'Appalling' standardized test scores in wake of covid school closures

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when those of us advocating for opening schools early on were selfish jerks!

Even worse: Racist, selfish jerks.

+1 and the irony was it was privileged white families in our school demanding extended school closures.

You are privileged jerks. Minorities lead a higher number of deaths in the early years of the pandemic. When you were cloistered in your cushy WFH job (or perhaps didn’t even work but was a SAHM). To dismiss the loss of life, is the height of privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when those of us advocating for opening schools early on were selfish jerks!

When I usually say "I hate to say I told you so" I don't usually mean it. I love to be proven right retroactively.

Not this time. I predicted just how bad shutting schools down for an extended period would be for kids, especially for lower-income and at-risk kids. I do genuinely wish I was wrong on this point, though.

I wonder if the people responsible for extended school shutdowns in DC and other blue states and cities will ever admit they were wrong?

If you're one of the people who was opposed to reopening schools in the fall on 2020, this is on you. And people like me are going to rub your nose in it for the rest of your days.

I'm a teacher and would never say I was wrong for being unwilling to go into school prior to being vaccinated. You can rub my nose or your nose in it as much as you want. I'm focused on trying to support students where they are now.

I'm willing to concede that those saying DC definitely should have reopened in September 2020 are engaging in some Monday morning quarterbacking. While that may have been the right decision in hindsight, there was some understandable hesitation. Everything about the pandemic was fully politicized thanks to Trump, there was no reopening recommendation from the CDC, Delta was surging, nobody was vaccinated, etc.

HOWEVER, with proper prioritization of teachers, all teachers who wanted to be vaccinated would have been fully vaccinated by roughly the end of January 2021. That's the latest date when all schools should have returned to mostly normal operations. Many schools in DC remained closed or heavily impacted for another 7+ months, which is inexcusable.

It’s not Monday morning quarterbacking if you were saying it at the time- it’s being proven right

Trust me, I also said it at the time and am also being proven right in hindsight! But I accept that there was some room for reasonable disagreement in Sep. 2020 and the best course of action was not 100% clear at the time. By Feb 2021 there was much less uncertainty. So the Monday morning quarterbacking was in reference to those who are now claiming that it should have been obvious to everyone already in September 2020 that opening then was the only right answer.

No, we knew the best course in Sept 2020 was to reopen, and there were many examples of schools doing it safely. Political forces kept schools closed, not a rational analysis of costs and benefits. Even if you persist in believing “we never could have known!!” I sincerely hope you reflect on the fact that from Sept 2020 - March 2021 people who wanted schools to reopen were routinely shut down as MAGAs, racists, lazy parents, and teacher-haters. It was no arms-length policy disagreement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when those of us advocating for opening schools early on were selfish jerks!

When I usually say "I hate to say I told you so" I don't usually mean it. I love to be proven right retroactively.

Not this time. I predicted just how bad shutting schools down for an extended period would be for kids, especially for lower-income and at-risk kids. I do genuinely wish I was wrong on this point, though.

I wonder if the people responsible for extended school shutdowns in DC and other blue states and cities will ever admit they were wrong?

If you're one of the people who was opposed to reopening schools in the fall on 2020, this is on you. And people like me are going to rub your nose in it for the rest of your days.

I'm a teacher and would never say I was wrong for being unwilling to go into school prior to being vaccinated. You can rub my nose or your nose in it as much as you want. I'm focused on trying to support students where they are now.

Ok, but that doesnt change the fact that you were wrong -- wrong and selfish and poorly informed, and your students suffered because of your poor decisions.

Sorry you had to parent your kids during a pandemic. Boo hoo.

I can’t believe you’re still here … are you sorry at all that you forced poor black kids to be isolated and deprived of school, with evident repercussions, meanwhile affluent white parents sent their kids to school or supplemented at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when those of us advocating for opening schools early on were selfish jerks!

When I usually say "I hate to say I told you so" I don't usually mean it. I love to be proven right retroactively.

Not this time. I predicted just how bad shutting schools down for an extended period would be for kids, especially for lower-income and at-risk kids. I do genuinely wish I was wrong on this point, though.

I wonder if the people responsible for extended school shutdowns in DC and other blue states and cities will ever admit they were wrong?

If you're one of the people who was opposed to reopening schools in the fall on 2020, this is on you. And people like me are going to rub your nose in it for the rest of your days.

I'm a teacher and would never say I was wrong for being unwilling to go into school prior to being vaccinated. You can rub my nose or your nose in it as much as you want. I'm focused on trying to support students where they are now.

