How would you rate how Mayor Bowser has handled DCPS reopening?

[Anonymous]

Schools are not the priority because they just aren't.

Parents think they should be because that's their moon-and-stars. But schools are actually the most expensive line item in a city or county budget and don't provide anything concrete back to anyone but 10% of the city population.

The city's priorities are its financial coffers and public health. Period.

As for the person complaining about the library - you realize they're trying to keep them closed to keep a viral outbreak from spreading further through the homeless population, no? You're not the only people who live in your area. Get a clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not the priority because they just aren't.

Parents think they should be because that's their moon-and-stars. But schools are actually the most expensive line item in a city or county budget and don't provide anything concrete back to anyone but 10% of the city population.

The city's priorities are its financial coffers and public health. Period.

As for the person complaining about the library - you realize they're trying to keep them closed to keep a viral outbreak from spreading further through the homeless population, no? You're not the only people who live in your area. Get a clue.

Are you trolling? This is really silly.

Even if you ignore the fact that schools educate the next generation of citizens, and are therefore essential to having a functioning society, schools offer a ton of benefits to the entire population of the city every day.

They provide a safe place and meals to many of the city's most vulnerable residents.

They enable many workers, including many healthcare workers, transportation operators, grocery store workers, etc., to work. Many people have jobs that must be done in person, and schools make it possible for them to go.

Schools also employ a ton of people, from teachers and administrators to speech therapists, nurses, librarians, janitors, and others.

Schools also give older kids something productive to do during the day, and a place to socialize and learn and in some cases, to be safe from abusive or neglectful home environments.

I don't even think schools should be open right now, due to the pandemic, but I'm not dumb enough to argue that schools only benefit the parents who send their kids. That's like arguing hospitals only benefit people who are currently in need of treatment, or that fire departments only benefit people whose houses are currently on fire. It's just a bizarre misunderstanding of how social services work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not the priority because they just aren't.

Parents think they should be because that's their moon-and-stars. But schools are actually the most expensive line item in a city or county budget and don't provide anything concrete back to anyone but 10% of the city population.

The city's priorities are its financial coffers and public health. Period.

As for the person complaining about the library - you realize they're trying to keep them closed to keep a viral outbreak from spreading further through the homeless population, no? You're not the only people who live in your area. Get a clue.

Are you trolling? This is really silly.

Even if you ignore the fact that schools educate the next generation of citizens, and are therefore essential to having a functioning society, schools offer a ton of benefits to the entire population of the city every day.

They provide a safe place and meals to many of the city's most vulnerable residents.

They enable many workers, including many healthcare workers, transportation operators, grocery store workers, etc., to work. Many people have jobs that must be done in person, and schools make it possible for them to go.

Schools also employ a ton of people, from teachers and administrators to speech therapists, nurses, librarians, janitors, and others.

Schools also give older kids something productive to do during the day, and a place to socialize and learn and in some cases, to be safe from abusive or neglectful home environments.

I don't even think schools should be open right now, due to the pandemic, but I'm not dumb enough to argue that schools only benefit the parents who send their kids. That's like arguing hospitals only benefit people who are currently in need of treatment, or that fire departments only benefit people whose houses are currently on fire. It's just a bizarre misunderstanding of how social services work.

But we don’t even treat schools like they are this wonderful or sacred place. At least be honest. If people really felt public education mattered we’d be in SUCH a different place.

And poster above it’s not 10% it’s 25%. That’s a quarter of DC’s population which is significant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not the priority because they just aren't.

Parents think they should be because that's their moon-and-stars. But schools are actually the most expensive line item in a city or county budget and don't provide anything concrete back to anyone but 10% of the city population.

The city's priorities are its financial coffers and public health. Period.

As for the person complaining about the library - you realize they're trying to keep them closed to keep a viral outbreak from spreading further through the homeless population, no? You're not the only people who live in your area. Get a clue.

Are you trolling? This is really silly.

Even if you ignore the fact that schools educate the next generation of citizens, and are therefore essential to having a functioning society, schools offer a ton of benefits to the entire population of the city every day.

They provide a safe place and meals to many of the city's most vulnerable residents.

They enable many workers, including many healthcare workers, transportation operators, grocery store workers, etc., to work. Many people have jobs that must be done in person, and schools make it possible for them to go.

Schools also employ a ton of people, from teachers and administrators to speech therapists, nurses, librarians, janitors, and others.

