Reply to Arbitration ruling on Reopening

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Arbitration ruling on Reopening"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Attorney, parent, former DCPS teacher, spouse of a DCPS administrator.

I'm disappointed--but not surprised--that many people on this forum see the vaccine as a straightforward antidote and feel that teachers need to just suck it up, get vaccinated, and show up. The Pfizer vaccine is not 100% effective at preventing illness, nor is it known whether it prevents asymptomatic spread. This means that teachers face a legitimate risk of getting Covid at work and potentially bringing it home to their families. Many of you who will send your kids back may feel that's a risk you're willing to take. That decision about risk tolerance is made on an individual basis, and you don't get to make it for other people.

I'm more surprised with the discussion of teachers not deserving paychecks or only being self-interested. When teachers joined DCPS, no one consented to working in a Covid environment, vaccine or not. Saying that teachers have to just show up in this new environment because they're receiving a paycheck doesn't take seriously that in an employment contract the parties mutually agree to certain key terms. While the WTU has bargained for a MOU, that is an agreement intended to help the parties move forward in good faith, not an agreement that binds all teachers to particular actions. Teachers did not get to choose whether to accept working under the terms in the MOU, and of course the situation has evolved.

Also, suggesting that teachers are doing less work now is ignorant. Converting to an entirely new format has been extremely challenging and requires as much or more time, not less. Most of us non-teachers now working from home are doing more or less the same tasks that we were at work (myself included). Teachers' tasks have changed dramatically, which requires learning new skills and technology and adapting content. I appreciate that it's hard/costly to work from home and manage children, but that doesn't mean that teachers aren't earning their paychecks.

I hope that those of you willing to throw out teachers who aren't getting in line to go back to school practice a little perspective taking. As you should know, dismantling a trained workforce would have serious long-term repercussions. I'm personally pretty sure it's not worth trading that to ensure there's a warm body available to babysit your kids for the next 5 months.[/quote]

Wow! Someone with critical thinking skills on this forum. Few and far between. Most people cannot think past their own needs and therefore are riled up. They act like the pandemic was brought on just to mess with their neat hyper-organized lives. [/quote]

No vaccine is 100% effective. If teachers don't want to teach in person than they should not be prioritized to get the vaccine. How about we give teachers 50% of their pay checks since they are doing around 50% of their job? Many of us non-teachers now working from home are doing more or less the same tasks that we were at work while managing remote learning for our kids and doing a lot of what teachers normally do. Many teachers in other parts of the country have been in the classroom for months without the vaccine as have doctors, nurses, other hcps, bus drivers, pilots, flight attendants and many essential works who keep the economy on life support.  Why are the teachers in DC so special that they can't go back and do their jobs once vaccinated? Add to this that in other countries schools are open and the CDC the risk of community spread from schools is low. It is time for teachers to do their job and go back to work. [/quote]

Lol at teachers doing 50% of their usual work. Maybe with your impressive understanding of how education works, you should apply to be our next chancellor. Then you can cut their salaries in half and see how it works out. Love all the “experts” on this board [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics