Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the point is that childcare is not the primary purpose of school, if it were it would be open year round like daycare.

Yes, but it is A purpose of school. To say it's not puts an unfair amount of burden on working parents.

Closing schools definitely has a major impact on US families -- to the point where it can make it hard for families to stay intact and survive -- but that doesn't mean it is a mandate of the schools. Not of how they are designed. The mandate is the education.

Now that also doens't mean that it shouldn't be part of tha mandate -- it just isn't. SO, for example, if you have a kid who leaves formal schooling because you are going to homeschool or unschool, or if the child is over 16 and decides not to go, you can't just drop those kids off at school on the days you need to work. They are either an enrolled student or not, and if enrolled, ithey have to be in classes.a

Some countries have universal daycare provisions, or state-sponsered childcare availability. We don't. Maybe we should. But that's not the same question.

Anonymous wrote:If you say that legally my child must be enrolled in school for first grade, but that same child cannot legally be by themselves in my home, then yes, school is for childcare.

Anonymous wrote:How much public support do you think there would be for public schools if they couldn't be used for child care?

The remarks is thread are ridiculously out of touch with reality. Regardless of whether child care is a primary function of public schools or not, it's absolutely viewed and used that way. If we end up with universal child care, you can bet they're not going to set anything up for schools days between ~9-3pm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the point is that childcare is not the primary purpose of school, if it were it would be open year round like daycare.

Yes, but it is A purpose of school. To say it's not puts an unfair amount of burden on working parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate how the phrase degrades the valuable work of childcare providers, who are nearly all women.

When teachers union leaders say this, it comes across as incredibly out of touch and degrading. I don't understand why they do not see how awful they sound when they talk like this.

Agree. That’s another reason it’s cringey

Except teachers themselves are predominantly women and childcare providers are not expected to write legal documents, take data, conduct assessments, prepare children for state tests, etc.
If childcare providers want to become teachers, they are certainly free to work through school to make that happen. I was a nanny and I got my transitional license, went to school at night, and worked my way through my certification. The two jobs are not the same, and one of them requires a master's degree, while the other does not require any educational qualifications. That's reality.

Just stop.

I know. Lol. The 2nd to last sentence tipped it over the edge...

Why, because you think it's unkind to point out that some jobs require qualifications and degrees while others do not? Because it's true, and it isn't an opinion. Just like you can become a restaurant worker, a factory worker, or a bus driver without a diploma but you can't become a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, an accountant, or many many other professions. If daycare providers decide they want the high salaries and prestige of teachers (sarcasm) then they should become teachers. The primary function of daycare is childcare, the primary function of school is education. That is the difference. It's not like daycare workers are primarily women and teachers are primarily men.
Lots of people who want to cry that school closures are a feminist crisis while conveniently ignoring the people who actually run our schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a single mom.
School is not child care.
I don’t have the answers. But school is not child care.

It's not pejorative, it's factual. They're taking care of children who are not old enough to take care of themselves. It's the definition of childcare.

NP. If a kid is admitted to a hospital for something, if a kid is at someone else’s house for a play date, if a kid is at karate class, all of those things provide oversight of your child for specified purposes but are not childcare. It’s the same concept with schools. They are not your employees. They are not there to watch your kids. They are there to educate your children. Your childcare problems are none of their concern.

The examples you give are all private entities. They do not have to be providing services. There aren't legal mandates. Public education isn't like this. Parents reasonably rely on legally mandated education for childcare and to pretend otherwise is disassembling.

Public schools have no mandate to provide childcare. Just an education. For people to argue that the education isn't the same is silly. Is going to the bank the same? Is going to the grocery store? Is anything? Things are not going to be the same until this is over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a single mom.
School is not child care.
I don’t have the answers. But school is not child care.

It's not pejorative, it's factual. They're taking care of children who are not old enough to take care of themselves. It's the definition of childcare.

NP. If a kid is admitted to a hospital for something, if a kid is at someone else’s house for a play date, if a kid is at karate class, all of those things provide oversight of your child for specified purposes but are not childcare. It’s the same concept with schools. They are not your employees. They are not there to watch your kids. They are there to educate your children. Your childcare problems are none of their concern.

The examples you give are all private entities. They do not have to be providing services. There aren't legal mandates. Public education isn't like this. Parents reasonably rely on legally mandated education for childcare and to pretend otherwise is disassembling.

Public schools have no mandate to provide childcare. Just an education. For people to argue that the education isn't the same is silly. Is going to the bank the same? Is going to the grocery store? Is anything? Things are not going to be the same until this is over.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a single mom.
School is not child care.
I don’t have the answers. But school is not child care.

