Teachers Not Wanting to Go Back in Person

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it is way easier and more relaxing to work from home..saves time and money and there’s no financial or professional penalty. So they are riding the gravy train as long as they can.

+10000

Obviously not all teachers with many being back but plenty are riding the gravy train

The gravy train of... managing their own children’s online learning while trying to work? Or maybe the endless interruptions from spouses or partners in the house. I know, I know! The crushing existential dread of pandemic life.

I mean, come on. If working from home is a sinecure, I’ve definitely been screwed over. I really feel bad for teachers. They are in an untenable situation and they get to deal with people who think they understand education because they went to school 30 years ago critiquing their every move AND the crazy parents who are blaming them for the pandemic.

All for the princely sum of less than 75k/year.

+1 much less than 75k

Seriously. That $75k was an interesting amount to pick. In FCPS that's step 15 with a BA/BS and step 10 with a MA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catholic school teachers don’t have a union to defend them. That’s why. I am friends with lots of private and Catholic school teachers and they all felt railroaded.

+1. Anyone who thinks public school teachers are the only ones who didn't want to go back in person is mistaken. Private school teachers do not have any type of unified voice, and religious schools in particular have a poor track record when it comes to looking out for their female employees.

[Anonymous]

I really don't care, do you?

[Anonymous]

I totally rounded up on the $75k number. The best teacher my child has ever had was making $72k, which breaks my heart. I would gladly pay significantly
More in property taxes to ensure that teachers could afford to live in Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers can make a personal choice on this but yes it may effect whether not they have a job just like it would for the rest of us. The thing that has upset me the most this year is there is a representation by some, certainly not all, teachers that they are the only ones facing risk in the pandemic. I have gone to work every day in my very crowded government office and so have thousands of others who work on classified systems. We also did not sign up for it. We worked before the vaccines were even created. We changed our hours and made crazy schedules in order to be home for virtual school. But it often feels like a vocal group of teachers act like they’re the only ones taking risks and making sacrifices when the reality is they are one of the most protected groups during this. I think this is where the relationship with teachers went South for many parents.

Fed who has volunteered to go in when needed so my manager who is 65+ and a cancer survivor doesn’t and 1000% this. Public servants especially have always understood that the agency’s mission must be met. Otherwise, why are we there. And sometime, it can be met well from telework. And sometime it can’t. Lot of feds in this area are in person at least some, in building with crappy cleaning staffs, in cube mills amd it never dawned on us not to go. So, we’re over it from teachers.

And many feds in other agencies are and have been working from home, many of them in positions previously thought to be ineligible for telework.

P.S. No one cares that you're "over it from teachers," including teachers.

+1

I am not going to discredit that teachers have sounded whiny and panicked during the pandemic but I don’t know a single fed back at work in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catholic school teachers don’t have a union to defend them. That’s why. I am friends with lots of private and Catholic school teachers and they all felt railroaded.

+1. Anyone who thinks public school teachers are the only ones who didn't want to go back in person is mistaken. Private school teachers do not have any type of unified voice, and religious schools in particular have a poor track record when it comes to looking out for their female employees.

Or could it be possible that they believe that their mission to educate their students is best served in person, and trust in their school's mitigation measures? I am a Catholic school teacher and I did not feel "railroaded," nor did my colleagues at my school. We did not choose to come back in person because we "had no choice." We do not need to be patronized. Please do not speak for me or for those of us who were willing to come back in person.

[Anonymous]

Because they want something for nothing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers can make a personal choice on this but yes it may effect whether not they have a job just like it would for the rest of us. The thing that has upset me the most this year is there is a representation by some, certainly not all, teachers that they are the only ones facing risk in the pandemic. I have gone to work every day in my very crowded government office and so have thousands of others who work on classified systems. We also did not sign up for it. We worked before the vaccines were even created. We changed our hours and made crazy schedules in order to be home for virtual school. But it often feels like a vocal group of teachers act like they’re the only ones taking risks and making sacrifices when the reality is they are one of the most protected groups during this. I think this is where the relationship with teachers went South for many parents.

Fed who has volunteered to go in when needed so my manager who is 65+ and a cancer survivor doesn’t and 1000% this. Public servants especially have always understood that the agency’s mission must be met. Otherwise, why are we there. And sometime, it can be met well from telework. And sometime it can’t. Lot of feds in this area are in person at least some, in building with crappy cleaning staffs, in cube mills amd it never dawned on us not to go. So, we’re over it from teachers.

