My language charter has also lacked transparency. The goal posts keep moving. Meanwhile my nieces and nephews have been in school since the beginning of August elsewhere in the US with no disruptions. Fortunately, my K student is blossoming because he goes to daycare every day and they take care of his academics, social/ emotional needs, and help him develop life skills. I am an essential worker so childcare is also essential and my kids have attended throughout the pandemic. Most people don’t have this option and it’s sad because it’s been safe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's as bad as a "surgeon with a butter knife" out in the woods, your metaphor would suggest that what the teachers are doing is basically useless. If that's the case, furlough the teachers. What are taxpayers paying for?

Not as effective doesn't mean useless. Use any metaphor you like -- I'd rather have a skilled person with lesser tools than no skilled person at all. Others may feel differently but the reality is until there is a real threat of furloughing or reducing teaching staff, there won't be much progress made with getting the majority of teachers back (until there's a vaccine).

Many kids are learning some just not as much as they would be in regular school. Tax dollars are paying for distance learning, school staff salaries, laptops, curriculum purchases, etc. If the usefulness/productivity of education is the measure of whether taxpayers should pay then there are numerous subgroups in DC that should have stopped paying long ago.

Do you really think teachers will deem it "safe" even when there's a vaccine? How effective does the vaccine have to be? What percentage of the populace has to get it? Is that the local populace or national or global? Do kids in school have to have had it? What if teachers refuse the vaccine?

Anonymous wrote:If it's as bad as a "surgeon with a butter knife" out in the woods, your metaphor would suggest that what the teachers are doing is basically useless. If that's the case, furlough the teachers. What are taxpayers paying for?

Not as effective doesn't mean useless. Use any metaphor you like -- I'd rather have a skilled person with lesser tools than no skilled person at all. Others may feel differently but the reality is until there is a real threat of furloughing or reducing teaching staff, there won't be much progress made with getting the majority of teachers back (until there's a vaccine).

Many kids are learning some just not as much as they would be in regular school. Tax dollars are paying for distance learning, school staff salaries, laptops, curriculum purchases, etc. If the usefulness/productivity of education is the measure of whether taxpayers should pay then there are numerous subgroups in DC that should have stopped paying long ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying basically did the same thing LAMB did. While claiming to "follow the science," the decision to close, per the mass email parents received, was based on teachers' feelings. Yu Ying was set to open in October, then November. Now it's January. Parents have no power but to hope teachers "feel safe" in January.

Turns out teachers' feelings are more important than scientific facts.

It's like we live in some small town in Mississippi. Facts don't matter. The only thing that matters is what people want to believe.

This.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yu Ying basically did the same thing LAMB did. While claiming to "follow the science," the decision to close, per the mass email parents received, was based on teachers' feelings. Yu Ying was set to open in October, then November. Now it's January. Parents have no power but to hope teachers "feel safe" in January.

Turns out teachers' feelings are more important than scientific facts.

+1

I want to know how many people wanting to reopen are entitled white people.

The dad with twins is paying for childcare but couldn't find spanish childcare in DC? Really?

And he found childcare outside his home - he drives to another state to drop off his kids and pick them up? Or are they going to grandma and grandma doesn't speak spanish?

That doesn't make sense.

All I see here are a bunch of people who couldn't hack it at being teachers whining that these people took a vow of poverty to teacher their kids. The idea that teachers don't care about their kids have never seen a teacher cry on a Sunday while she's preparing lesson plans.

And those are garbage people.

parent your kids; relax about the standards; and know the disrespect you are tossing around the people who you want to watch and die for your kids is being heard by your kids.

Teachers in this country take a bullet for kids and now they are to die alone in a hospital so your kid won't fall behind. give me a break - if you can find DCUM, find the time to post on DCUM and talk to the post about your daycare in MD - your kid is not suffering from educational loss.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB did everything it could possibly do to accommodate teachers, and teachers still refuse to do their jobs. A lesson for schools everywhere in DC.

Did they? That might be true, I just don't see evidence of that. The WP article suggests that the administration didn't consult the teachers regarding the plan.

I'm not sure what more the teachers could want, but it would be useful to hear from them.

Unless there's other info out there, like the list of demands from the WTU.

The only thing LAMB cares about is the opinion of its teachers. The school doesn't consult with parents at all, and the plight of the students is an afterthought. LAMB's leadership could hardly be more teacher friendly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LAMB did everything it could possibly do to accommodate teachers, and teachers still refuse to do their jobs. A lesson for schools everywhere in DC.

Did they? That might be true, I just don't see evidence of that. The WP article suggests that the administration didn't consult the teachers regarding the plan.

I'm not sure what more the teachers could want, but it would be useful to hear from them.

Unless there's other info out there, like the list of demands from the WTU.

LAMB teachers are contract employees. Technically, they couldn’t consult with them until their contracts began for this school year.

The mission of the school is to educate kids, that should be THE priority, not teachers feelings that are unsupported by the science and data.

Anonymous wrote:LAMB did everything it could possibly do to accommodate teachers, and teachers still refuse to do their jobs. A lesson for schools everywhere in DC.

Did they? That might be true, I just don't see evidence of that. The WP article suggests that the administration didn't consult the teachers regarding the plan.

I'm not sure what more the teachers could want, but it would be useful to hear from them.

Unless there's other info out there, like the list of demands from the WTU.

LAMB did everything it could possibly do to accommodate teachers, and teachers still refuse to do their jobs. A lesson for schools everywhere in DC.

Anonymous wrote:And furthermore, it's not like the LAMB teachers are victims of circumstances here. There was a plan and they scuttled it.

It's a bunch of BS to say "well we don't want to go in but also we can't really do our jobs from home and you all should just be fine with that."

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are refusing to work, and schools are refusing to force teachers to work.

So I would rephrase this as teachers are refusing to work in person and schools are refusing to force teachers to work. Which I still have a problem with because DL is not as effective as in person learning. Just logistically speaking, kids are losing 20% of their instructional time with the Wednesday’s off. That has to lead to less learning.

Of course it leads to less learning and the teachers do not give two sh%&*

Wednesdays will no longer be off starting the 9th. Calm yourself Iago.

Teacher's care more about their own safety than your child's learning. They care about having a seat at the table.

No clue what the issue could be at charters. They literally all have top notch buildings....

Well that's news to me, if it's true for my charter.

And furthermore, it's not like the LAMB teachers are victims of circumstances here. There was a plan and they scuttled it.

It's a bunch of BS to say "well we don't want to go in but also we can't really do our jobs from home and you all should just be fine with that."

If it's as bad as a "surgeon with a butter knife" out in the woods, your metaphor would suggest that what the teachers are doing is basically useless. If that's the case, furlough the teachers. What are taxpayers paying for?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's less work to go in, maybe they should advocate for that, since statistically, they're no more at risk than the rest of us.

But no, they have apparently doubled their work while simultaneously producing worse results.

That's right -- because producing results is a reflection of the talent of the worker, the tools they have and the environment they are in. Teaching virtually is like a surgeon operating in the field with a butter knife instead of a scalpel in a sanitary hospital. The surgeon can work 100 times as hard, the outcomes won't be the same. This isn't the fault of the teacher.

So...like...doesn't sound as though distance learning is a good choice then...