Schools also give older kids something productive to do during the day, and a place to socialize and learn and in some cases, to be safe from abusive or neglectful home environments.

I don't even think schools should be open right now, due to the pandemic, but I'm not dumb enough to argue that schools only benefit the parents who send their kids. That's like arguing hospitals only benefit people who are currently in need of treatment, or that fire departments only benefit people whose houses are currently on fire. It's just a bizarre misunderstanding of how social services work.

But we don’t even treat schools like they are this wonderful or sacred place. At least be honest. If people really felt public education mattered we’d be in SUCH a different place.

And poster above it’s not 10% it’s 25%. That’s a quarter of DC’s population which is significant.

Where are you getting 25%? DCPS only has 47,500 students. The population of D.C. is 705,000. That 10% was generous. Its more like 6%.

If you want to count every parent as receiving a concrete benefit, and assume they're all dual-parent families which they're not, that's still only an additional 80,000 people. Which is 18%. Minus it with the single parents at a quarter - its 16%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that every student will not have required technology by the start of the school year is an abomination.

And that no paid trainings for teachers were held to make DL more engaging and effective. Individually, some highly-motivated teachers may have spent part of the summer skill-building. Most were probably recovering from the shit show they were thrown into last school year. There should have been incentivized opportunities to learn how to effectively teach using all the bells and whistles of these virtual systems. That is a shameful failure the Chancellor needs to own, along with the lack of robust equipment for ALL students. There aren’t even clear policies regarding the use of Zoom or allowing students to communicate through Teams outside of class time. Social isolation in a tension-filled household is what most DCPS students are facing. What role will school counselors play in managing this, or meeting the needs of children with 504s and IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not the priority because they just aren't.

Parents think they should be because that's their moon-and-stars. But schools are actually the most expensive line item in a city or county budget and don't provide anything concrete back to anyone but 10% of the city population.

The city's priorities are its financial coffers and public health. Period.

As for the person complaining about the library - you realize they're trying to keep them closed to keep a viral outbreak from spreading further through the homeless population, no? You're not the only people who live in your area. Get a clue.

Are you trolling? This is really silly.

Even if you ignore the fact that schools educate the next generation of citizens, and are therefore essential to having a functioning society, schools offer a ton of benefits to the entire population of the city every day.

They provide a safe place and meals to many of the city's most vulnerable residents.

They enable many workers, including many healthcare workers, transportation operators, grocery store workers, etc., to work. Many people have jobs that must be done in person, and schools make it possible for them to go.

Schools also employ a ton of people, from teachers and administrators to speech therapists, nurses, librarians, janitors, and others.

Schools also give older kids something productive to do during the day, and a place to socialize and learn and in some cases, to be safe from abusive or neglectful home environments.

I don't even think schools should be open right now, due to the pandemic, but I'm not dumb enough to argue that schools only benefit the parents who send their kids. That's like arguing hospitals only benefit people who are currently in need of treatment, or that fire departments only benefit people whose houses are currently on fire. It's just a bizarre misunderstanding of how social services work.

But we don’t even treat schools like they are this wonderful or sacred place. At least be honest. If people really felt public education mattered we’d be in SUCH a different place.

And poster above it’s not 10% it’s 25%. That’s a quarter of DC’s population which is significant.

Where are you getting 25%? DCPS only has 47,500 students. The population of D.C. is 705,000. That 10% was generous. Its more like 6%.

If you want to count every parent as receiving a concrete benefit, and assume they're all dual-parent families which they're not, that's still only an additional 80,000 people. Which is 18%. Minus it with the single parents at a quarter - its 16%.

Plus DCPS employees and I counted charters because they are still public schools in DC and receive money from taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that every student will not have required technology by the start of the school year is an abomination.

And that no paid trainings for teachers were held to make DL more engaging and effective. Individually, some highly-motivated teachers may have spent part of the summer skill-building. Most were probably recovering from the shit show they were thrown into last school year. There should have been incentivized opportunities to learn how to effectively teach using all the bells and whistles of these virtual systems. That is a shameful failure the Chancellor needs to own, along with the lack of robust equipment for ALL students. There aren’t even clear policies regarding the use of Zoom or allowing students to communicate through Teams outside of class time. Social isolation in a tension-filled household is what most DCPS students are facing. What role will school counselors play in managing this, or meeting the needs of children with 504s and IEPs.