It's not pejorative, it's factual. They're taking care of children who are not old enough to take care of themselves. It's the definition of childcare.

NP. If a kid is admitted to a hospital for something, if a kid is at someone else’s house for a play date, if a kid is at karate class, all of those things provide oversight of your child for specified purposes but are not childcare. It’s the same concept with schools. They are not your employees. They are not there to watch your kids. They are there to educate your children. Your childcare problems are none of their concern.

The examples you give are all private entities. They do not have to be providing services. There aren't legal mandates. Public education isn't like this. Parents reasonably rely on legally mandated education for childcare and to pretend otherwise is disassembling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a single mom.
School is not child care.
I don’t have the answers. But school is not child care.

It's not pejorative, it's factual. They're taking care of children who are not old enough to take care of themselves. It's the definition of childcare.

NP. If a kid is admitted to a hospital for something, if a kid is at someone else’s house for a play date, if a kid is at karate class, all of those things provide oversight of your child for specified purposes but are not childcare. It’s the same concept with schools. They are not your employees. They are not there to watch your kids. They are there to educate your children. Your childcare problems are none of their concern.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really hate how the phrase degrades the valuable work of childcare providers, who are nearly all women.

When teachers union leaders say this, it comes across as incredibly out of touch and degrading. I don't understand why they do not see how awful they sound when they talk like this.

Agree. That’s another reason it’s cringey

Except teachers themselves are predominantly women and childcare providers are not expected to write legal documents, take data, conduct assessments, prepare children for state tests, etc.
If childcare providers want to become teachers, they are certainly free to work through school to make that happen. I was a nanny and I got my transitional license, went to school at night, and worked my way through my certification. The two jobs are not the same, and one of them requires a master's degree, while the other does not require any educational qualifications. That's reality.

Just stop.

I know. Lol. The 2nd to last sentence tipped it over the edge...

Why, because you think it's unkind to point out that some jobs require qualifications and degrees while others do not? Because it's true, and it isn't an opinion. Just like you can become a restaurant worker, a factory worker, or a bus driver without a diploma but you can't become a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, an accountant, or many many other professions. If daycare providers decide they want the high salaries and prestige of teachers (sarcasm) then they should become teachers. The primary function of daycare is childcare, the primary function of school is education. That is the difference. It's not like daycare workers are primarily women and teachers are primarily men.
Lots of people who want to cry that school closures are a feminist crisis while conveniently ignoring the people who actually run our schools.

You keep demonstrating the point by being insulting and degrading. You should really think about how you come across.

There was no point to demonstrate. "Just stop" is not an argument and has no basis in fact. That's your opinion. I did not say anything insulting or degrading. I did not use pejoratives or name call anyone (unlike the people on here constantly bashing teachers for being "lazy" and "whiners"). It is fundamentally true that daycare is childcare and school is for educational purposes. If you find it upsetting to acknowledge that different jobs require different qualifications and serve different functions, then we won't get anywhere. Do you also pretend that you "don't see color"?

I didn't say "just stop." And as for you, after that utterly out of touch and unaware ramble, you segue into an outright insult (your last sentence), so I think you've neatly made the point that people who say "school isn't childcare" come across as entitled and pejorative for me, thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a single mom.
School is not child care.
I don’t have the answers. But school is not child care.

It's not pejorative, it's factual. They're taking care of children who are not old enough to take care of themselves. It's the definition of childcare.

NP. If a kid is admitted to a hospital for something, if a kid is at someone else’s house for a play date, if a kid is at karate class, all of those things provide oversight of your child for specified purposes but are not childcare. It’s the same concept with schools. They are not your employees. They are not there to watch your kids. They are there to educate your children. Your childcare problems are none of their concern.

Anonymous wrote:I think it means that while we have built our society around the fact that having kids in school provides de facto child care for families, the purpose of school is not child care, so should not be the deciding factor in opening schools.

This can also be used as an opening for a conversation about who is responsible for child care, if not schools. Should government (separate from the school system) provide it, as in some countries? Should it be an employment benefit that people should push for so it becomes more of an expectation (as health insurance is)? Should stay at home parents get paid?

Because our social system was built on the expectation that a parent (Mother) would stay home with the kids, when women started joining the workforce in greater numbers, people took advantage of the system that was in place (schools) and added onto that (before and after care, summer camps) rather than re-inventing a better way to provide childcare. That is the conversation we should be having.