WTU meeting updates?

[Anonymous]

Anyone participating in the 4:30 meeting today? Want to share updates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone participating in the 4:30 meeting today? Want to share updates?

No, communicate with your membership not with DCUM.
Venting here does nothing, talk to your leadership. This post is cowardly. Speak up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone participating in the 4:30 meeting today? Want to share updates?

No, communicate with your membership not with DCUM.
Venting here does nothing, talk to your leadership. This post is cowardly. Speak up

Could be a parent posting, PP. Not necessarily a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone participating in the 4:30 meeting today? Want to share updates?

No, communicate with your membership not with DCUM.
Venting here does nothing, talk to your leadership. This post is cowardly. Speak up

TRUTH! Will you be posting this on all the other posts in the DC schools forum as well?

[Anonymous]

From a WTU e-mail:

At tonight’s Member Assembly, members voted to approve the following motion:

Due to the continued severe risk of COVID-19 transmission, and out of great concern for the health and safety of students, families and educators, it is the decision of the Washington Teachers' Union to continue with all-remote instruction starting February 1. All-remote instruction will continue until the conditions of the Memorandum of Agreement are fully met, and all staff who wish to be vaccinated have been allowed to receive BOTH vaccine doses according to CDC and FDA guidance, and the recommended time necessary for immunity to take effect has elapsed. This is not a refusal to work; this is a firm determination to work safely in order to control the spread of this deadly virus. Be it understood that any attempt at retaliation against WTU members for continuing to teach remotely will be met with swift collective action.



The WTU is extremely concerned that reopening our schools to in-person learning on Monday is not safe. While the CDC has stated that schools can be reopened safely, the Mayor and DCPS leaders have failed to take the steps needed to ensure our safety. Community spread remains at unsafe levels and a new, highly contagious strain of the virus has emerged and is reported to be in our community. During this week’s Arbitration Hearing, we presented evidence that many buildings remain unsafe – community reopen teams identified significant violations of the MOA including the failure by DCPS to provide school by school verification that air circulation standards are being met. We await the arbitrator’s ruling on these violations. However, we believe the time to act is now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From a WTU e-mail:

At tonight’s Member Assembly, members voted to approve the following motion:

Due to the continued severe risk of COVID-19 transmission, and out of great concern for the health and safety of students, families and educators, it is the decision of the Washington Teachers' Union to continue with all-remote instruction starting February 1. All-remote instruction will continue until the conditions of the Memorandum of Agreement are fully met, and all staff who wish to be vaccinated have been allowed to receive BOTH vaccine doses according to CDC and FDA guidance, and the recommended time necessary for immunity to take effect has elapsed. This is not a refusal to work; this is a firm determination to work safely in order to control the spread of this deadly virus. Be it understood that any attempt at retaliation against WTU members for continuing to teach remotely will be met with swift collective action.



The WTU is extremely concerned that reopening our schools to in-person learning on Monday is not safe. While the CDC has stated that schools can be reopened safely, the Mayor and DCPS leaders have failed to take the steps needed to ensure our safety. Community spread remains at unsafe levels and a new, highly contagious strain of the virus has emerged and is reported to be in our community. During this week’s Arbitration Hearing, we presented evidence that many buildings remain unsafe – community reopen teams identified significant violations of the MOA including the failure by DCPS to provide school by school verification that air circulation standards are being met. We await the arbitrator’s ruling on these violations. However, we believe the time to act is now.

Are there teachers who may go in Monday regardless of this ruling?

[Anonymous]

If the WTU wants to burn DC’s public education system to the ground, go ahead. But please be clear that they are doing so merely out of their own misguided sense of self-righteousness. Please don’t pretend that this has anything to do with notions of health, safety, or science. From the Journal of the American Medical Association four days ago: “the preponderance of available evidence from the fall school semester has been reassuring insofar as the type of rapid spread that was frequently observed in congregate living facilities or high-density worksites has not been reported in education settings in schools”.

[Anonymous]

Does this decision mean the reopening is officially done for? Or can individual schools still go ahead with reopening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this decision mean the reopening is officially done for? Or can individual schools still go ahead with reopening?

This means all hell breaks lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this decision mean the reopening is officially done for? Or can individual schools still go ahead with reopening?

This means all hell breaks lose.

Can you be more specific? Seriously not joking here. My kid has already been assigned a new teacher for IPL and said goodbyes to the virtual teacher. What now? Learn virtually with a new teacher? That seems like the worst of both worlds.

[Anonymous]

People were fools to believe this Feb 1 plan was actually happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People were fools to believe this Feb 1 plan was actually happening.

Really? Because teachers were playing along. Pretty awful to mislead kids like this. They’ve been gearing up for weeks at this point. WTU should have decided this at least two weeks ago. What jerks. And I’m someone who gave up on the idea of in person school until next year, and was fine with it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does this decision mean the reopening is officially done for? Or can individual schools still go ahead with reopening?

This means all hell breaks lose.

Can you be more specific? Seriously not joking here. My kid has already been assigned a new teacher for IPL and said goodbyes to the virtual teacher. What now? Learn virtually with a new teacher? That seems like the worst of both worlds.

I would love to but my point is that no one knows. Not WTU. Nor the principals. Nor even the Mayor. It will all come down to how many teachers show up on Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a snow day). If they don’t show up, things will get very interesting. I wouldn’t put money on DCPS backing down as they did in November.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People were fools to believe this Feb 1 plan was actually happening.

Really? Because teachers were playing along. Pretty awful to mislead kids like this. They’ve been gearing up for weeks at this point. WTU should have decided this at least two weeks ago. What jerks. And I’m someone who gave up on the idea of in person school until next year, and was fine with it!

Huh No one has been gearing up? Also the WTU has stated from the beginning they were against in person for term 3. Why in heaven's name are you surprised and outraged about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People were fools to believe this Feb 1 plan was actually happening.

Really? Because teachers were playing along. Pretty awful to mislead kids like this. They’ve been gearing up for weeks at this point. WTU should have decided this at least two weeks ago. What jerks. And I’m someone who gave up on the idea of in person school until next year, and was fine with it!

Huh No one has been gearing up? Also the WTU has stated from the beginning they were against in person for term 3. Why in heaven's name are you surprised and outraged about?

My kids classes have been rearranged. The in school kids have been assigned. My kid had introductory meetings with her new teachers and classmates. We have a new schedule. Yes, they were gearing up.