Ok, but that doesnt change the fact that you were wrong -- wrong and selfish and poorly informed, and your students suffered because of your poor decisions.

Sorry you had to parent your kids during a pandemic. Boo hoo.

I can’t believe you’re still here … are you sorry at all that you forced poor black kids to be isolated and deprived of school, with evident repercussions, meanwhile affluent white parents sent their kids to school or supplemented at home?

Minorities suffered the loss of more family and friends to Covid. They were reluctant to send their kids back. I understand, you don’t know anyone who died but many lost family. Many were orphaned. Your solipsism is staggering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when those of us advocating for opening schools early on were selfish jerks!

You were/are.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully DOE has the backbone to keep designating schools as failing to make adequate yearly progress

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic K-8 in our DC neighborhood went back right after Labor Day in 9/2020. It is crazy that our DCPS kids stayed home almost the entire 2020-21 school year.

somehow they want us to pretend we didn’t see catholic schools reopen in the *same neighborhoods* public schools closed.

Yeah, driving to the grocery store, I'd see the kids at the local Catholic ES outside during recess and lunch, while our kids were still stuck in virtual. It pissed me off every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic K-8 in our DC neighborhood went back right after Labor Day in 9/2020. It is crazy that our DCPS kids stayed home almost the entire 2020-21 school year.

somehow they want us to pretend we didn’t see catholic schools reopen in the *same neighborhoods* public schools closed.

Yeah, driving to the grocery store, I'd see the kids at the local Catholic ES outside during recess and lunch, while our kids were still stuck in virtual. It pissed me off every time.

You made the choice for public. Public schools serve many communities. Some communities were experiencing Covid when rich white people weren’t. Not sure what to say. Maybe try therapy to help get you out of your bubble and move on from Covid. ???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when those of us advocating for opening schools early on were selfish jerks!

When I usually say "I hate to say I told you so" I don't usually mean it. I love to be proven right retroactively.

Not this time. I predicted just how bad shutting schools down for an extended period would be for kids, especially for lower-income and at-risk kids. I do genuinely wish I was wrong on this point, though.

I wonder if the people responsible for extended school shutdowns in DC and other blue states and cities will ever admit they were wrong?

If you're one of the people who was opposed to reopening schools in the fall on 2020, this is on you. And people like me are going to rub your nose in it for the rest of your days.

I'm a teacher and would never say I was wrong for being unwilling to go into school prior to being vaccinated. You can rub my nose or your nose in it as much as you want. I'm focused on trying to support students where they are now.

Ok, but that doesnt change the fact that you were wrong -- wrong and selfish and poorly informed, and your students suffered because of your poor decisions.

Sorry you had to parent your kids during a pandemic. Boo hoo.

I can’t believe you’re still here … are you sorry at all that you forced poor black kids to be isolated and deprived of school, with evident repercussions, meanwhile affluent white parents sent their kids to school or supplemented at home?

Minorities suffered the loss of more family and friends to Covid. They were reluctant to send their kids back. I understand, you don’t know anyone who died but many lost family. Many were orphaned. Your solipsism is staggering.

The fact you’re still claiming this now is amazing. Truly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic K-8 in our DC neighborhood went back right after Labor Day in 9/2020. It is crazy that our DCPS kids stayed home almost the entire 2020-21 school year.

somehow they want us to pretend we didn’t see catholic schools reopen in the *same neighborhoods* public schools closed.

Yeah, driving to the grocery store, I'd see the kids at the local Catholic ES outside during recess and lunch, while our kids were still stuck in virtual. It pissed me off every time.

YUP. I had friends and family with kids in catholic, private, and international schools the entire time. It made me feel insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic K-8 in our DC neighborhood went back right after Labor Day in 9/2020. It is crazy that our DCPS kids stayed home almost the entire 2020-21 school year.

somehow they want us to pretend we didn’t see catholic schools reopen in the *same neighborhoods* public schools closed.

Yeah, driving to the grocery store, I'd see the kids at the local Catholic ES outside during recess and lunch, while our kids were still stuck in virtual. It pissed me off every time.

You made the choice for public. Public schools serve many communities. Some communities were experiencing Covid when rich white people weren’t. Not sure what to say. Maybe try therapy to help get you out of your bubble and move on from Covid. ???

“It was your fault. Stop talking about it. Move on. Get therapy.”. Yeah … sounds like a sincere effort there to discuss the actual risks and benefits of school closure.