And many feds in other agencies are and have been working from home, many of them in positions previously thought to be ineligible for telework.

P.S. No one cares that you're "over it from teachers," including teachers.

+1

I am not going to discredit that teachers have sounded whiny and panicked during the pandemic but I don’t know a single fed back at work in person.

All of the high-security people have had to be back the entire time. Also secret service.

Database people who can't access data online have had to be back.

Also those poor IRS sobs that have to process all of the stimulus checks.

I feel like I can go on....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone please tell me why teachers can’t go back to school ASAP.

Many other professions have gone back to work UNVACCINATED and no one cared about us (construction).

So because you work for uncaring employers everyone should be treated like you?

Look, for the record, lots of people "cared" but lots of people also care about jobs, the economy, etc. I am sympathetic for your situation (I am lucky to be in a very different situation). But I'm not sure what you're arguing more than a "misery loves company." And that's not an argument at all.

This is why all workers should support unions. So they have a say in their working conditions. I have often been on the other side of the litigating "v." from unions. They can be exasperating to work with. But, they are important and necessary. And Covid is making that even more clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think teachers can make a personal choice on this but yes it may effect whether not they have a job just like it would for the rest of us. The thing that has upset me the most this year is there is a representation by some, certainly not all, teachers that they are the only ones facing risk in the pandemic. I have gone to work every day in my very crowded government office and so have thousands of others who work on classified systems. We also did not sign up for it. We worked before the vaccines were even created. We changed our hours and made crazy schedules in order to be home for virtual school. But it often feels like a vocal group of teachers act like they’re the only ones taking risks and making sacrifices when the reality is they are one of the most protected groups during this. I think this is where the relationship with teachers went South for many parents.

Fed who has volunteered to go in when needed so my manager who is 65+ and a cancer survivor doesn’t and 1000% this. Public servants especially have always understood that the agency’s mission must be met. Otherwise, why are we there. And sometime, it can be met well from telework. And sometime it can’t. Lot of feds in this area are in person at least some, in building with crappy cleaning staffs, in cube mills amd it never dawned on us not to go. So, we’re over it from teachers.

And many feds in other agencies are and have been working from home, many of them in positions previously thought to be ineligible for telework.

P.S. No one cares that you're "over it from teachers," including teachers.

+1

I am not going to discredit that teachers have sounded whiny and panicked during the pandemic but I don’t know a single fed back at work in person.

+2. And it looks like that my FT TW is going to be permanent.

[Anonymous]

so, should NO ONE have worked during the pandemic?

[Anonymous]

In most jobs where people were forced to go back to work in-person, companies were at least trying to observe safety protocols in a reasonable fashion.

I have a couple of friends in construction and they had masks and face shields were available for when guys were working indoors. Most of the time that people were working indoors, it was maybe 5-8 guys working in fairly large rooms or 1-3 guys working in smaller rooms.

Grocery store workers had plastic shields set up between them and the customers. PPE was provided. Cleaning solutions were provided and replentished by stores, so that they could wipe down frequently touched surfaces.

Schools on the other hand, provided the teachers with very little. I have friends in three different local school districts that have returned to work. There are times that there are 15-20 kids in a classroom with a teacher. Many classrooms did not have space to keep the kids 6 feet apart and they were lucky if kids were kept 3 feet apart. No plastic shields for teachers. Half were given face shields hand-made from page protectors. The others were not give face shields at all. I know three teachers who were given enough cleaning solutions to last the first week of class. When they asked for more, they were told that was all that was available. And they were given a long list of times they were supposed to clean surfaces which was multiple times a day. Teachers in 2 of the 3 school districts were explicitly told they were not allowed to ask parents of their students to augment cleaning supplies since there is a pandemic and they were not supposed to make the FARMS and lower income families feel guilty. So essentially they are expected to pay for cleaning supplies out of their own pockets. So the school districts have been lying about "adequate" cleaning supplies are being provided to the teaching staff. They are also lying about following CDC guidelines (or they were until a few days ago when the CDC guidelines were revised to allow 3 feet separation). Basically the school boards cannot be trusted to actually enforce health and safety. They are just saying whatever they need to say to get the schools open at the risk of students and faculty.

