Soi.....Who is pulling out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am increasingly convinced that schools are going to open as normal, we will see what happens, but even if, gd forbid, kids do start to get sick, things will stay open

I know maybe you didn't mean it this way, but this was incredibly soothing.

I'm so glad it was soothing to you (/s). My point, since you obviously missed it, is that if things get worse, black and brown kids will be getting sick and, gd forbid, dying, with the city changing little. I'm sure you and your ilk will be totally fine with it as long as schools stay open for your child. You might feel differently if it is, gd forbid, YOUR child or the child of one of your friends who dies. Maybe none of that will happen, and that would be WONDERFUL. But for you all to want, apparently, no mitigation strategies and no contingency planning for in case a future variant does have a greater impact on children, is absurd and, frankly, cruel to the people who will have to experience the brunt of your callousness.

So, no children have died in DC from covid, and the delta variant isn't being shown to be more of a mortality risk to children than the prior variants. So, so far data doesn't suggest that any kids will die. We can't operate in the "what if" land of school closures due to delta concerns, as that world actually does greater harms to the exact kids that you are concerned about than those of 'my ilk'.

If my child gets sick -- and trust that I think about this a lot -- they are likely to have cold-like symptoms that go away in three days. Since everyone is saying that delta is going to infect all of the unvaccinated, I guess that's going to happen with or without school. I'd rather have my kid have school and covid than have NO school and covid.

But I do think that DCPS needs to learn from the rest of the country and many other countries on how to stay open, and my hope is that they will do so this year.

I also never said anything about no mitigation or contingency plans. That's a beef you should take up with someone else.

Contingency planning is, by definition, planning for what it's. So if school closures and quarantines are not permissible what ifs, then by definition that is a lot of contingency planning that you are throwing out right from the start.

Or the middle, depending on how you want to phrase it.

Also, I am well aware of the impact that school closures have on the students I teach east of the river. Schools need to be open, but there also need to be plans and protocols in place for if things get worse. Because it will not be ok with me to have the mayor declaring everything is fine, because NW schools are doing well, while my students watch their parent and grandparents die.

Your students are very unlikely to watch their parents and grandparents die if their parents and grandparents are vaccinated.

This is such a pre-vaccine argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am increasingly convinced that schools are going to open as normal, we will see what happens, but even if, gd forbid, kids do start to get sick, things will stay open

I know maybe you didn't mean it this way, but this was incredibly soothing.

I'm so glad it was soothing to you (/s). My point, since you obviously missed it, is that if things get worse, black and brown kids will be getting sick and, gd forbid, dying, with the city changing little. I'm sure you and your ilk will be totally fine with it as long as schools stay open for your child. You might feel differently if it is, gd forbid, YOUR child or the child of one of your friends who dies. Maybe none of that will happen, and that would be WONDERFUL. But for you all to want, apparently, no mitigation strategies and no contingency planning for in case a future variant does have a greater impact on children, is absurd and, frankly, cruel to the people who will have to experience the brunt of your callousness.

I am not either PP, but if all 12+ persons in our city (DC) got vaccinated, how likely would it be that masked and post travel quarantining elementary kids would catch Covid? The fact is, black and brown people (whose vaccination rates in DC are shockingly low) have a role to play in preventing not only their own children but all city children getting sick.

+1

+2

Exactly. Those of us who have gotten vaccinated can and should be arguing that the "black and brown" families refusing vaccination aren't just threatening their own lives, but actively undermining the health of everyone in this city by encouraging the development of further variants (to say nothing of the economic damage of forcing further lockdowns and closures b/c they are getting COVID). I don't care one bit if that's not PC to say. From a public health perspective, they are just as much of a danger to others and morally reprehensible as the MAGA anti-vaxxers doing the same thing down south.

Keep blaming. But while you are at it, I recommend you look earlier in this thread, for the challenges people east of the river have with getting to the place with the vaccine and the efforts made to support them. But that's too inconvenient for you to care about, I'm sure.

Exactly. There has been a constant effort to reach out and help these people and yet they STILL refuse vaccination. There have been constant efforts at outreach. Here are just a few stories about it:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fauci-bowser-vaccine-dc-anacostia/2021/06/19/9687037a-d105-11eb-8cd2-4e95230cfac2_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-vaccine-outreach/2021/07/10/3e8b3358-e0be-11eb-ae31-6b7c5c34f0d6_story.html

https://www.wusa9.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/get-up-dc/day-of-action-kicks-off-this-weekend-to-educate-about-covid-vaccine/65-c936f93f-93d4-4413-a32e-938ca71776b7

Further, when vaccines first became available, Bowser used constitutionally dubious "equity" justifications to open vax appointments that privileged non-white wards (while denying appointments to elderly cancer patients like my neighbor because she lived in the "wrong" zip code) before abandoning that. The majority of city vax sites were EOTR and in NE/SE. Very few in NW DC until the Convention Center site opened.

