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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I really wish I could tell whether this article is wise advice or just another UMC professional working from home who is sick of having his children underfoot (I googled — he has two children). In this debate it is so hard to separate the message from the messenger. People are more than happy to embrace risk when it’s not a risk to them personally.[/quote]

How is that parents aren't undertaking any risk?  I hear this a lot.  If their kids go to school and get COVID, there's a high chance they might pass it on to their parents.  Parents are at risk.  Interhousehold transmission is high.

[b]I think your point is that parents are willing to take that risk because they will derive a clear and significant benefit from it -- namely a huge increase in the quality of education of their children.

Teachers are not willing to take the risk because there's no such benefit to them, other than general society benefit.  It's just human nature than that really isn't a motivating force like personal benefi[/b]t. 
[/quote]

Exactly this. There's no upside for teachers to go to work. [/quote]

The “upside” to teachers to do their jobs should be that they get paid, and if they don’t do their jobs then they don’t get paid. The requirements of their jobs are clearly described in their employment contracts, and don’t involve sitting at home all day in their pajamas collecting full pay.

They could have offered some new positions to certain teachers for the DL stuff, at half pay. Some people would have done it, and some not. That’s fine. They could have grouped more kids together for the distance “learning”. But teachers should only have been getting full pay for doing their actual job.[/quote]
You are incorrect that it appears anywhere in our job description to teach in school buildings during a crisis. Teachers will not be accepting half pay because the government has entirely neglected to do THEIR job and control the pandemic. Other countries have done so, and are now returning to normal. The US continues to spiral out of control and experience death and devastation on a staggering scale.

Teachers aren’t going to take the fall for this, although it would be convenient for the inept governors, senators, congressman, and president to push us all back to the buildings so the economy can thrive. The economy never provides for education. IDEA has never been funded-its just a huge unfounded mandate that government threw at our feet. Teachers are never relieved of the burden of purchasing their own supplies and materials in a boom economy. School buildings are in disrepair, without modern ventilation, technology, or sufficient plumbing. Education budgets are slashed again and again as politicians talk about making “tough choices” while giving tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations.

Enough with the “sitting at home in their pajamas” vitriol that is reserved for teachers and not the rest of the remote economy. Parents complain that teachers aren’t doing their jobs while bemoaning the difficulties of managing their own zoom meetings while supervising their kids. I thought you were just relaxing in your pjs? Anyone with half a brain should be able to ensure their children aren’t playing Fortnite during math class if that’s all they’re doing. [/quote]

Keep rambling. Meanwhile, countless essential workers have been working in-person this entire time — myself included. [/quote]

if you think a teacher is essential like a doctor - many have the same years of education and training - then pay her like you pay a doctor!!![/quote]

Exactly, teachers weren't considered essential workers till Trump announced it last fall. We're not essential workers. We do not meet the definition of essential workers. The requirements for our job can still be met from home, whether or not the parents are happy with that service is a completely different thing.[/quote]

I accept that you should be teaching from home to keep you safe. To say that the requirements of your job can be met from home is an untruth, and absolutely undermines your professional credibility and the level respect that teachers deserve.[/quote]

Do you even know what a teacher's actual job requirements are? They're actually pretty simple. The word "instruction" is only listed in about one of 20 other verbs. The other ones are mainly administrative tasks. Why don't you look them up and then let me know whether or not they can be done from home.

I could care less if you respect me. It doesn't affect me doing all of those tasks everyday. [/quote]

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