Stop disrespecting teachers, please

[liskddksil]

There’s lots of talk about whether or not school buildings should be open. European school buildings recently shut over concerns that children do indeed spread the virus. Yet former Mayor Mike Bloomberg now says, “It’s time for Joe Biden to stand up and to say, the kids are the most important things and important players here. And the teachers just are going to have to suck it up and stand up and provide an education.”

In fact we’ve never stopped doing that, but Bloomberg seems not to have received the memo. Bloomberg says kids are most important. Twelve years of working in New York City schools under Mike Bloomberg tell me to him, that really means adults are not important at all.

It’s particularly galling, after having devoted your life to help children, to be told you don’t care about them because you question the wisdom of risking your life, the lives of the children, and the lives of all our families.

https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-stop-disrespecting-teachers-please-20210212-sx52se37kzdqrmhkfmpduqhkle-story.html

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Teachers should all be vaccinated...

...and the students before schools reopen. Same for administration and staff.

Otherwise, it’s just another cost fucking benefit analysis.

[lindysalsagal]

7. YUP.

Teachers often care for the elderly, so, they must be.

[TimeToGo]

25. Well, in addition

Since it is unclear if a vaccinated people can still spread even if they don't get sick themselves -- teachers and their immediate families need to be vaccinated. Otherwise they might just bring it home. I wish we had better science on whether or not vaccinated people can spread -- but until we know that . . .

And telling teachers to just suck it up is ridiculous and worse.

[kpete]

2. Teachers are AWESOME

I have worked in the Public School System for 35 years.
The good ones are some of the best, hardest working, loving and empathetic humans EVER!
mho,kp

[Bernardo de La Paz]

41. I would not have the mind or life I have without the awesome teachers who taught me

I don't use the word awesome lightly.

[niyad]

3. What an appalling thing for him to say. I am appalled that our teachers are not being

vaccinated. Teachers and staff. No-brainer, truly.

[Ms. Toad]

63. In some places they are - and I'm pissed that it is delaying vaccination

for otherwile vulnerable people (me, included).

First - I currently teach in a University (and have been teaching in person since August). I formerly taught high school. So I am in no way anti-teacher.

BUT - I also have 2 forms of cancer (likely 3, but that third diagnosis won't be made for a while - it is slow growing and might not even be biopsied for a year) and diabetes. I am 7 months shy of 65. I will not be eligible for a vaccine in my state until late March.

Meanwhile - any primary or secondary school that opens its doors for even a little bit of in school classes (1 day a week, 1 grade level, etc.) makes all of its employees eligible for vaccination. Even for the employees who are still (and will continue to be) working entirely remotely. That puts a crap-ton of people - about 75% of whom are not particularly vulnerable - ahead of demonstratably vulnerable people Some of whom (like me) have been teaching in person for over a semester.

The only vulnerability exceptions in our state are for a list of about 20 acquired-in-childhood conditions.

[Meowmee]

76. Agree

people with highest risk should go first after hcw who are exposed. If you are teaching in person in university in NYS you were eligible already in mid January but getting an appointment was next to impossible. I finally got one after calling instead of the website, based on my health conditions now which became eligible on Monday.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. teachers and nurses are the heroes of our society...underappreciated

underpaid and overworked. and teachers now join nurses in being endangered in our covid world

(and wonderful. psst... I married a nurse! )

[Turin_C3PO]

5. I come from a family of awesome teachers.

Fuck anyone who doesn’t appreciate our educators.

[hlthe2b]

6. I understand parents' concerns, but without having all teachers vaccinated &/or the immense funding

necessary to improve ventilation and eliminate overcrowded classrooms, teachers, janitors, staff will all be at continuous life-threatening risk for themselves and their families. Anyone who blames teachers and their unions for their reluctance to reopen in a less-than-fully-safe manner, despite their concern for their children's long-term educational welfare, have blinders on, IMO.

