Teachers union says schools "must" be fully reopened in the fall
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Anonymous
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"Randi Weingarten, president of the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union, plans to call on Thursday for a full reopening of the nation’s schools for the next academic year, saying: “There is no doubt: Schools must be open. In person. Five days a week.”
...Ms. Weingarten plans to acknowledge that “prolonged isolation is harmful” to students and that online instruction has negatively affected learning. She will say that reopening schools increases both teachers’ and parents’ comfort with returning, and that many parents, particularly mothers, are unable to work when school schedules are truncated." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/us/reopening-schools-teachers-union.html |
Anonymous
| whoa. this is good news. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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She should call for an end to the virtual option
The virtual option will potentially mess things up, and other countries are not doing it. |
Anonymous
| I wish this working mothers point had been made a wee bit earlier by her but better late than never. |
Anonymous
Eh, there is likely to be an online option for some time, and there are ways to do it that aren't disruptive. There could be a district-wide virtual program, for example, so that kids all over the city are in classes with teachers who are teaching 100 percent virtual. |
Anonymous
Yes. Our (big, DC) private school sent an email yesterday: Everyone will be in-person, full time. There will be no remote classes. If your child has an extraordinary medical need and you need a remote option for the entire school year you must reach out to the head of school by next week to discuss. Schools need to draw a line in the sand or a small sector of parents will abuse it. |
Anonymous
DCPS is going to have a harder time putting that genie back in the bottle though. |
Anonymous
For a large public school system, they can provide a virtual option and it sincerely is not disruptive as long as those using it know the ramps to move back into in-person will be limited and understand the burden of change if they choose to move back to in-person will be on them. But yeah, privates need to just say this is the product we're offering. If you're not buying it, go elsewhere. |
Anonymous
I think the virtual option is fine as a stand alone and it works well for some kids. What is the problem with offering it as a separate program in a large school district? |
Anonymous
Right. Friendship PCS K-8 and 9-12 already existed pre-COVID. That's the fully virtual public option for kids in DC. Students who want to remain online when their schools reopen normally could be encouraged to transfer to Friendship. |
Anonymous
Agreed. DCPS has allowed schools to stay closed for far too long. Even now, not a single student goes to full time school with a teacher in the room teaching them in person. WTU loves this because now they can negotiate for all sorts of stuff just to get schools reopened. Virtual learning with reduced instructional time has become normalized. |
Anonymous
Agreed. I just do not understand those who are adamant that all virtual learning must cease even for those who want it. It doesn't make sense. If done well and on its own (i.e. a separate virtual school), it is not disruptive to kids who are in person. But individual schools should get out of the business of having virtual learning as a routine option for everyone. There might be special circumstances when it could be useful at individual schools, such as a some really bad and prolonged weather event or if a student would like a specialized course that a school could not offer. |
Anonymous
This is not the case in many schools. |
Anonymous
It's a great idea if DCPS wants to go and create an online academy - but not at each school. And as DCPS hasn't said they are planning on making an online academy...the next step would be that schools would still have to offer both. |