Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is not the teachers. It's the School Board and the unions, who are pressuring the School Board.

But the teachers elect their union reps. You're telling me that a vast majority of teachers want to go back in, but the union reps are not allowing it? Why would the union reps do this exactly? What's in it for them if their constituency isn't with them?

There are like a million threads on this, and even in this thread this has been explained.

Teachers don't elect any of these people because most teachers don't belong to the associations (you call them unions, but they don't have any union powers here). Whatever reps there are for the unions don't have any power to allow not allow anything. They can't even legally bargain on behalf of the teachers who do belong.

In APS the AEA has 1800 members. Out of 7000+ employees. They don’t speak for the majority of staff.

Anonymous wrote:The problem is not the teachers. It's the School Board and the unions, who are pressuring the School Board.

But the teachers elect their union reps. You're telling me that a vast majority of teachers want to go back in, but the union reps are not allowing it? Why would the union reps do this exactly? What's in it for them if their constituency isn't with them?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the people in the back, one more time: TEACHERS ARE NOT CAUSING SCHOOLS TO BE CLOSED. Every county has made it clear to their teachers that only a very tiny number of teachers are/will be authorized to telework. Everyone else has to show up or take unpaid leave (not guaranteed) or quit.

Hasn't this been covered on literally every thread on this forum?

But this thread specified it was a serious question—all the MANY OTHERS must’ve just been for fun! 🤪

Anonymous wrote:If school is at least hybrid in the fall, no matter what the teachers are teaching in person 4 or 5 days a week...which is teaching full time in person.

This!! Teachers are exposed to all the kids regardless. That's why the fight isn't about hybrid vs. 100% in 5 days/week. Both of those are the same to the teachers in terms of risk. It's the students and parents for whom that makes a big difference. Teachers who don't feel safe at all are going to push to remain virtual. They're not going to be pushing for hybrid over 5 days/week.

It is possible that teachers who are vaccinated themselves but live with people who are high risk (e.g. kids with medical conditions, or if they're just worried about their kids not being vaccinated in general) will want to stay virtual UNLESS it has been definitively shown that people who are vaccinated can't spread the virus to others. But that number is likely much smaller than the number of teachers who want to stay virtual right now. Of course, if there are mutations that keep case numbers super high or make the vaccine significantly less effective then all bets are off.

The hybrid vs. 5 days for everyone is not going to have anything to do with teachers' willingness to come in and everything to do with what kind of social distancing rules are still in place, if any. Keep in mind how crowded some schools are. Each school system is going to be at the mercy of its most crowded school. Prepare yourself.

If school is at least hybrid in the fall, no matter what the teachers are teaching in person 4 or 5 days a week...which is teaching full time in person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the people in the back, one more time: TEACHERS ARE NOT CAUSING SCHOOLS TO BE CLOSED. Every county has made it clear to their teachers that only a very tiny number of teachers are/will be authorized to telework. Everyone else has to show up or take unpaid leave (not guaranteed) or quit.

Hasn't this been covered on literally every thread on this forum?

Yes, and people still don’t understand. Teachers cannot opt to stay home. We have no say. It is 100% decided by the school board. Most of us don’t even belong to these unions that people keep talking about because the unions have no power in this state and membership is expensive ($70+/month)

Anonymous wrote:Lots of “ifs”. We don’t really know what it’s going to look like 7-8 months from now. If all teachers and most adults have been vaccinated, most teachers will probably want to teach in person. If new Covid strains are running through the community and vaccines are not as protective as we hope and younger children cannot be vaccinated, it’s hard to imagine that there will be a willing pool of teachers, even with programs like Teach for America available for in school positions.

I realize that it makes planning difficult, but we’re continuing to face multiple genuine unknowns.

I don't think you're going to find a lot of teach for America participants in FCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the people in the back, one more time: TEACHERS ARE NOT CAUSING SCHOOLS TO BE CLOSED. Every county has made it clear to their teachers that only a very tiny number of teachers are/will be authorized to telework. Everyone else has to show up or take unpaid leave (not guaranteed) or quit.

Hasn't this been covered on literally every thread on this forum?

Yes. Oh, thank God, another one of THESE threads, where every OP believes they've come up with a brilliant, revolutionary idea.

The problem is not the teachers. It's the School Board and the unions, who are pressuring the School Board.

Lots of “ifs”. We don’t really know what it’s going to look like 7-8 months from now. If all teachers and most adults have been vaccinated, most teachers will probably want to teach in person. If new Covid strains are running through the community and vaccines are not as protective as we hope and younger children cannot be vaccinated, it’s hard to imagine that there will be a willing pool of teachers, even with programs like Teach for America available for in school positions.

I realize that it makes planning difficult, but we’re continuing to face multiple genuine unknowns.

Anonymous wrote:For the people in the back, one more time: TEACHERS ARE NOT CAUSING SCHOOLS TO BE CLOSED. Every county has made it clear to their teachers that only a very tiny number of teachers are/will be authorized to telework. Everyone else has to show up or take unpaid leave (not guaranteed) or quit.

Hasn't this been covered on literally every thread on this forum?

For the people in the back, one more time: TEACHERS ARE NOT CAUSING SCHOOLS TO BE CLOSED. Every county has made it clear to their teachers that only a very tiny number of teachers are/will be authorized to telework. Everyone else has to show up or take unpaid leave (not guaranteed) or quit.

Anonymous wrote:If some teachers are refusing to teach in person full time next fall, can the school divisions just let them go and hire new teachers to replace them? How difficult would this be? I don't think there would be that many teachers who still refuse to go, but I'd expect there are a handful.

I think if teachers are vaccinated, we should be in school full time next fall. If parents don't want their kids to go, send them to Virtual Virginia.

If teachers have been told to go into the building and they refuse to work then they'll be let go. If for whatever reason their ADA is still active, and I think this would be a very small percentage, they'll still be able to stay at home and teach virtually, if that is an option. at this point we really don't know what the fall is going to look like. (ES Teacher)

If some teachers are refusing to teach in person full time next fall, can the school divisions just let them go and hire new teachers to replace them? How difficult would this be? I don't think there would be that many teachers who still refuse to go, but I'd expect there are a handful.

I think if teachers are vaccinated, we should be in school full time next fall. If parents don't want their kids to go, send them to Virtual Virginia.