Economist- Let them learn- The risks of keeping schools closed far outweigh the benefits

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with article. And the surest way to mitigate the damage is to do ALL of the things our federal government and some state governments have refused to do.

If all these "back to school" screamers would simply acknowledge this is 1. not a hoax. 2. Is a pandemic with serious health risks for our entire population 3. demand our government act responsibly then maybe we could get back to school.

Unfortunately all the people screaming about getting back to school are the same ones who refuse to do and/or support all the things necessary for it to happen. Its like the friggin twilight zone.....

This is stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All our energies should be on reopening schools. Those who would keep them closed will cause untold harm to these children and their futures.

Agree.

All our energies should be on reducing COVID spread to a point where we can reopen schools. And worship again in churches. And attend plays in person. And have weddings and funerals again.

We need to focus intensively on reducing spread so we can keep new rate of infection low so we can get back to normal.

We HAVE to get back to normal. Kids need to be in school and they need to learn.

We can't skip the "reducing spread" part though.

100% yes to this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Guess what? We parents are ALSO risking getting Covid if the schools open. We are at least as at risk as teachers. But in spite of that I want the schools to open because it is best for my child. Teachers should have the same commitment to kids. If the schools don’t open, many children will go to day care where the risks of spread will be greater, not less.

Feel disgusted and let down by DCPS

Teachers should be willing to die for YOUR child? Are you willing to commit to potentially dying for someone else's child? You are not "at least" as at risk because you are only exposed to your one child, whereas teachers are exposed to all of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh no. teachers are—to put it simply—scared to die.

There’s a pandemic and if schools hadn’t closed in march, the death toll would have been much higher.

The political part of this is how terribly Trump has handled it for months and months, calling it a hoax, never wearing a mask, pitting states against each other for proper equipment, firing the pandemic team long before this happened, refusing to listen to top health experts.

If teachers had proper PPE and schools could have soap and paper towels, maybe they wouldn’t be so scared, but my kids in McPs —a wealthy county —often don’t even have soap in the bathrooms. How the hell can they keep the virus at bay without the proper equipment?

I'm sorry that some teachers are "scared to die." Perhaps they should consider another line of work? But that does not mean that my kids don't need to be in school.

[Anonymous]

This is like the ultimate form of gaslighting. We have leaders who have done NOTHING to stop the spread of the virus, and have actually undermined efforts to do so. Then they want to blame the teachers when schools can't open safely.

Sad to see how many of you have fallen for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is like the ultimate form of gaslighting. We have leaders who have done NOTHING to stop the spread of the virus, and have actually undermined efforts to do so. Then they want to blame the teachers when schools can't open safely.

Sad to see how many of you have fallen for it.

There has been an unheard of failure of federal leadership, but that still does not mean the teachers shouldn’t go back and teach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is like the ultimate form of gaslighting. We have leaders who have done NOTHING to stop the spread of the virus, and have actually undermined efforts to do so. Then they want to blame the teachers when schools can't open safely.

Sad to see how many of you have fallen for it.

There has been an unheard of failure of federal leadership, but that still does not mean the teachers shouldn’t go back and teach

Um, that's exactly what it means. The failure of leadership has led to a pandemic that is not at all under control in this country. And before you say "but numbers are looking good in Fairfax County", a) we don't live in a bubble and b) what makes you think we are immune from the trend of cases going back up a month or two after reopening?

I want my kids back in school more than anything, and would be willing to go back into full lockdown for a few weeks if we had leaders that got us all on board with the idea that we are doing it for the sake of our kids' futures. But I live in the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who think we should open the school, under what conditions would you close them? Do you ever think the risks outweigh the benefits? Be specific.

Don't be lazy, read the article.

I did. I want to know specifically when people would close the schools. It is easy to pound on the table and demand that the schools be open. It is much harder to have a nuanced policy that provides as much safety and benefit to all involved parties. And I don’t trust any of you table pounders. This is an incredibly complex issue that most of you don’t understand. Even the basics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh no. teachers are—to put it simply—scared to die.

There’s a pandemic and if schools hadn’t closed in march, the death toll would have been much higher.

The political part of this is how terribly Trump has handled it for months and months, calling it a hoax, never wearing a mask, pitting states against each other for proper equipment, firing the pandemic team long before this happened, refusing to listen to top health experts.

If teachers had proper PPE and schools could have soap and paper towels, maybe they wouldn’t be so scared, but my kids in McPs —a wealthy county —often don’t even have soap in the bathrooms. How the hell can they keep the virus at bay without the proper equipment?

Fear does not equate to facts. The long term negative impact on children is a fact. Teachers were screaming for shutdowns for the fall before schools were provided the opportunity to demonstrate their plan.

Either step up and do the job or find another profession. (See all other open businesses and their employees.)

Teachers were “screaming for shutdowns” because they knew all too well how woefully unprepared schools are for handling a public health crisis (lack of supplies, lack of resources/$$, lack of understanding and support for education/teachers/students, lack of leadership) and therefore it would not be safe to reopen schools.

Look at the demographics of teachers. That's why. If it were mostly men, it'd be a different story. Most teachers are yuppie white women who've never had to work a day of manual labor in their life. Just spoiled middle class whiners.

This

It's the only profession that feels entitled to keep working from home. It's odd especially considering there was never a telework option available to them or in general practice previously. Like it or not, many consider a school teacher to be an essential service worker, like a postal worker, eletrictian, nursing aide, garbage collector, police officer. Blue collar workers never stopped working during the pandemic and even white collar workers are starting to return to office buildings, yet school teachers are a special protected class...I wonder why?

