The prospect of kids not going back to school until 2021

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People need to start looking for a nanny/au pair/ Or small co-op supplemental homeschool groups. Or one parent takes a couple years off. If you need to downsize to afford it I would start looking now. Was never a good idea to be double income house poor. The kids from parents on this board will be fine, maybe they will even learn more. I hope schools use this as an opportunity to buy out/early retire lots of burnt out and underperforming teachers.

Another "people just need to be prepared to pay money they don't have for childcare!" poster on DCUM.

This MCPS parent's kids are *not* fine.

Kids need school. That's fundamental.

Not in the narrow way you define it.

Kids need an education. It needn’t be traditional schooling. And in times of pandemic, all bets are off and they will likely be the most resilient and likely to bounce back.

I would rather cancel it altogether, layoff extra school personnel, and save the tax dollars. At least then, we would stop pretending kids get education with DL. And lack of education is only part of the problem. How about mental health of kids? New York laid off significant number of school personnel. This party cannot go on forever for you.

Oh if that were to happen -- cancel school and not pay teachers -- all of these alleged "high risk" teachers, or ones claiming high risk family members, will very suddenly change their tune.

Any teachers who don't feel they can return can take a leave of absence. Hire some new young energetic low-risk teachers to replace them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids won't be back in classroom until January, at the earliest. Do you want to dump your kids in school or do you want the kids, teachers, and staff to be safe?

They are basically one and the same, as long as those who are vulnerable (obese, over 65) isolate themselves.

Who do you think is going to be left to run and teach in this school? Serious, non-snarky question. Once you remove everyone with high risk for COVID, who is left?

PP, in my anecdotal experience at least, there are plenty of teachers in MCPS who are not obese and/or over 65.

I can think of 20 teachers on our staff of over 100 who would be left. Even a lot of the young ones are obese or have health issues. I go on outdoor ed and day field trips so I know who is diabetic, asthmatic, or has a heart condition. There are two Type I diabetics under 32. Then there’s people like me who live with highly vulnerable family members.

80% of MCPS teaching staff at your school is old or in ill health? Wow. What's up with that?

Teaching in modern times was a good profession for someone who wanted to work past 60 or who has chronic health issues. My mom was pushed into the profession because she had an illness that damaged her heart and made her too fragile for nursing. She taught public school until she was 68.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People need to start looking for a nanny/au pair/ Or small co-op supplemental homeschool groups. Or one parent takes a couple years off. If you need to downsize to afford it I would start looking now. Was never a good idea to be double income house poor. The kids from parents on this board will be fine, maybe they will even learn more. I hope schools use this as an opportunity to buy out/early retire lots of burnt out and underperforming teachers.

Another "people just need to be prepared to pay money they don't have for childcare!" poster on DCUM.

This MCPS parent's kids are *not* fine.

Kids need school. That's fundamental.

Not in the narrow way you define it.

Kids need an education. It needn’t be traditional schooling. And in times of pandemic, all bets are off and they will likely be the most resilient and likely to bounce back.

I would rather cancel it altogether, layoff extra school personnel, and save the tax dollars. At least then, we would stop pretending kids get education with DL. And lack of education is only part of the problem. How about mental health of kids? New York laid off significant number of school personnel. This party cannot go on forever for you.

Oh if that were to happen -- cancel school and not pay teachers -- all of these alleged "high risk" teachers, or ones claiming high risk family members, will very suddenly change their tune.

Any teachers who don't feel they can return can take a leave of absence. Hire some new young energetic low-risk teachers to replace them.

Yes this whole "I'm high risk, my spouse is high risk, I live with my second cousin who had a kidney transplant is high risk etc..."is getting to be a little much. How did these people function in schools before this? It's just getting ridiculous and is looking more and more like laziness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People need to start looking for a nanny/au pair/ Or small co-op supplemental homeschool groups. Or one parent takes a couple years off. If you need to downsize to afford it I would start looking now. Was never a good idea to be double income house poor. The kids from parents on this board will be fine, maybe they will even learn more. I hope schools use this as an opportunity to buy out/early retire lots of burnt out and underperforming teachers.

Another "people just need to be prepared to pay money they don't have for childcare!" poster on DCUM.

This MCPS parent's kids are *not* fine.

Kids need school. That's fundamental.

Not in the narrow way you define it.

Kids need an education. It needn’t be traditional schooling. And in times of pandemic, all bets are off and they will likely be the most resilient and likely to bounce back.

I would rather cancel it altogether, layoff extra school personnel, and save the tax dollars. At least then, we would stop pretending kids get education with DL. And lack of education is only part of the problem. How about mental health of kids? New York laid off significant number of school personnel. This party cannot go on forever for you.

Oh if that were to happen -- cancel school and not pay teachers -- all of these alleged "high risk" teachers, or ones claiming high risk family members, will very suddenly change their tune.

