After seeing today’s Covid numbers, I really can’t imagine colleges opening up in the Fall.
I have been working with a family of 4 girls, ages 11, 8, 5, and 4. The 4 year old is the best at wearing the mask and not taking it on and off all the time.
The bigger problem is mine as her speech isn’t very clear and I have a harder time understanding her with the mask on. We deal with it.
I don’t know how offering K-6 education half in-person, half online is going to help anything, if we expect their parents to return to work. Daycare is expensive and hard to find. Unless we think kicking women (of course it will be women) out of the paid workforce in great numbers is a good idea, we should come up with a different plan.
The schools around here have figured out that especially the k-5 group needs to be back in school every day. that zoom doesn’t work and that the kids can’t be home alone and expected to dial into classes. One of the biggest and wealthiest districts originally said that they’d do a half and half of in classrooms and on line, maybe alternating days or weeks. There was a big push back and now they are suggesting that k-5 will be in school and the older kids might be a combo. All the big school districts have now said k-5 back in school.
My sister teaches 4th grade and will not let the kids eat in the classrooms. I don’t know how schools could require that with hot lunches. She’s hoping the class sizes will go down to 20 (she usually has 24, sometimes 28). Last year she was teaching only math and science, so had every 4th grader once or twice a day. I think that will not be allowed this year and she’ll have her class of 20-25 for every subject. No switching classrooms, no pullout or specials.
Is your sister concerned for her own health and safety? I don’t know of a large number of teachers resigning in my district, but all of that info could be suppressed for now and not obvious from the job listings.
My district had come up with a probable 2-day FTF, 2 day online scheme with 2 groups alternating coming into school. 1 day was for teacher planning. But now parents are pushing back bigtime, and there will be a hearing next month. The district has now said they will be looking into 5 day FTF. I don’t know how that could be done, other than split sessions.
I know some places are allowing a minimum of 3’ between desks, and also many more on the bus than the CDC recommendation.
A lot could change in the 10 or so weeks before school starts. I am unfortunately expecting a spike in cases in my state, even though my area is doing well right now.
If K-12 opens I think we might see more teachers switching rooms to deliver instruction of different subjects rather than student movement.
Another problem I see is having enough substitute teachers. If K-12 does open teachers are going to have to stay home every time they get sick until they know it isn’t Covid19. Teachers typically work through a lot of colds and illness.
I read the NJ detailed opening guidelines which were very strict and honestly they didn’t seem realistic. I had to chuckle when they also announced football was starting. They went to great lengths to detail distancing and safety all day long but are going to have kids piling on top of each other after school? I can’t imagine outdoors would make a difference with contact that close.
Fairfax, VA teachers are not on board with the County plan of having some in-class learning in the Fall. I see this as being a common theme for the powerful teacher unions.
A day after one of the nation’s largest school systems announced its proposal for fall learning, teachers within Fairfax County Public Schools rose in revolt and refused to teach in-person, as the plan demands, until officials revise their strategy.
The three groups — the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, the Fairfax Education Association and the Association of Fairfax Professional Educators — are asking their members to select the distance-learning option, en masse, until administrators work with association leadership to develop more detailed plans that better prioritize the safety and well-being of students and staff members. The teachers’ resistance previews the kind of backlash administrators throughout the country may encounter as they ask their workforce to return to school hallways.
Kimberly Adams, president of the Fairfax Education Association, said her organization’s view is that no teacher should return to work until a vaccine or treatment for the coronavirus becomes widely available. She said all school staff members must be allowed to teach virtually for as long as they feel is necessary.
Clemson. Mostly in person classes! 75 percent!
I wonder how cyber schools will fare? Seems like an opportunity for them. Do a year online with a reputable, proven school that has experience with online learning.
No K-12 until a vaccine? What if there isn’t one? I really thought that AAP article saying kids should go back would get more discussion here. Isn’t that some sort of turning point?
I know. First time I have this from any teacher union. Seems crazy to me but some teacher unions wield a lot of power in some jurisdictions. Wonder if they are angling for some type of salary increase or hazard pay.
Many months ago a professor at Temple University said faculty deserves hazard pay.
I work in the NJ public schools, elementary, small classes. This is just so incredibly unrealistic but I guess that as long as numbers are good this summer they will try it. We were told that at the drop of a hat we could be told to work from home. There are many rules in place (rightly so) and people are going to be so consumed with avoiding germs and following the rules that it’s going to be difficult to do our job (at least initially while we are getting the hang of it). Every single thing has to be reinvented…from arrivals to dismissals and everything in between.
They are talking about face shields for the kids …if they can’t wear masks.
I think it’s hard for these kids to be home, but transitioning back won’t be a walk in the park, and many will have difficulty adjusting to this new normal. Districts are now creating videos demonstrating how schools will look when we return.
And what about families who visit states with high numbers? Families in my school do this regularly. How will these trips be monitored?
First things first…Not sure how a treatment changes the need to social distance or wear masks. Even if there is a widely available treatment, doesn’t seem like it would be a good idea to let the virus spread unabated.
Now, just spitballing… if in-person classes aren’t offered, is there an avenue for residents to challenge or angle for a recalculation of the real estate tax proportion that goes to the school districts? Seems like public school would be a government service that is no longer being offered? Seems an especially weak argument or stance when that stance goes against medical advice…AAP, a major Toronto ped hospital, and Unicef (probably more) have all recommended in-person school for kids.
Will the school districts guarantee synchronous classes are taught if fully remote? How will teachers with young kids teach these live remote courses, if their own kids are home? Asking because that was a common reason teachers stated they couldn’t teach live classes in March-May.
I don’t know anything about the law or how school funding works, but seems like residents would certainly be able to challenge school funding in the courts if there isn’t school in person, or at the very least, synchronous remote classes. Especially if that stance has medical recommendations supporting in-person classes for kids.
@twogirls from a educational standpoint, do you believe that it would be more beneficial for schooling to be completely online to begin this school year?
Fairfax county can’t offer any reduction in taxes, as their costs for online schooling will equal or exceed that of f2f school. The teachers will still be getting paid just as much (and are asking for more). It sounds like a lost year of education for the kids. Maybe there are still some private or charter schools with openings. FWIW, my now college kids think 2 days of f2f will be better than 4 online, although both are pretty useless
Yes, I do understand the costs will likely be greater for many school districts this coming year, but that won’t necessarily stop some residents from demanding the government fulfill it’s promise (?) of offering public school, in-person. Seems like it would be easy to say fully remote school, with some proportion of classes never even taught live, isn’t adequate…and make that case in the courts.
Again, teachers or teachers’ unions…how will teachers teach synchronous classes when their kids are home all day?
Yes, I am sure many private and charter schools will have relatively high enrollment this year, as will the established purveyors of online K-12 education, who are facile at delivering a good education remotely.
Right. This will be interesting. Teachers likely want their own kids to go back to school but then some do not want to go back to school themselves. That’s not going to work.
Oh I am certain the parents will demand more. I just doubt they will get it, either legally or practically. As noted above, I have a lot of sympathy for working parents, as well as the kids losing much of the year of schooling. Quite a price to pay for this type of virus.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think that the AAP advise was based on what was epidemiologically optimal. They took into account that low socio-economic kids may have deficient home resources, that young children have limited ability to study independently , that social cut off and loss of structure may affect kids mental health.
Teachers may feel that they have educated counter arguments in areas that they feel more qualified to speak of than doctors.