Reply to A warning for those interested in CARE classrooms

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Just advice. DCPS’ CARES classrooms will be 11 children learning on a tablet, while 1-2 adults who are not teachers will watch them. DCPS has 5, really 4, days to find and hire and train these people and also do background checks..let’s talk about DCPS history with background checks...

Last summer some of you may remember when an after school staff meme we assaulted and had an inappropriate relationship with a student. Not only was a background check never done on the accused adult, but no background checks were completed by the Springboard program that year in most schools. This was a time when DCPS had more than enough time to follow proper procedure and didn’t. I can also tell you that a week or so before the news got out to the public DCPS tried to have the remaining after school teachers submit a background check. They scheduled a date for all the employees to get fingerprinted and then cancelled it. A day later the mess was in the news. These people do not care about the children they just needed to cover their ass. And when they couldn’t stop themselves from looking bad they just somehow made it disappear from the media..

This is all to say..DCPS DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR CHILD. You are throwing your child to the wolves with whoever else they can find off the street desperate for employment in a pandemic. They will not have background checks or fingerprints completed in 4 days time. Take your chances but I’ll be keeping me and mine safe from Covid AND predators by rejecting the seat. [/quote]

As a DC Govt employee who volunteered to work in the CARES classrooms, I find this highly offensive.  We're not teachers, but we are skilled professionals.  We're librarians,  therapists,  counselors,  analysts and IT staff ( among other things). We're volunteering to try to help.  We also have to pass background checks.  We're not just some random people off of the street.  
[/quote]

What are your expectations for what your classroom will be like? I can see this working okay if someone with your background were overseeing a classroom of 4th or 5th graders who are acclimated to the school environment and have the skill set to follow their DL lessons with relatively minimal assistance. But what about ECE? What would your expectations be if you are assigned a classroom of PK3 kids? Is that something you are ready to take on?

I'm not trying to diminish your training or discourage what you are doing. But I really don't understand how these CARES rooms are supposed to work for ECE and early elementary grades. Teachers at that level usually have specialized training in ECE and at least some experience with children that age (not just student teaching but often also time in daycares, private PK programs, etc.). It is extremely hard for me to imagine someone without that training handling a room full of 3, 4, or 5 year olds, all of whom will need help logging into ever lesson, and many of whom will not be able to pay attention for the duration of the lesson or will refuse altogether. Plus they have a ton of developmental needs that won't be served by DL at all -- can you provide that? Do you know what they are? How will you handled kids having accidents, tantrums, etc. All of that is extremely normal for these ages, but particularly likely when kids experience disruptions to their routines. Well these kids will have experienced numerous major disruptions over the last 6 months and are likely going to be as challenging as ECE kids ever are. Is this something you are ready for?

I could imagine sending a 4th grader or older to CARES, but anything younger and I'd be highly skeptical. It's just not designed for their needs at all.[/quote]

Did you ever send your PK or K student to summer camp? Just curious if you applied these same standards across the board in all interactions with children.  I think that doing something is better than doing nothing. It seems like the care classroom model is threatening to a lot of people but I don’t know why. It takes into account concerns about teacher safety, it brings in volunteers who are willing to do it, and it gives a bigger block of children an option of socializing and having access to services. [/quote]

I remember camp as being a variety of educational themed activities with interested people with correct time for training based on their age group. As I grew older and actually applied for these camp positions, it became increasingly harder to be accepted with various requirements and experience needed. Because childcare and our children’s well being is more than “well it’s better than nothing just throw them in it together”. Most of you couldn’t stand to be in a room with 5 other children your child’s age let alone an age group you’re not familiar with. This whole convo just boils down to your ignorance on how much teachers truly do for your children. I don’t know where you’ve ever read of a teacher explicitly stating theyd do things that weren’t the best for the children but [b]even in the WTU fight is for equitable and efficient learning environments for our kids.[/b] [/quote]

WTU is fighting to keep teachers out of the classroom, and is now fighting to undermine CARES. They are absolutely not fighting for "equitable and efficient learning environments for our kids."  [/quote]

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