Any teachers who don't feel they can return can take a leave of absence. Hire some new young energetic low-risk teachers to replace them.

That is not how MCPS leave works. Petition the BOE to liberalize leave if that’s what you want the district to be able to offer teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Teaching in modern times was a good profession for someone who wanted to work past 60 or who has chronic health issues. My mom was pushed into the profession because she had an illness that damaged her heart and made her too fragile for nursing. She taught public school until she was 68.

What times are you referring to as "modern times"? It's been many decades since the professional career choices for women were nurse, teacher, or secretary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People need to start looking for a nanny/au pair/ Or small co-op supplemental homeschool groups. Or one parent takes a couple years off. If you need to downsize to afford it I would start looking now. Was never a good idea to be double income house poor. The kids from parents on this board will be fine, maybe they will even learn more. I hope schools use this as an opportunity to buy out/early retire lots of burnt out and underperforming teachers.

Another "people just need to be prepared to pay money they don't have for childcare!" poster on DCUM.

This MCPS parent's kids are *not* fine.

Kids need school. That's fundamental.

Not in the narrow way you define it.

Kids need an education. It needn’t be traditional schooling. And in times of pandemic, all bets are off and they will likely be the most resilient and likely to bounce back.

I would rather cancel it altogether, layoff extra school personnel, and save the tax dollars. At least then, we would stop pretending kids get education with DL. And lack of education is only part of the problem. How about mental health of kids? New York laid off significant number of school personnel. This party cannot go on forever for you.

Oh if that were to happen -- cancel school and not pay teachers -- all of these alleged "high risk" teachers, or ones claiming high risk family members, will very suddenly change their tune.

Any teachers who don't feel they can return can take a leave of absence. Hire some new young energetic low-risk teachers to replace them.

That is not how MCPS leave works. Petition the BOE to liberalize leave if that’s what you want the district to be able to offer teachers.

I guess they'll have to leave their jobs until a vaccine comes, and then reapply to come back. If their health or their family's health is that fragile, they have to do what they have to do.

Plenty of other people are out of work from COVID, with no choice on their part. We're all in this together, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People need to start looking for a nanny/au pair/ Or small co-op supplemental homeschool groups. Or one parent takes a couple years off. If you need to downsize to afford it I would start looking now. Was never a good idea to be double income house poor. The kids from parents on this board will be fine, maybe they will even learn more. I hope schools use this as an opportunity to buy out/early retire lots of burnt out and underperforming teachers.

Another "people just need to be prepared to pay money they don't have for childcare!" poster on DCUM.

This MCPS parent's kids are *not* fine.

Kids need school. That's fundamental.

Not in the narrow way you define it.

Kids need an education. It needn’t be traditional schooling. And in times of pandemic, all bets are off and they will likely be the most resilient and likely to bounce back.

I would rather cancel it altogether, layoff extra school personnel, and save the tax dollars. At least then, we would stop pretending kids get education with DL. And lack of education is only part of the problem. How about mental health of kids? New York laid off significant number of school personnel. This party cannot go on forever for you.

Oh if that were to happen -- cancel school and not pay teachers -- all of these alleged "high risk" teachers, or ones claiming high risk family members, will very suddenly change their tune.

Any teachers who don't feel they can return can take a leave of absence. Hire some new young energetic low-risk teachers to replace them.

That is not how MCPS leave works. Petition the BOE to liberalize leave if that’s what you want the district to be able to offer teachers.

I guess they'll have to leave their jobs until a vaccine comes, and then reapply to come back. If their health or their family's health is that fragile, they have to do what they have to do.

Plenty of other people are out of work from COVID, with no choice on their part. We're all in this together, right?

Exactly. This is the part that I really don't get from teacher's perspectives. Like somehow the rest of us can lose our jobs and be struggling but yet they expect to just be catered to? Because somehow their situations are more unique than the rest of ours? So they deserve to continue to be paid even if they can't actually return to work? I don't really get this need for special treatment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Exactly. This is the part that I really don't get from teacher's perspectives. Like somehow the rest of us can lose our jobs and be struggling but yet they expect to just be catered to? Because somehow their situations are more unique than the rest of ours? So they deserve to continue to be paid even if they can't actually return to work? I don't really get this need for special treatment.

I am 100% behind the idea that kids must be back in school in the fall - but "Risk your health or risk your job; your choice" is not good for anybody.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Exactly. This is the part that I really don't get from teacher's perspectives. Like somehow the rest of us can lose our jobs and be struggling but yet they expect to just be catered to? Because somehow their situations are more unique than the rest of ours? So they deserve to continue to be paid even if they can't actually return to work? I don't really get this need for special treatment.

I am 100% behind the idea that kids must be back in school in the fall - but "Risk your health or risk your job; your choice" is not good for anybody.