So yes, at this point, they deserve blame. It's condescending in the extreme for you to argue that because someone is a racial or ethnic minority they are incapable of behaving like responsible adults. Plenty of people w/ challenges found a way to get their shot. Those who refuse are putting everyone else's health and the city's functioning at risk.

[Anonymous]

If I can find a spot, I'm pulling out. I'm not confident in 5 days a week at DCPS at this point. Especially with the CDC changing the mask rules.

[Anonymous]

Yeesh. Well those articles made me very worried.

I think it's accurate that even with very direct intervention (Fauci coming to your door and asking you to get vaccinated!) there are people who still aren't getting vaccinated. It seems to be a lot of people, based on Ward 7 and 8 vaccination rates.

At this stage the question is how we view vaccine refusers from a school-system-wide perspective. In my thinking we can no longer say "we need to close schools to protect mom and grandma". That argument made sense pre-vaccine but not after. The vaccine refusers are now choosing the risk and we can't do bad things to other people (kids) to protect them from the risk. It isn't right for the vaccine refusers' OWN kids. It's not right for a system-wide decision.

[Anonymous]

Is that so with an Australian accent?

[Anonymous]

Well since I don't have an extra 100k/year lying around for my kids to go to private, no, we're not pulling out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am increasingly convinced that schools are going to open as normal, we will see what happens, but even if, gd forbid, kids do start to get sick, things will stay open

I know maybe you didn't mean it this way, but this was incredibly soothing.

I'm so glad it was soothing to you (/s). My point, since you obviously missed it, is that if things get worse, black and brown kids will be getting sick and, gd forbid, dying, with the city changing little. I'm sure you and your ilk will be totally fine with it as long as schools stay open for your child. You might feel differently if it is, gd forbid, YOUR child or the child of one of your friends who dies. Maybe none of that will happen, and that would be WONDERFUL. But for you all to want, apparently, no mitigation strategies and no contingency planning for in case a future variant does have a greater impact on children, is absurd and, frankly, cruel to the people who will have to experience the brunt of your callousness.

I am not either PP, but if all 12+ persons in our city (DC) got vaccinated, how likely would it be that masked and post travel quarantining elementary kids would catch Covid? The fact is, black and brown people (whose vaccination rates in DC are shockingly low) have a role to play in preventing not only their own children but all city children getting sick.

+1

+2

Exactly. Those of us who have gotten vaccinated can and should be arguing that the "black and brown" families refusing vaccination aren't just threatening their own lives, but actively undermining the health of everyone in this city by encouraging the development of further variants (to say nothing of the economic damage of forcing further lockdowns and closures b/c they are getting COVID). I don't care one bit if that's not PC to say. From a public health perspective, they are just as much of a danger to others and morally reprehensible as the MAGA anti-vaxxers doing the same thing down south.

Keep blaming. But while you are at it, I recommend you look earlier in this thread, for the challenges people east of the river have with getting to the place with the vaccine and the efforts made to support them. But that's too inconvenient for you to care about, I'm sure.

Exactly. There has been a constant effort to reach out and help these people and yet they STILL refuse vaccination. There have been constant efforts at outreach. Here are just a few stories about it:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fauci-bowser-vaccine-dc-anacostia/2021/06/19/9687037a-d105-11eb-8cd2-4e95230cfac2_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-vaccine-outreach/2021/07/10/3e8b3358-e0be-11eb-ae31-6b7c5c34f0d6_story.html

https://www.wusa9.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/get-up-dc/day-of-action-kicks-off-this-weekend-to-educate-about-covid-vaccine/65-c936f93f-93d4-4413-a32e-938ca71776b7

Further, when vaccines first became available, Bowser used constitutionally dubious "equity" justifications to open vax appointments that privileged non-white wards (while denying appointments to elderly cancer patients like my neighbor because she lived in the "wrong" zip code) before abandoning that. The majority of city vax sites were EOTR and in NE/SE. Very few in NW DC until the Convention Center site opened.

So yes, at this point, they deserve blame. It's condescending in the extreme for you to argue that because someone is a racial or ethnic minority they are incapable of behaving like responsible adults. Plenty of people w/ challenges found a way to get their shot. Those who refuse are putting everyone else's health and the city's functioning at risk.

Agree completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeesh. Well those articles made me very worried.

I think it's accurate that even with very direct intervention (Fauci coming to your door and asking you to get vaccinated!) there are people who still aren't getting vaccinated. It seems to be a lot of people, based on Ward 7 and 8 vaccination rates.