I am not a teacher, but have a lot of sympathy. I have actually amazon'ed shipments of wipes, cleaning supplies and paper towels to 5 teachers in the last 2 weeks. At least I have a stable job from an employer that cares about my health and safety. And I am a lot more financially stable than most teachers, so I provide them what support I can. And we are fortunate that we can keep our kids virtual until we, the parents, are vaccinated. We'll reconsider whether to send out kids back to school after we're both fully vaccinated (which may or may not happen during the school year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In most jobs where people were forced to go back to work in-person, companies were at least trying to observe safety protocols in a reasonable fashion.

I have a couple of friends in construction and they had masks and face shields were available for when guys were working indoors. Most of the time that people were working indoors, it was maybe 5-8 guys working in fairly large rooms or 1-3 guys working in smaller rooms.

Grocery store workers had plastic shields set up between them and the customers. PPE was provided. Cleaning solutions were provided and replentished by stores, so that they could wipe down frequently touched surfaces.

Schools on the other hand, provided the teachers with very little. I have friends in three different local school districts that have returned to work. There are times that there are 15-20 kids in a classroom with a teacher. Many classrooms did not have space to keep the kids 6 feet apart and they were lucky if kids were kept 3 feet apart. No plastic shields for teachers. Half were given face shields hand-made from page protectors. The others were not give face shields at all. I know three teachers who were given enough cleaning solutions to last the first week of class. When they asked for more, they were told that was all that was available. And they were given a long list of times they were supposed to clean surfaces which was multiple times a day. Teachers in 2 of the 3 school districts were explicitly told they were not allowed to ask parents of their students to augment cleaning supplies since there is a pandemic and they were not supposed to make the FARMS and lower income families feel guilty. So essentially they are expected to pay for cleaning supplies out of their own pockets. So the school districts have been lying about "adequate" cleaning supplies are being provided to the teaching staff. They are also lying about following CDC guidelines (or they were until a few days ago when the CDC guidelines were revised to allow 3 feet separation). Basically the school boards cannot be trusted to actually enforce health and safety. They are just saying whatever they need to say to get the schools open at the risk of students and faculty.

I am not a teacher, but have a lot of sympathy. I have actually amazon'ed shipments of wipes, cleaning supplies and paper towels to 5 teachers in the last 2 weeks. At least I have a stable job from an employer that cares about my health and safety. And I am a lot more financially stable than most teachers, so I provide them what support I can. And we are fortunate that we can keep our kids virtual until we, the parents, are vaccinated. We'll reconsider whether to send out kids back to school after we're both fully vaccinated (which may or may not happen during the school year).

This description of safety protocols does not apply to my area school, which has been back in person since August. We have face shields, cleaning solution, plexiglass, air filtration, and essentially anything else we asked for. Parents are extremely supportive, as is the administration. And we are not a wealthy school. This "private school teachers are abused" narrative doesn't fit my experience, nor any of my teacher friends. (The school did obtain a waiver from the state in August to go to three feet of distancing where necessary, as did several private schools, so that part is correct.)

[Anonymous]

It is very obvious that most of the people posting here don't understand the concepts of proximity and duration, which are the problem stepchildren of Covid and the issues in school classrooms. With kids now eating in the classrooms twice a day, and mask breaks, there is a lot more opportunity for exposure for other kids and their teachers because of proximity and duration. If the adults posting here don't understand that then they shouldn't be posting.

I completely understand why teachers are upset about the poor working conditions. Not only are they being exposed two, three or four times a day to asymptomatic super-spreaders for up to 20-30 minutes a time but they have to deal with parents who don't understand the risks when they send their kids to school sick.

Last week was Day 1 for a cohort at our kids' school. Guess what? A parent sent her kid to school sick because she "needed a break." Great. That kind of idiotic behavior is exactly why we're choosing to keep our kids DL. Besides the fact that, as has been amply demonstrated on prior pages, the only kids in school are the behavior problem.

My kids saw the writing on the wall with that one. We tried to say that it wouldn't happen but when I look at their screens during attendance I see -exactly- what they were talking about. They'll stay home until things are better.

[Anonymous]

At least in the DMV, teachers have been prioritized for the vaccine, and many are fully immunized. This changes the narrative a lot, because it removes most of their concerns.

So what we are finding here is teachers that don't want to go back even AFTER being fully immunized, or that are refusing the vaccine.

Fun times.