This has not ever been the one-sided debate that some want to make it. Sadly the wealthy school districts and private schools will be able to safely re-open, once again serving their students while others get left behind.

Vaccinate teachers and staff and require masks for all-- for the indefinite future-- while working toward physical revamping of school classroom design to improve ventilation. At the same time, provide distance learning for those students AND teachers who simply can not safely be present. That's all we can do right now.

[Susan Calvin]

44. Thank you for mentioning staff.

Even fewer people take any notice of staff than take any notice of teachers.

[hlthe2b]

56. I agree and it is wrenching, given how vulnerable they are.

[ProfessorGAC]

62. Here In Illinois...

...all(!) school employees are considered the same level of priority.
Maintenance, food service, bus drivers, aides, admin staff, subs...
You work in a school (even part time, like me)? You're Phase 1b, which is one tier removed from health care workers, first responders, & conjugate living residents.
As it should be.

[Susan Calvin]

69. That is good to hear. nt

[Withywindle]

75. IL is great that way!

It should be every state!

[Autumn]

8. These people seem to think that teachers are their children's babysitters.

What I see all the time is "we need to get the kids back to school, I can't find anyone to baby sit them so I can go back to work, or do what I need to do". They are there to teach children not provide child care for parents.

[Wounded Bear]

9. If people really respected teachers, they wouldn't have needed to unionize...

Way past time to start respecting, and paying, teachers the way they deserve.

[Tetrachloride]

10. Tourist areas, Schools, Cramped Convenience Stores, Public Transportation

I am fortunate to live in one of the lower risk areas of the world.

Nevertheless, some governments continue to uphold vigilance against Corona.

One of these is shutting down schools.

Safety first, manners, and be blue.

[Initech]

11. Hey I come from a family of teachers!

You will get no argument from me!

[world wide wally]

12. It seems like it would be a no-brainer to admit that teachers should be inoculated before

being forced back into the classroom. I taught for 21 years and came down with the flu about 20 of those years. I always knew when it was October.

[nam78_two]

13. No argument here

If actual teachers* were respected more, the world would be a lot less shitty.

*: Not creeps peddling apps mind you - actual educators.

[safeinOhio]

19. China, Japan and South Korea,

teachers are held in the highest esteem. We could learn from them.

[pazzyanne]

14. Mike Bloomberg may not realize the US has a growing teacher shortage.

When you do not respect teachers and school suppert staff, you are not helping children and their education.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/opinion/coronavirus-schools-teachers.html

[Susan Calvin]

45. It's losing one

I'm retiring effective May. And if they try to make me go back in the building it will be sooner. And it's not the way I'm treated personally, although they couldn't treat me well enough to get me to go in the building, it's also the way we are treated by government and the media.

[pazzyanne]

64. Understand completely.

After 20 years in the classroom, I left when there was an administration change that was pro-business and anti-education. That was over 30 years ago.

[paleotn]

15. Is Bloomberg catching hell from parents?

That other constituency that thinks all teachers should be super human, yet aren't willing to cough up the taxes necessary to pay them decently. Oh, but in the south where I grew up they will cough up huge bucks so their kids don't have to rub elbows with children of color in public schools. Go figure. Now they want you to risk your lives to a dangerous contagion. Ugh.

I don't know how you deal with parents. I really don't. I'm not a teacher because I'd have been arrested for parent homicide years ago. Seriously, you guys are amazing.

[liskddksil]

32. Bloomberg is not any position of power so he's looking to continue his anti teacher and anti-union

bashing he did so often when he was mayor.

[paleotn]

36. Oh, good lord....

My eyes see Bloomberg, my brain sees de Blasio. It's Monday.

I could see parents given de Blasio grief for getting kids back on site, but Bloomberg? He really needs to get that weed out of his ass.

[Dorian Gray]

93. In NYC

schools have bene open since October. (prek-5th grade, at least.) So parents here are not hounding our mayor.

Middle Schools coming back in March. Not sure about high schools.