Ha, my school just started offering technologically illiterate teachers and paraprofessionals training. It is likely a generational thing but as a millennial in my mid 20’s I don’t really understand how you can be so poor at technology as a teacher. I realize not every school is blessed with technology but even schools likes mine where everyone has a smart board and laptop, what’s the excuse?

You can also google research, I found a ton of innovations.

About zoom that’s an absolute no, unless it’s on families own times. DCPS is 100% committing to Teams.

[Anonymous]

I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

By positive results you mean COVID results right??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

By positive results you mean COVID results right??

No, I mean kids butts in seats.

Look, I'm going to be honest, if you open schools you are going to get /or some kids with COVID. Luckily, as I said, all evidence points to children being at far less risk of serious complications from the virus.

Look, I dont like to talk about problems facing those less well off as I am very aware that me and my family are incredibly blessed with wealth, health and happiness and it isnt my place to speak to the plight of people whose lives I havent lived, but the fact is that even if we do get some kids sick with what will amount to a mild kr moderate flu like sickness, schools are far too important to just shut down indefinitely. Parents, many of whom are going back to work in retail/restaurants and dont have the finances, especially now, to hire dedicated nannies and tutors and depend on the school system to provide meaningful instruction and supervision for their kids. And furthedmore, many of these same families want to see their children further their well being past their parents' current struggles, which gets harder and harder the longer we deny them proper education, letting their kids fall further and further behind, especially considering schools in low income areas are already underfunded and underacheiving. It has been proven that as people get older, playing educational catch up gets harder and harder.

So yes, while I am lucky that we have the money that we can disenroll our child and go through the process, with the help of expensive tutors and curriculum, of giving him an excellent education at home, that is a luxory many in this city do not have.

Which is why this is only a debate in ohr wealthy bubble of DCUM and the far upper NW. Because in poorer areas, they dont have any other options. And so they are screaming for the reopening of schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

By positive results you mean COVID results right??

No, I mean kids butts in seats.

Look, I'm going to be honest, if you open schools you are going to get /or some kids with COVID. Luckily, as I said, all evidence points to children being at far less risk of serious complications from the virus.

Look, I dont like to talk about problems facing those less well off as I am very aware that me and my family are incredibly blessed with wealth, health and happiness and it isnt my place to speak to the plight of people whose lives I havent lived, but the fact is that even if we do get some kids sick with what will amount to a mild kr moderate flu like sickness, schools are far too important to just shut down indefinitely. Parents, many of whom are going back to work in retail/restaurants and dont have the finances, especially now, to hire dedicated nannies and tutors and depend on the school system to provide meaningful instruction and supervision for their kids. And furthedmore, many of these same families want to see their children further their well being past their parents' current struggles, which gets harder and harder the longer we deny them proper education, letting their kids fall further and further behind, especially considering schools in low income areas are already underfunded and underacheiving. It has been proven that as people get older, playing educational catch up gets harder and harder.

So yes, while I am lucky that we have the money that we can disenroll our child and go through the process, with the help of expensive tutors and curriculum, of giving him an excellent education at home, that is a luxory many in this city do not have.

Which is why this is only a debate in ohr wealthy bubble of DCUM and the far upper NW. Because in poorer areas, they dont have any other options. And so they are screaming for the reopening of schools.

That isn’t true in DC. There was a whole thread about it here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

By positive results you mean COVID results right??

No, I mean kids butts in seats.

Look, I'm going to be honest, if you open schools you are going to get /or some kids with COVID. Luckily, as I said, all evidence points to children being at far less risk of serious complications from the virus.

Look, I dont like to talk about problems facing those less well off as I am very aware that me and my family are incredibly blessed with wealth, health and happiness and it isnt my place to speak to the plight of people whose lives I havent lived, but the fact is that even if we do get some kids sick with what will amount to a mild kr moderate flu like sickness, schools are far too important to just shut down indefinitely. Parents, many of whom are going back to work in retail/restaurants and dont have the finances, especially now, to hire dedicated nannies and tutors and depend on the school system to provide meaningful instruction and supervision for their kids. And furthedmore, many of these same families want to see their children further their well being past their parents' current struggles, which gets harder and harder the longer we deny them proper education, letting their kids fall further and further behind, especially considering schools in low income areas are already underfunded and underacheiving. It has been proven that as people get older, playing educational catch up gets harder and harder.