The DCPS survey showed that the same percentage of teachers that were likely/somewhat likely to return in person is the same as the percentage of parents who preferred in person learning. It’s not that teachers feel entitled, it’s that just as many of them are afraid of returning in person as parents. Why should teachers be less afraid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh no. teachers are—to put it simply—scared to die.

There’s a pandemic and if schools hadn’t closed in march, the death toll would have been much higher.

The political part of this is how terribly Trump has handled it for months and months, calling it a hoax, never wearing a mask, pitting states against each other for proper equipment, firing the pandemic team long before this happened, refusing to listen to top health experts.

If teachers had proper PPE and schools could have soap and paper towels, maybe they wouldn’t be so scared, but my kids in McPs —a wealthy county —often don’t even have soap in the bathrooms. How the hell can they keep the virus at bay without the proper equipment?

Afraid? Then why are all the teachers on my Facebook feed on a damn vacation they got on a plane to get to?

[Anonymous]

I am in an essential job and I go in every day. We all wear masks all day, we sit 6+ feet apart, we keep track of everyone we come into contact with, meeting sizes are limited, etc. If I can do this why can’t schools? There is no more essential job that teaching.

Nurses and doctors went to hospitals without enough PPE to touch Covid positive patients and get their fluids all over them. They didn’t whine en masse and refuse to do their job. What teachers are being asked to do is only 1% of the risk of what these healthcare workers did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess it comes down to how risk-adverse we are. Everyone has a different degree of comfort. I do not trust the constantly emerging information coming from a medical community and administration sending mixed messages. There are reports of people who recovered now displaying pulmonary/respiratory, heart/blood pressure changes. Babies in the NICU are being exposed. I’m a NICU mom so already super conservative e.

The virus mutates. Our research is based off of VERY LOW COUNTS OF TESTING. We are 90 days in and don’t have a full national picture (forget global) or a plan in place to restructure to a new vision. I simply don’t trust the info emerging yet. There are idiots running around not familiar with public service and treating every policy as an attack on their wallet. CDC is getting censored. Add my low confidence for just a few of these reasons to the fact that every year in this are there is some horrible bug going around near Thanksgiving, I have no doubt that c19 would spread like wildfire in the fall. it’s already a tricky time of year. I’m willing to risk the loss
of money (which is being printed like Monopoly money anyway as politicians manipulate the system for a cash grab of as much as they can before it all crumbles down) for a life to enjoy it.

But you are free to volunteer your child as Tribute for Trump’s Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in their* favour!

I do think masks should be mandated and i also think the states should articulate how they have been using this time to prepare for a reopening that may lead to increased surges.


*their = innocent, helpless, minor children

Guys, notice how when ever someone needs an excuse to embrace their fear they usually blame Donald Trump? States are dictating most of the policies around Covid 19, not the federal leader.

What about the low-income minority children who will not be getting ANY online teaching at all due to poor resources? You only care about your little gated community full of only white people. You should be ashamed of your blatant racism.

They will be staying home because they live in multigenerational households, households with asthma, heart conditions, diabetes, etc. Basically because the poor don't have access to all the goodies you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh no. teachers are—to put it simply—scared to die.

There’s a pandemic and if schools hadn’t closed in march, the death toll would have been much higher.

The political part of this is how terribly Trump has handled it for months and months, calling it a hoax, never wearing a mask, pitting states against each other for proper equipment, firing the pandemic team long before this happened, refusing to listen to top health experts.

If teachers had proper PPE and schools could have soap and paper towels, maybe they wouldn’t be so scared, but my kids in McPs —a wealthy county —often don’t even have soap in the bathrooms. How the hell can they keep the virus at bay without the proper equipment?

Afraid? Then why are all the teachers on my Facebook feed on a damn vacation they got on a plane to get to?

They are fools. Most of the teachers I know are on lockdown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess it comes down to how risk-adverse we are. Everyone has a different degree of comfort. I do not trust the constantly emerging information coming from a medical community and administration sending mixed messages. There are reports of people who recovered now displaying pulmonary/respiratory, heart/blood pressure changes. Babies in the NICU are being exposed. I’m a NICU mom so already super conservative e.

The virus mutates. Our research is based off of VERY LOW COUNTS OF TESTING. We are 90 days in and don’t have a full national picture (forget global) or a plan in place to restructure to a new vision. I simply don’t trust the info emerging yet. There are idiots running around not familiar with public service and treating every policy as an attack on their wallet. CDC is getting censored. Add my low confidence for just a few of these reasons to the fact that every year in this are there is some horrible bug going around near Thanksgiving, I have no doubt that c19 would spread like wildfire in the fall. it’s already a tricky time of year. I’m willing to risk the loss
of money (which is being printed like Monopoly money anyway as politicians manipulate the system for a cash grab of as much as they can before it all crumbles down) for a life to enjoy it.

But you are free to volunteer your child as Tribute for Trump’s Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in their* favour!

I do think masks should be mandated and i also think the states should articulate how they have been using this time to prepare for a reopening that may lead to increased surges.


*their = innocent, helpless, minor children

Guys, notice how when ever someone needs an excuse to embrace their fear they usually blame Donald Trump? States are dictating most of the policies around Covid 19, not the federal leader.

What about the low-income minority children who will not be getting ANY online teaching at all due to poor resources? You only care about your little gated community full of only white people. You should be ashamed of your blatant racism.

That was by design, so Trump wouldn't have to take any responsibility. Are you really this gullible?

As for the low-income minority families, the ones in FCPS reported a preference for distance learning at a significantly higher percentage than higher income families. Stop speaking as though you know what they want and need. They can speak for themselves. We see right through your faux concern.

[Anonymous]

No, it's because our government is structured to give significant power to the states.

You should be grateful that Orange Man doesn't have full dictatorial powers.