But the unions and the mayor have worked together to make for a safe opening, and schools haven't been a vector for spread. We have stringent rules for closing a school down. '

[appalachiablue]

86. Bloomberg railing against teachers unions in NY & Chicago.

One week ago.

[certainot]

16. the same 1500 radio stations that called covid a hoax are yelling REOPEN! - they hate teachers

and kids - they like to beat and jail them

[ancianita]

17. The elites like Bloomberg have always conducted class war through Education. That's

why education -- along with Blacks, Indians, Women or the Popular Vote -- was never made a fundamental Constitutional right.

Covid has revealed all that.

[kairos12]

18. Vaccinate teachers.

[TheFarseer]

20. I love teachers

My family is full of teachers. I think they don’t get the respect or pay they deserve. However, they need to get back to work. I can tell my daughter doesn’t learn with distance learning and I’ve heard the same from many parents. Lots of people have been going to work packed in with other workers. I’ve been going into work. The difference is there’s no meat packing or grocery store checker union. I think teachers should be among the first to get vaccinated but I think they need to get back to work.

[Turin_C3PO]

29. Not until they're vaccinated.

Teachers aren’t lazy. They just want to teach safely and schools can be a Petri dish.

[Susan Calvin]

47. I am working.

It's more work remotely than it is in person, trust me. But I am working. What I'm not doing is babysitting.

And I'm also pretty tired of what about ism. These so-called essential workers are being treated very badly during this pandemic. It should be a wake-up call for how all workers are treated.

[Sancho]

48. Teachers should not return to working in unsafe conditions...

...the days of factories burning down, etc. should be over.

It's not a matter of "getting back to work", but a matter of working in as safe an environment as reasonably possible. Right now, there is too much virus to going back to school as it used to be...but schools could reopen IF they did the necessary changes to make it safe for students and employees. All that unions do is put those conditions into an enforceable contract.

The meat packers and grocery stores should have their own union and contract if the environment is not safe.

[Heartstrings]

54. They have been "working" this entire time....

Keep in mind teachers have families, too. So, not only are they teaching your children, even if it is remotely, they have prep time and kids of their own they need to care for. I’ve had many educators state it’s harder teaching remotely and would love to be back in classroom. However, municipalities differ....in my area our schools are old and ventilation isn’t proper. It’s -4 (wind chill -22) so the notion of opening a window for ventilation isn’t an option. Until it’s safe for all, teachers, staff and children....I think it’s best to be remote.

And I, too, come from a family of teachers. Both my parents, 5 aunts and uncles, and 7 cousins are all educators. My 2 grandsons are virtual for both their schools (English and Japanese). Is it difficult? Only if you make it difficult. Too many parents want that free babysitting and discipline.

Just my opinion, for what it’s worth.

[TheFarseer]

58. Poor choice of words by me

I understand teachers are working and doing their best but I believe it’s simply much more effective to be in classroom. It should be done as safely as possible with masks etc etc. My sister is teaching home etc from home and it sounds pretty ridiculous. The district my kids go to has been open since August with no major issues. It’s not the certain disaster some people think it is.

[Heartstrings]

59. In rural, newer schools I agree.....

However many schools in urban areas are old with poor ventilation. Each district needs to handle this with the upmost concern for safety for every one.

Schools North of me have opened and closed back down so many times it’s hard to keep up and more of a burden for the educators and parents. Just have continuity and leave them closed until the end this school year would be the best as far as I’m concerned. By next fall the vaccine will be in more arms and we’ll be better equipped.....🤞🤞

[Squinch]

72. A good friend of mine died of Covid due to teaching "with masks etc etc." Fuck that.

Stop demanding they go back into the germ factories before they are vaccinated.

[Squinch]

71. First of all, they are at work. Distance teaching is a lot of work. And second, no.

They don't need to die because your child is not doing well with distance learning. They need to be vaccinated BEFORE we tell them to get back into the germ factories.