At this stage the question is how we view vaccine refusers from a school-system-wide perspective. In my thinking we can no longer say "we need to close schools to protect mom and grandma". That argument made sense pre-vaccine but not after. The vaccine refusers are now choosing the risk and we can't do bad things to other people (kids) to protect them from the risk. It isn't right for the vaccine refusers' OWN kids. It's not right for a system-wide decision.

Indeed. The articles really indicate that it's irrational fear that's the main problem, not access.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am increasingly convinced that schools are going to open as normal, we will see what happens, but even if, gd forbid, kids do start to get sick, things will stay open

I know maybe you didn't mean it this way, but this was incredibly soothing.

I'm so glad it was soothing to you (/s). My point, since you obviously missed it, is that if things get worse, black and brown kids will be getting sick and, gd forbid, dying, with the city changing little. I'm sure you and your ilk will be totally fine with it as long as schools stay open for your child. You might feel differently if it is, gd forbid, YOUR child or the child of one of your friends who dies. Maybe none of that will happen, and that would be WONDERFUL. But for you all to want, apparently, no mitigation strategies and no contingency planning for in case a future variant does have a greater impact on children, is absurd and, frankly, cruel to the people who will have to experience the brunt of your callousness.

I am not either PP, but if all 12+ persons in our city (DC) got vaccinated, how likely would it be that masked and post travel quarantining elementary kids would catch Covid? The fact is, black and brown people (whose vaccination rates in DC are shockingly low) have a role to play in preventing not only their own children but all city children getting sick.

+1

+2

Exactly. Those of us who have gotten vaccinated can and should be arguing that the "black and brown" families refusing vaccination aren't just threatening their own lives, but actively undermining the health of everyone in this city by encouraging the development of further variants (to say nothing of the economic damage of forcing further lockdowns and closures b/c they are getting COVID). I don't care one bit if that's not PC to say. From a public health perspective, they are just as much of a danger to others and morally reprehensible as the MAGA anti-vaxxers doing the same thing down south.

Keep blaming. But while you are at it, I recommend you look earlier in this thread, for the challenges people east of the river have with getting to the place with the vaccine and the efforts made to support them. But that's too inconvenient for you to care about, I'm sure.

Are you serious? No, you can't be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am increasingly convinced that schools are going to open as normal, we will see what happens, but even if, gd forbid, kids do start to get sick, things will stay open

I know maybe you didn't mean it this way, but this was incredibly soothing.

I'm so glad it was soothing to you (/s). My point, since you obviously missed it, is that if things get worse, black and brown kids will be getting sick and, gd forbid, dying, with the city changing little. I'm sure you and your ilk will be totally fine with it as long as schools stay open for your child. You might feel differently if it is, gd forbid, YOUR child or the child of one of your friends who dies. Maybe none of that will happen, and that would be WONDERFUL. But for you all to want, apparently, no mitigation strategies and no contingency planning for in case a future variant does have a greater impact on children, is absurd and, frankly, cruel to the people who will have to experience the brunt of your callousness.

So, no children have died in DC from covid, and the delta variant isn't being shown to be more of a mortality risk to children than the prior variants. So, so far data doesn't suggest that any kids will die. We can't operate in the "what if" land of school closures due to delta concerns, as that world actually does greater harms to the exact kids that you are concerned about than those of 'my ilk'.

If my child gets sick -- and trust that I think about this a lot -- they are likely to have cold-like symptoms that go away in three days. Since everyone is saying that delta is going to infect all of the unvaccinated, I guess that's going to happen with or without school. I'd rather have my kid have school and covid than have NO school and covid.

But I do think that DCPS needs to learn from the rest of the country and many other countries on how to stay open, and my hope is that they will do so this year.

I also never said anything about no mitigation or contingency plans. That's a beef you should take up with someone else.

Contingency planning is, by definition, planning for what it's. So if school closures and quarantines are not permissible what ifs, then by definition that is a lot of contingency planning that you are throwing out right from the start.

Or the middle, depending on how you want to phrase it.

Also, I am well aware of the impact that school closures have on the students I teach east of the river. Schools need to be open, but there also need to be plans and protocols in place for if things get worse. Because it will not be ok with me to have the mayor declaring everything is fine, because NW schools are doing well, while my students watch their parent and grandparents die.

Shouldn’t the focus be on making sure your students’ parents and grandparents are vaccinated unless medically not indicated? I mean that seems like a better way to ensure they don’t die than shutting down the entire city’s schools including the ones where all the kids are over 12 and could easily (almost) all be fully vaccinated by the beginning of the school year? And maybe doing something to combat the suspicion that many Black people have about government-funded shots in arms? Maybe do vaccination clinics AT the schools; I don’t know if this is still the case, but at one point, Ballou had a community clinic where one can imagine, people including Ballou students and their families could get vaccinated. Someone posted in one of the threads about actually working to help residents of the least-vaccinated areas of the city book and get to appointments at places like CVS.