all of that, honestly, but I don’t think families would’ve come back into schools if they were reopened 5 days a week. It goes back to a point I had made earlier on this thread. DCPS and mayor Bowser were so haphazard on their organizing for reopening that there is no way that they would’ve gotten buy in from families who felt uneasy or were generally insistent on staying virtual. If Bowser wanted kids in seats, the outreach to these families needed to happen sooner. If she wanted parent buy in, she should have worked with the schools and admin from day 1. People hate WTU on this site, but remember that the principals union also spoke out against reopening. There’s no chance that families were going into the unplanned reopening envisioned by the higher up’s in DC.
I’m really hoping that people take this seriously over the summer and try and work with families, explain how and why these schools will be safe, so that next year is equitable for everyone. Reopening was a disaster for many reasons; one of the biggest was that families WOTP went to school en masse (talking purely ES here), while schools remained much emptier in W7 & 8.
If people keep saying the union failed everyone and continue to pound that narrative, all that is going to happen is more of what we saw this year.

it’s not a narrative, it’s the truth: Ward 7 and 8 parents stayed away because WTU and admins made a concerted effort to scare and discourage them, even in T4. Even in our high SES Ward 6 school, teachers and admins made a concerted effort to get parents to chose against returning in person in November and again for T3 - supported by parents who would call up other parents trying to pressure them not to accept IP spots. Perhaps DCPS and Bowser could have done more, but to pretend the choice to stay virtual happened in a vacuum is just false.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The WTU should be ashamed of itself but, based on teachers' posts here, it's not.

The real problem is that we have mayoral control of DCPS in the hands of a mayor who is uninterested in being in control of the schools. The chancellor is subpar, the mayor is uninterested. WTU took advantage of that situation and children suffered.

The mayor took advantage of the union. Bowser didn't know how to handle reopening between Wards 3/4 vs. 7/8- it was too political. She played the media and made it seem like the union had way more power than it actually did and the union bit the bait. Other than ADA, there was no reason to keep teachers virtual. Principals had the power to bring back teachers depending on how aggressive their reopening plans were and the population the school served.

Reopening schools in DC was incredibly complex because of it's population. I know everyone on this forum had grand ideas on how to reopen their lNW schools but no one knew how to nor cared about the title 1 schools.

And if you are still harboring this deep contempt and hate for DCPS teachers in the fall- then leave. Even with full reopening, you will be disappointed. Go somewhere that will make you happy.

I care about Title 1 schools. The way to reopen them would have been to end virtual and require parents to send their kids back, with a normal 5 day week and after care. And for WTU to have refrained from scaremongering.

This is the problem with the people on this site. You don’t get to tell other people what to do. Your feelings are no more valid than those of those in title 1 schools (in fact, I’d argue that they are less valid bc you are trying to tell people what to do with their children).
I swear people love the idea of DC being a diverse city until it impacts them

this was in response to a post claiming nobody cared about reopening title 1 schools. I cared, and still care. Frankly DC has done a historical disservice to Title 1 schools that is going to impact them for a generation. But sure, go ahead and tell me again that I don’t care, and also that I am racist for caring and believing black families should have equal access.

We agree on almost all of that, honestly, but I don’t think families would’ve come back into schools if they were reopened 5 days a week. It goes back to a point I had made earlier on this thread. DCPS and mayor Bowser were so haphazard on their organizing for reopening that there is no way that they would’ve gotten buy in from families who felt uneasy or were generally insistent on staying virtual. If Bowser wanted kids in seats, the outreach to these families needed to happen sooner. If she wanted parent buy in, she should have worked with the schools and admin from day 1. People hate WTU on this site, but remember that the principals union also spoke out against reopening. There’s no chance that families were going into the unplanned reopening envisioned by the higher up’s in DC.
I’m really hoping that people take this seriously over the summer and try and work with families, explain how and why these schools will be safe, so that next year is equitable for everyone. Reopening was a disaster for many reasons; one of the biggest was that families WOTP went to school en masse (talking purely ES here), while schools remained much emptier in W7 & 8.
If people keep saying the union failed everyone and continue to pound that narrative, all that is going to happen is more of what we saw this year.

it’s not a narrative, it’s the truth: Ward 7 and 8 parents stayed away because WTU and admins made a concerted effort to scare and discourage them, even in T4. Even in our high SES Ward 6 school, teachers and admins made a concerted effort to get parents to chose against returning in person in November and again for T3 - supported by parents who would call up other parents trying to pressure them not to accept IP spots. Perhaps DCPS and Bowser could have done more, but to pretend the choice to stay virtual happened in a vacuum is just false.

Yes the WTU made mistakes and could’ve done more. Literally all 7,000 union members can stand up and say that and it’s nothing going to change the fact that you blaming us will help families next year. Teachers were scared, they didn’t trust dc to put them in a safe to teach environment and DC made no effort to support their feelings. What’s the point of continuing to litigate the past? I’m trying to move forward and do better but if you want to continue to use us as a punching bag, have at me. I’m cool with learning from my mistakes and using that experience to make next year better.