[TheFarseer]

81. So my child is just dumb?

Lots of parents and educational experts think distance learning is not as effective. Joe Biden thinks schools should reopen safely. Does Joe Biden hate teachers?

And I understand they are at work. I meant they not in the normal workplace.

[Squinch]

82. Why are you making up moronic arguments that have nothing to do with what I said?

Whether you decide your child is just dumb or not, whether you choose to believe Joe Biden hates teachers or not, neither of those things changes the fact that teachers shouldn't have to die because your child is having trouble with distance learning.

And if you understand they are at work, you shouldn't have said in your post that they need to go back to work.

If you want to make a decent argument about this, I suggest you cut this kind of shit out.

[TheFarseer]

84. You are the one

That took my poor wording and blew it up into Farseer thinks teachers are lazy. YOU cut the crap and get your condescending attitude out of here!

[Squinch]

85. Again, you are making shit up! Go back and read my post. Here is what I said:

They don't need to die because your child is not doing well with distance learning. They need to be vaccinated BEFORE we tell them to get back into the germ factories.

I don't know whether you are purposely making shit up or it is just some kind of unconscious projection, but either way, I have said none of the things you accuse me of saying, and I stand by my statement:

They don't need to die because your child is not doing well with distance learning. They need to be vaccinated BEFORE we tell them to get back into the germ factories.

Your weird reaction to that self-evident statement is your problem and not mine. So deal with it and move along.

[TheFarseer]

87. Stop gaslighting me

You said “because your child is not doing well” implying that everyone else is fine and there’s something wrong with only my child.

Then you keep making the idiotic argument that I think teachers have been sitting on their asses doing nothing for a year. I’m a parent. I’m well aware they are doing their best doing distance learning. Then you go on to say the idea that Joe Biden wants teachers to go back in classroom has nothing to do with anything. The guy we worked so hard to elect’s opinion is irrelevant?

I fully agree teachers should be second in line to vaccinate behind healthcare workers.

[Squinch]

88. Oh, my God. This is nuts. Right now you are arguing with no one but the little gremlins

in your fevered mind. You are making ALL OF THIS UP.

Your difficulties have nothing to do with me. I'm sure you will concoct some more lunacy to attribute to me that has nothing to do with anything I ever said, so have at it.

This is just way too weird for me. Go ahead and carry on arguing with your own imagination. I'm out.

[TheFarseer]

89. I notice you can't make any type of point

So you just take issue with how I argue and get all offended. I don’t have any difficulty. My kids are back in school. I just feel bad for the kids not getting a quality education.

[Withywindle]

78. The answer to this is that meat packers and grocery store workers need unions too

And they DO exist. UFCW. SEIU. They need more power and support to help them make the same stand for their workers that the teachers' unions are doing now.

NO ONE should be forced to work in unsafe conditions. That means teachers, and it also means meat packers and retail workers.

[mountain grammy]

21. K & R Teachers should be vaccinated before schools re-open.

[AllyCat]

22. We need to close the bars, vaccinate the teachers, and open the schools.

Until that happens, we can make few demands

[Heartstrings]

60. I agree!

However, the Tavern League wouldn’t.

[theaocp]

23. I gave up on anyone caring about us a long time ago.

We are exactly what society has made us and yes, we are disposable. I’ve been fortunate enough to work virtually since last March, but we’re going back in with vaccines as a bonus if they can be found. I’m still on a waiting list.

[FakeNoose]

24. What will Bloomberg do when the teachers all die of Covid?

Maybe he thinks he can import them from Canada?

[felicemmp2]

26. Bloomberg should just suck it up

This really riles me. As a retired teacher - 37 years in a high school classroom - I know how much teachers sacrifice every single day even without a pandemic. If schools were really clean, ventilated and provided safe distancing then fine, open them and get back to normal. We all know that this is not the case. Many school buildings have antiquated or non existent ventilation, only a few custodial staff members, overcrowded classrooms and facilities that cannot support safe distancing for students.