Is it ideal? No. But businesses need to go on regardless and if your job doesn't lend itself to working remotely (and teaching for the public school system should fit in that category) why do teachers/other school staff seem to get a special pass when the rest of us have had to take unpaid leaves of absence, get paid off etc...? My point is that just because they may work for the public school system doesn't mean they should get to have a free pass of just getting paid for doing minimal/no work for an extended period of time.

Also, if someone's health is that fragile they shouldn't be working in the school environment anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Exactly. This is the part that I really don't get from teacher's perspectives. Like somehow the rest of us can lose our jobs and be struggling but yet they expect to just be catered to? Because somehow their situations are more unique than the rest of ours? So they deserve to continue to be paid even if they can't actually return to work? I don't really get this need for special treatment.

I am 100% behind the idea that kids must be back in school in the fall - but "Risk your health or risk your job; your choice" is not good for anybody.

Is it ideal? No. But businesses need to go on regardless and if your job doesn't lend itself to working remotely (and teaching for the public school system should fit in that category) why do teachers/other school staff seem to get a special pass when the rest of us have had to take unpaid leaves of absence, get paid off etc...? My point is that just because they may work for the public school system doesn't mean they should get to have a free pass of just getting paid for doing minimal/no work for an extended period of time.

Also, if someone's health is that fragile they shouldn't be working in the school environment anyway.

The rest of us shouldn't have to do that either.

Also, the overlap between the "at high risk for covid" and "so medically fragile that they shouldn't be working in the school environment anyway" circles is nowhere near 100%.

[Anonymous]

Agree with all the PPs that teachers (and everyone) need to adjust their risk expectations if they want to work. My employer closed the office this spring, but has made it clear that we all need to plan to be back after Labor Day. I work in downtown DC in a 12 story office building, take the metro, and if I don’t show up to work I won’t have a job anymore. DH in the same situation. There is more risk to lots of people’s jobs right now, even if you aren’t on the front lines like some health care workers or grocery store employees.

Does anyone really think that if we start with DL this fall things will get better over and we will be “normal” F2F by Jan 2021? Realistically, even if we get a vaccine by Jan 2021, it won’t be produced and distributed at scale until 2022, and that’s a best-case scenario. If DL continues for that long or longer, a lot of parents with means will pull their kids out of public schools and find another solution - private or home schooling, which will result in severe budget cuts and decline in school quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with all the PPs that teachers (and everyone) need to adjust their risk expectations if they want to work. My employer closed the office this spring, but has made it clear that we all need to plan to be back after Labor Day. I work in downtown DC in a 12 story office building, take the metro, and if I don’t show up to work I won’t have a job anymore. DH in the same situation. There is more risk to lots of people’s jobs right now, even if you aren’t on the front lines like some health care workers or grocery store employees.

Does anyone really think that if we start with DL this fall things will get better over and we will be “normal” F2F by Jan 2021? Realistically, even if we get a vaccine by Jan 2021, it won’t be produced and distributed at scale until 2022, and that’s a best-case scenario. If DL continues for that long or longer, a lot of parents with means will pull their kids out of public schools and find another solution - private or home schooling, which will result in severe budget cuts and decline in school quality.

I have a kid in private school (high school) and a kid in public school (middle school) and I'll tell you that private school kid's distance learning -- while I still don't want to do it in the Fall -- was heads and shoulders above the public school. Now I get the reasons why that is, and understand the parameters the public schools have to work with. But I want my kids educated and not waste any more time, so I'd much rather pay the tuition for that private school DL.

I'm not talking Big 3/Big 5, we're in an outer 'burb and this isn't one of those private schools. Nor is the tuition anything near it. But my HSer worked hard to finish his junior year from home, while my 8th grader was occupied maybe an hour a day with just busy work.

[Anonymous]

This language about teachers wanting a "free pass" is really not fair if it's coming from people whose jobs entail working in private offices or cubicles with masks on. Teachers absolutely face higher risk than your average worker, and we need to acknowledge that if we are going to make this work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This language about teachers wanting a "free pass" is really not fair if it's coming from people whose jobs entail working in private offices or cubicles with masks on. Teachers absolutely face higher risk than your average worker, and we need to acknowledge that if we are going to make this work.

We could say the same thing about grocery store workers, Costco, Lowe's, Wal-mart, etc. Yet there they are, working since day one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This language about teachers wanting a "free pass" is really not fair if it's coming from people whose jobs entail working in private offices or cubicles with masks on. Teachers absolutely face higher risk than your average worker, and we need to acknowledge that if we are going to make this work.

People are ready to send their kids to school. And remember the kids cone back home every day and live in the same households as the other family members. If people see this as tolerable, then why shouldn't you? There is a risk involved in everything we do. The cure should not be worse than the disease.