Do DC parents still blame teacher unions for everything?
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Anonymous
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For a year, many parents have vilified unions on the board for schools not being open, yet DCPS schools are back in person and the city's only unionized charter school is back 4 days a week. It's the un-unionized charter schools that still aren't open. (Although to be fair, there may be lots of different and good reasons why they're not open -- I don't know.)
I'm curious if any of the parents changed their tune when it comes to union. Clearly reasons re-opening takes a long time is because there are a lot of logistics and safety measures to ensure -- and it's not just a union thing. |
Anonymous
| I never blamed the teachers unions because I’m not an ignorant MAGA asshole. |
Anonymous
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I do not blame teachers unions for everything. But I admit my support and good opinion of WTU is lower than it was at this time last year. I do not believe the union has covered itself in glory, though I ultimately consider this year’s failures the fault of the mayor and chancellor for failing to bring stakeholders together around workable solutions. The Union was obstructionist, but the mayor/chancellor are supposed to figure it out. They didn’t.
Also, you can say schools are open all you want but it only makes people more angry. My school has 5 kids in person from our grade. We have never been offered IPL or CARES. I keep hearing about open schools but it’s like a fairy tale to me — sounds nice, has zero to do with my lives experience. |
Anonymous
| Agree with PP. we have seen in NYC that they were able to work with probably the strongest teachers union in the country to reopen schools. So the problem is not “teachers unions” per se. |
Anonymous
| I don’t ONLY blame them, no. Just because DCPS and the chancellor also suck doesn’t mean WTU is automatically the good guy. |
Anonymous
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You call a few hours a week in school with a teacher on Zoom "open?"
Hell yes, I blame them. |
Anonymous
| Yes, I do, because the unions set the baseline in DC and led the "only when it's SAFE" charge that scared parents into thinking that schools are unsafe. I 100% blame the teacher's unions. That's not to say charters don't have their own issues. Also my kid is in a DCPS so the fact that charters have their own issues doesn't negate what unions (local and national) did in our own school. |
Anonymous
+100. This is exactly how I feel. We've been offered IPL spots twice now only to have them taken away because bringing kids back didn't work out. I want my kid back at his DCPS but it's not an option. "Open" is in the eye of the beholder. |
Anonymous
| It's disingenuous to say that all schools are open. My son has not seen the inside of his DCPS school all year. |
Anonymous
| Do I blame the unions? Yes. Yes I do. Their fear-mongering, unscientific claims, and stupid stunts (remember the "body bags"?) revealed their true colors. I also blame the Mayor and chancellor for their incompetence in dealing with the union, punting decision-making to principals, many of whom were happy to do nothing to get kids back in school. I say this as a DCPS parent of 2 kids at 2 different schools, neither of whom has had any in-person classes for more than a year. |
Anonymous
| I don’t blame unions. I blame a system that doesn’t hold schools accountable to the population they’re charged with serving. All of MD, DC, and VA schools have the same problems. |
Anonymous
| I blame them all - mayor, chancellor, CO, WTU (not all unions, just the WTU). None of them showed an ounce of will to get kids into school buildings. |
Anonymous
| It was fun partying with a few teachers back in Feb/March when they were vaccinated but could still sleep in and teach virtually. |
Anonymous
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Yep.
They're pretty much the only reason why DC ranks last nationally in getting kids back to school. |
Anonymous
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Hey remember when teachers unions were carrying around child-sized coffins? To fight school reopenings?
They are so classy. |