In my area most schools are open using a hybrid schedule. Teachers in some nearby districts have been given pails and rags and told to clean desks and surfaces between classes. The classrooms are not cleaned daily due to lack of janitorial staff. Windows don't open for fresh air. Counselors, school psychologists and school social workers have been directed to teach classes to provide planning time for teachers. Cafeterias are being used as classrooms with all kinds of distracting noise. Students are allowed to remove masks when seated...And you wonder why teachers are afraid of getting sick?? Many can't even schedule appointments for a vaccination even when they become available.

Mike Bloomberg should spend a few weeks in a school under these conditions and he might just change his mind.

[Sancho]

46. You are absolutely correct...

[Shermann]

27. They need to find some middle ground

Perhaps they can add 10 years or so to the teachers' age and allow them into the subsequent vaccine groups. An in-person teacher at age 55 probably has the same risk level as a retiree who is 65 and stays home. But they don't have the same risk level as a front-line health care worker or somebody who is 75 and/or immunocompromised. You have to go with the science, but there is some flexibility there.

[evemac]

28. Thank you

I have been a SpEd teacher for over 20 years; I believe that going back to in person is the best way for me to do my job. However, I really don't think the safety of both teachers and students have been fully considered.

[BlueIdaho]

30. I taught for 35 years

I have nieces and nephews who are tirelessly teaching America’s youth. I often wonder if the disrespect shown teachers (nothing new) stems from the view that teaching is “woman’s work.”

Since a teacher probably teaches 150 - 200 different students a week, having a teacher sit out a two week quarantine brings school to a grinding halt for hundreds of students. Teachers should have been in the first round of vaccinated essential workers.

[Sancho]

31. The media like to create controversy...and of course it's not so simple.

My wife just retired (41 years of teaching), and I'm still going (I started in 1976). I'm also on the bargaining team of our union.

First, most contracts require a "safe environment", which means dealing with viruses, lead, asbestos, mold, etc., etc. It's a common concern. In this case - most school districts (at least in Florida) can DOCUMENT cases of employees who lost their life because of the virus. My wife has a teacher friend who died 2 months ago at age 51 (music teacher). I have a colleague who caught the virus and died in the fall. I received an email yesterday from an art teacher who caught the virus last fall, missed a couple months, and now is still suffering symptoms but trying to teach - and the school is about to non-renew the teacher who has run out of sick leave.

As we all know, schools and kids have to do more than "make rules" like the "wear a mask".

Here are some of the points of contention:
- many classrooms and halls have students 2-3 feet apart (NOT 6 feet); class size would have to change to meet CDC guidelines
- most schools do not have curtains or partitions; which actually help so they don't touch each other, sneeze and cough, etc.
- most schools do not have modern air handling systems with high quality filters and UV scrubbers; schools refuse to buy even the portable air cleaners for each room or run the air systems at night to replace the air
- many school employers won't cover employees for extended sick pay beyond some formula if they are out a long time with COVID
- school boards are resisting special assignments for older employees or employees with conditions (diabetes); those might include extra distances from students, extra PPE, or even selecting students who have been tested
- schools don't require immediate notification of employees or other students if someone may be contagious; they may wait 72 hours to get test results before telling the teacher or others that they may have been exposed
- schools don't want to screen every person who enters the school every day
- if a student refuses to wear a mask, who deals with them? Have you seen the videos of cops hand-cuffing 3rd graders?
- if a student has a family member who has COVID, but they come to school anyway; can you make them stay home?
- yes, it would help to mandate that all employees be vaccinated

That's enough for now, but it's just part of a long, long list of things to be decided (bargained in some cases) before schools get back to "normal", and districts do not have the money nor are they willing to make schools "safe". CDC guidelines are not enforceable contracts or even law that schools can apply. Educators are very good with "rules" to keep everyone safe, and they are well aware that simply throwing everyone into a germ factory is not an answer. Some of these politicians don't want to do the homework before they get on TV.

Meanwhile, who wants to be the last person in your school or family or city who dies before everyone gets vaccinated?