If anything dismayed me more than the actual closures, it was the insane discourse on the left about it. Major figures on the left are still trying to claim it was racist to support access to education. Absolutely unreal and permanently changed my politics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://mobile.twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1584512653267185666

So this is a terrible thread, as it claims that the study found no evidence of a correlation between school closures and test scores. But....the study didn't look at school closures at all. God, people will say any illogical crap to ignore kids' suffering.

Still wouldn’t have done things any differently. For all your supposedly superior education, you evidently don’t understand what “novel virus” means.

So there was some learning loss. That needs to be compared with how many lives were saved by these policies.

There's no evidence that reopening schools had any meaningful effect on transmission and/or death rates.

I get it, people like you are digging in because you can't admit just how damaging your policies were to millions of kids, especially poor and minority kids, around the country. And you aren't willing to admit that someone like "DeathSantis" cares more about kids than you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm old enough to remember when those of us advocating for opening schools early on were selfish jerks!

When I usually say "I hate to say I told you so" I don't usually mean it. I love to be proven right retroactively.

Not this time. I predicted just how bad shutting schools down for an extended period would be for kids, especially for lower-income and at-risk kids. I do genuinely wish I was wrong on this point, though.

I wonder if the people responsible for extended school shutdowns in DC and other blue states and cities will ever admit they were wrong?

If you're one of the people who was opposed to reopening schools in the fall on 2020, this is on you. And people like me are going to rub your nose in it for the rest of your days.

I'm a teacher and would never say I was wrong for being unwilling to go into school prior to being vaccinated. You can rub my nose or your nose in it as much as you want. I'm focused on trying to support students where they are now.

Ok, but that doesnt change the fact that you were wrong -- wrong and selfish and poorly informed, and your students suffered because of your poor decisions.

Sorry you had to parent your kids during a pandemic. Boo hoo.

I can’t believe you’re still here … are you sorry at all that you forced poor black kids to be isolated and deprived of school, with evident repercussions, meanwhile affluent white parents sent their kids to school or supplemented at home?

Minorities suffered the loss of more family and friends to Covid. They were reluctant to send their kids back. I understand, you don’t know anyone who died but many lost family. Many were orphaned. Your solipsism is staggering.

The fact you’re still claiming this now is amazing. Truly.

It's true though. DCPS did surveys and Black and Hispanic families always disproportionately favored keeping schools remote. Did everyone forget about that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic K-8 in our DC neighborhood went back right after Labor Day in 9/2020. It is crazy that our DCPS kids stayed home almost the entire 2020-21 school year.

somehow they want us to pretend we didn’t see catholic schools reopen in the *same neighborhoods* public schools closed.

Yeah, driving to the grocery store, I'd see the kids at the local Catholic ES outside during recess and lunch, while our kids were still stuck in virtual. It pissed me off every time.

You made the choice for public. Public schools serve many communities. Some communities were experiencing Covid when rich white people weren’t. Not sure what to say. Maybe try therapy to help get you out of your bubble and move on from Covid. ???

“It was your fault. Stop talking about it. Move on. Get therapy.”. Yeah … sounds like a sincere effort there to discuss the actual risks and benefits of school closure.

If anything dismayed me more than the actual closures, it was the insane discourse on the left about it. Major figures on the left are still trying to claim it was racist to support access to education. Absolutely unreal and permanently changed my politics.

Your dismissal of the loss of life in minority communities is terrible. Your posts are incredibly tone deaf and insensitive to the million+ lives that were lost to Covid, which were overwhelmingly people of color. Although white MAGA is racking up the numbers now.

The left is acknowledging learning loss but they aren’t (and shouldn’t) be dismissive of the people who died. My kids were home too. It was a less than ideal situation but that’s life in a pandemic. I also acknowledge that certain professions and communities had it worse. Would I have liked to have had my kids back in school sooner? Absolutely! But I’m not going to whine and fill up DCUM about it. Grow the F* up. Life is hard and doesn’t go your way often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn’t prove that this was a result of school closures. It was a result of the pandemic. My life is worse after the pandemic. Your life is worse. Our kids live on this planet. Their lives are worse too. There’s no getting around that.

Yet, kids in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are excelling in school and have been throughout the pandemic. Many of these kids live in families earning $30,000 or $40,000 per year.

"Excelling" is a really strong word. Particularly in reference to MS and AL who both performed only marginally better than DC despite having been in person a lot longer.