A word to Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post on 'Schools MUST ReOpen' - F off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Underprivileged kids suffer the most from school closures.

I personally think all tuition dollars should be converted to vouchers. Let parents choose where to send their kids. What the public school system needs is a little competition. Even Alexandria Ocasio Cortes got her god daughter into a charter school.

The parents at our Title I school are almost all overwhelmingly supportive of DL. Because they have inadequate health care and coupled with their own work without adequate safeguards they don't want to expose their kids even more in schools.

Well that’s poor decision making right there. The kids are more at risk in their homes from their own parents they’d be if they were sitting at school socially-distanced in a mask. And let’s be real, most of these kids aren’t actually going to be able to sit at home in front of a computer for 6 hours a day because they won’t have adequate supervision, support, or technology. All DL is going to do is reinforce the cycle of poverty.

Uh, you don't think they go home to the same places as their parents? You think that they sleep at school and so are only exposed to fellow students? Really?

Going to school provides an additional level of exposure, not only because they're in a different environment but because the potential for exposure is exponential with each child coming from a different environment. Think of it like this - each kid is bringing the germs of another 5-10 people with him or her. Multiply that by the number of kids in the class plus the teacher and suddenly that is a lot of exposure. It is much better for them to limit exposure by being at home.

[Anonymous]

I've read the claim that minority and low-income families tend to be supportive of distance learning over in-person learning. I'd be curious to see the data on that. I know that lines up with surveys that Montgomery County has done, but those surveys have a very strong selection bias. They basically send out emails with a link to a survey and see who responds. The demographics collected in the survey show they're not getting an accurate cross-section.

I believe some other counties will follow-up with phone calls to even out the demographics, but even then they're not statistically reliable.

Those survey results might reflect reality. I don't really know. But I suspect the people most interested in having their kids go to school are the ones that are too busy working in-person at their jobs to respond to the survey.

In particular, I'd love to see how the demographics break down. How does income impact it? Parents working in-person? Parents working at home? Unemployed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Underprivileged kids suffer the most from school closures.

I personally think all tuition dollars should be converted to vouchers. Let parents choose where to send their kids. What the public school system needs is a little competition. Even Alexandria Ocasio Cortes got her god daughter into a charter school.

The parents at our Title I school are almost all overwhelmingly supportive of DL. Because they have inadequate health care and coupled with their own work without adequate safeguards they don't want to expose their kids even more in schools.

Well that’s poor decision making right there. The kids are more at risk in their homes from their own parents they’d be if they were sitting at school socially-distanced in a mask. And let’s be real, most of these kids aren’t actually going to be able to sit at home in front of a computer for 6 hours a day because they won’t have adequate supervision, support, or technology. All DL is going to do is reinforce the cycle of poverty.

Uh, you don't think they go home to the same places as their parents? You think that they sleep at school and so are only exposed to fellow students? Really?

Going to school provides an additional level of exposure, not only because they're in a different environment but because the potential for exposure is exponential with each child coming from a different environment. Think of it like this - each kid is bringing the germs of another 5-10 people with him or her. Multiply that by the number of kids in the class plus the teacher and suddenly that is a lot of exposure. It is much better for them to limit exposure by being at home.

And exposure what? Let’s be clear that if we are just considering these particular Title I kids, they need to be in school. Being left alone at home all day isn’t going to do them any favors. I seem to recall from numerous discussions on this board that one of the most challenging issues for Title I kids is the lack of parental involvement. So, do you think a year of DL is going to work for these kids? What happens when schools reopen? These kids are screwed. And the lifetime impacts of that are real, not speculative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is stupid. Underprivileged kids suffer the most from school closures.

I personally think all tuition dollars should be converted to vouchers. Let parents choose where to send their kids. What the public school system needs is a little competition. Even Alexandria Ocasio Cortes got her god daughter into a charter school.

The parents at our Title I school are almost all overwhelmingly supportive of DL. Because they have inadequate health care and coupled with their own work without adequate safeguards they don't want to expose their kids even more in schools.

Well that’s poor decision making right there. The kids are more at risk in their homes from their own parents they’d be if they were sitting at school socially-distanced in a mask. And let’s be real, most of these kids aren’t actually going to be able to sit at home in front of a computer for 6 hours a day because they won’t have adequate supervision, support, or technology. All DL is going to do is reinforce the cycle of poverty.

Uh, you don't think they go home to the same places as their parents? You think that they sleep at school and so are only exposed to fellow students? Really?

Going to school provides an additional level of exposure, not only because they're in a different environment but because the potential for exposure is exponential with each child coming from a different environment. Think of it like this - each kid is bringing the germs of another 5-10 people with him or her. Multiply that by the number of kids in the class plus the teacher and suddenly that is a lot of exposure. It is much better for them to limit exposure by being at home.

And exposure what? Let’s be clear that if we are just considering these particular Title I kids, they need to be in school. Being left alone at home all day isn’t going to do them any favors. I seem to recall from numerous discussions on this board that one of the most challenging issues for Title I kids is the lack of parental involvement. So, do you think a year of DL is going to work for these kids? What happens when schools reopen? These kids are screwed. And the lifetime impacts of that are real, not speculative.

My Title I students were very successful this spring...right up until they were told grades didn't count. Then they disappeared. I don't blame them, they are human after all. But until that fateful announcement they were the Little Trains That Could. I have heard I may be looping this year so I am eager to see them and get them back on the right track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We weren't fine no matter who won, although I'm sure you thought you would be. Now you're urging schools to re-open because I'm sure you're inconvenienced. Not a chance.

Covid-19 isn’t going anywhere. So schools must reopen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/covid-19-isnt-going-anywhere-so-schools-must-reopen/2020/08/07/8f2c2cde-d8e2-11ea-aff6-220dd3a14741_story.html



Schools must #StayClosed.

Dear OP,

F off.