Reply to WaPo: How D.C. and its teachers, with shifting plans and demands, failed to reopen schools

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Reply to "WaPo: How D.C. and its teachers, with shifting plans and demands, failed to reopen schools"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But the blame goes to all of you, too. Where were you? Who organized parents to reopen like in NYC? This has been a huge disappointment. You’d think reading DCUM that plenty of parents are angry and fired up, but there wasn’t any public pressure? A petition, one article in the WaPo, and that’s it?

Are you too scared to stick your neck out?

“ The result: Teachers were applying maximum pressure to stay closed, but there was virtually no public pressure to reopen.”[/quote]

Well, this isn't an excuse, it's just an explanation:

Many MC and UMC white parents who wanted schools to re-open were shamed by WTU and by a small minority of parents supporting the teacher's union into staying quiet. We were threatened with the prospect of being labeled racist, Trump/DeVos supporters, and suffering the social and community consequences. We were afraid to speak up because wanting schools open was effectively equated with things like being a Covid denier, voting for Trump, hating unions, and not caring about POC. So we stayed quiet.

That this whole debate happened on the heels of a summer of BLM protests, and a real reckoning for white people, compounded the issue. We genuinely wondered whether advocating for our kids was an okay thing to do. Especially since survey after survey showed that white parents were far more likely to support re-opening. So many of us because uncertain in our convictions. I know I did. I was afraid to speak out, and I was effectively shamed by the union and other parents into believing that I needed to suck it up and stop complaining. That's a big reason I post on this board instead of taking a more vocal position at my school or in the community. In those places, I let other voices take the lead because I don't want to be seen as an entitled white person. But here, I tell the truth.

I'm not proud of this but I also don't know what the solution is, because as you can see, anyone who advocates for reopening is indeed accused of being a tone-deaf, privileged white person who doesn't care about POC or teachers. I have live in my community and my kid has to go to school, and I can't risk becoming a pariah.[/quote]

I appreciate the self-reflection, and I think you know this already, but kindly, you’re a big part of the problem. I was a loud voice at my charter advocating to reopen. Maybe some have labeled me a pariah, but I’m proud of what I tried to do. Science and history will be on my side in this. I wish more parents had voiced their support instead is being honest here instead—which is useless. [/quote]

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