Reply to WaPo on the mental health crisis students are experiencing

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OK, but the "pay for care" argument is a straw man. Do people want school so they can work? Some do. But even people who have childcare or don't need it want school to reopen so their children can learn.

I have three kids. One in upper elementary, one in middle school and one in K. The older two are doing fine enough in terms of learning. The kindergartener is learning NOTHING from online school. Anything she's picked up is because I have been teaching her, and various educational apps have assisted.

I do not need childcare. I can do childcare portion of it just fine myself and have been doing it. I need school to reopen for at least the youngest one at least part-time because she is not learning via distance learning and neither is a lot of her friends, from talking to those kids' parents. Because I do not need school for childcare, I'd be fine with hybrid (part of the week, part of the day, whatever.) But no in-person school is not working for my youngest who is simply too young to learn through a screen.

Yes, yes, sure, I am teaching my kid myself and hopefully she won't be too far behind where she is supposed to be. But then the question becomes is if I am teaching my child by myself, why is the teacher collecting a paycheck for a job she is not doing in any effective way for my child (or the bulk of the children in that age group.) Some jobs cannot be effectively done from home and teaching very young children is one of them.  I am fine for providing the child care component for all my children - the teachers are supposed to be providing effective teaching however. They are doing it for my two oldest because they are at the age where online learning is at least feasible if not ideal. They are not doing it for my youngest.

If people think it's OK for children, especially younger children, to fall behind (and let's face it, in a lot of families that are not as well off as the usual DCUM poster, fall behind irretrievably) so that teachers would feel safer, that's a position that can be argued. But at least don't be a hypocrite who claims that people only want childcare and that distance learning is just wonderful when for a lot of people that is not the case.[/quote]

You are being really dramatic.  You are teaching her yourself.  [b]She needs to know how to read, write and basic math. You get a few workbooks and apps and done.  Regardless of school, you should do this anyway.  She'll be fine.[/b][/quote]

[b]What a bizarre argument against the value of professional early education teachers. [/b]I strongly disagree, and believe ECE teachers are incredibly skilled professionals doing an important job that I, as a parent, simply do not have the skills or experience to do effectively.

But apparently it's super easy and not even necessary and we should probably just cancel ECE and start school at like 2nd or 3rd grade. It's gonna be hard on all those teachers who spent years in school learning to do a union-protected job, but maybe they can find jobs making $18/hr as daycare teachers or nannies where they have no job security and minimal benefits.[/quote]

Couldn’t agree with this more. I think the WTU’s and teachers’ positions that they’re jobs don’t need to be done in person can’t possibly bode well down the road. I see budget and pay cuts in the future if “a reading program can teach your Ker to read; they don’t need to be in school.” This is a self-defeating strategy and will backfire.[/quote]

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