So yes, while I am lucky that we have the money that we can disenroll our child and go through the process, with the help of expensive tutors and curriculum, of giving him an excellent education at home, that is a luxory many in this city do not have.

Which is why this is only a debate in ohr wealthy bubble of DCUM and the far upper NW. Because in poorer areas, they dont have any other options. And so they are screaming for the reopening of schools.

That isn’t true in DC. There was a whole thread about it here.

So you are saying that DC is the only place in the country where parents working service/retail style hourly jobs can just decide not to work in order to keep their kids in line? Or that they can, because they live in DC, afford the childcare they need?

Or maybe you are saying this because your one friend who is "slumming it" east of the Park in Mt Pleasent is working from home you assume everyone else also has it figured out. After all, she is "poor" compared tk you.

Believe me, this is very much just as huge a concern in DC as elsewhere. Just because the people effected have all been pushed back to Anacostia (and parts of PG county) so it is easy for us stuck in the upper-class DC bubble to ignore them/their needs doesnt mean we shouldnt take their needs into account. They live in this city the same as me kr yku.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

By positive results you mean COVID results right??

No, I mean kids butts in seats.

Look, I'm going to be honest, if you open schools you are going to get /or some kids with COVID. Luckily, as I said, all evidence points to children being at far less risk of serious complications from the virus.

Look, I dont like to talk about problems facing those less well off as I am very aware that me and my family are incredibly blessed with wealth, health and happiness and it isnt my place to speak to the plight of people whose lives I havent lived, but the fact is that even if we do get some kids sick with what will amount to a mild kr moderate flu like sickness, schools are far too important to just shut down indefinitely. Parents, many of whom are going back to work in retail/restaurants and dont have the finances, especially now, to hire dedicated nannies and tutors and depend on the school system to provide meaningful instruction and supervision for their kids. And furthedmore, many of these same families want to see their children further their well being past their parents' current struggles, which gets harder and harder the longer we deny them proper education, letting their kids fall further and further behind, especially considering schools in low income areas are already underfunded and underacheiving. It has been proven that as people get older, playing educational catch up gets harder and harder.

So yes, while I am lucky that we have the money that we can disenroll our child and go through the process, with the help of expensive tutors and curriculum, of giving him an excellent education at home, that is a luxory many in this city do not have.

Which is why this is only a debate in ohr wealthy bubble of DCUM and the far upper NW. Because in poorer areas, they dont have any other options. And so they are screaming for the reopening of schools.

That isn’t true in DC. There was a whole thread about it here.

So you are saying that DC is the only place in the country where parents working service/retail style hourly jobs can just decide not to work in order to keep their kids in line? Or that they can, because they live in DC, afford the childcare they need?

Or maybe you are saying this because your one friend who is "slumming it" east of the Park in Mt Pleasent is working from home you assume everyone else also has it figured out. After all, she is "poor" compared tk you.

Believe me, this is very much just as huge a concern in DC as elsewhere. Just because the people effected have all been pushed back to Anacostia (and parts of PG county) so it is easy for us stuck in the upper-class DC bubble to ignore them/their needs doesnt mean we shouldnt take their needs into account. They live in this city the same as me kr yku.

No I was talking about your assertion that lower ses families want their kids in school. By a large margin they want distance learning. It’s because they know the consequences and many of family members and friends who have died. There was a whole nasty racist thread about it. It revealed lots of horrible opinions and thought of many upper nw residents. You should do a search if you want to be disgusted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am enraged. Currently disenrolling DS13 in favor of homeschooling.

Spring semester at his middle school was a shitshow. We are very on top of him, especially in regards to academics, so he was attending every single meeting/class and doing all his work, but it quickly became clear he was falling behind reasonable grade equivilencies especially relating to math/science. I feel real bad for his classmates, many of whom missed weeks of meetings and assignments. I stead of giving him an academic break like we do most summers only requiring 1-2 hours of academic work, he now has to be doing 5-6 hours every weekday to catch up/get ahead and we had to hire a tutor to work one on one with him 2-4 days a week.

I dont think online schooling, in this manner, is effective or acceptable at all. The fact DCPS isnt reopening is a shame. I understand why they overreacted in the spring, but the science is clear that children/teens are at far lower danger of serious complications from COVID, and other schools, many in far worse hit areas of the country, are reopening for full in person instruction with very positive results.

You have 13 kids???

[Anonymous]

The Mayor's disrespect of educators and the union has been disappointing.