[Susan Calvin]

49. The word on handling students who won't wear masks

Or take off their masks is the biggest single reason I Won't Go Back. They want you to treat it like any other discipline issue and try to handle it yourself before escalating it. I view taking off a mask in my presence as attempted homicide.

[Sancho]

52. This has been a huge point of contention with our teachers...

...amazing that the CDC doesn't seem to have data or studies on how many kids who won't wear a mask.

[ProfessorGAC]

65. Schools Here Have Been Open...

...since at least the second Monday in October, many since before Labor Day. (Northeast Illinois)
I've subbed in 10 different schools and have seen ZERO unmasked kids, or adults.
I don't know all the district backgrounds (parental involvement, socioeconomic status, etc.) , but there's clearly a way to get an entire school population to follow the guidelines. I've seen it myself.
How difficult or easy it is, I can't say. But, it's possible.

[Sancho]

67. If you teach here that is not true...

...obviously, some students in Special Education or the more difficult populations include some who refuse.
...others are openly defiant because their parents claim religious objections
...others are openly defiant just like the mask-refusers you see in stores and restaurants

The issue is simple: if the teacher asks you to put on the mask in accordance with the rules and they refuse, what do you do about it? In Florida, the Governor Desatan has declared there can be no fines or penalties. You can dismiss the entire class, but that's a different problem. You can suspend or expel the student after a lengthy or expensive hearing. It should be simple to make the school or admins or parents responsible to enforce the mask rule (just like we would not want the teacher to put out a fire for example). If the student doesn't have a mask, they should go home, right?

In this district of about 200,000 students, there are regular reports of defiance over masks.

I'm assuming you sub in schools that have some structure and the population is not "anti-mask". Maybe those schools have already eliminated the "non-mask" kids since October, and you are seeing the good ones.

[ProfessorGAC]

68. Certainly A Problem

There is an enforceable mandate here. Schools will suspend resisters here.
I can see special ed being a unique challenge. My wife was an in-classroom social worker for SE for nearly 30 years. I don't sub for that because I know I'm not right for it.
If I was in your state, I wouldn't sub.
I don't need the money. I do it to perform an important service during the season I can't play golf or ride my bike.
But, I wouldn't risk my life over it.

[Dorian Gray]

95. Is that really a problem?

Here in NYC, kids wear masks without a complaint. It's never been a problem at my daughter's school.

Worst problem is that one becomes unwearable and they don't have a back up. But the school keeps a stash of disposable masks for that occasion.

[Sancho]

96. We just had a zoom meeting with teachers and staff and the school board Monday...

...and virtually every teacher and bus driver had issues with mask wearing (mostly elementary students). Yes, teachers complained about not having spare masks even though the district purchased a bunch that are in a warehouse somewhere.

Masks are not the only issue here though. It's some areas of high positivity, non-reporting of sick kids, and crowding with students 3 feet apart were the biggest complaints.

Remember that in Florida about 1/3 of the population was born outside of the US - and in some schools in more. There are multiple languages in most schools. There are also areas of resisters.

[Dorian Gray]

97. I guess we've been super lucky

Compliance is the norm, especially with the younger kids in elementary school. My husband teaches at a high school, and they've never experienced non mask wearing compliance. It's the norm here, so it's foreign to me that it would be fought by families or kids who want to get back in person.

[NEOBuckeye]

33. Most teachers don't see themselves as "first responders"

People don't go into education expecting to be thrust into potentially life-threatening working conditions, working on the "front lines" with high risk of exposure and infection during a pandemic. It's a much different mindset than people who become ER nurses and doctors with the awareness that they could someday be stepping into this type of situation.

Any politician of any stripe who presses teachers into putting their lives at risk is going to face massive blowback. Teachers will strike, and they will quit, and leave you holding the bag of your own bullshit.

[bullwinkle428]

34. Is Bloomberg going into the office every day, and dealing with his staffers

face-to-face for 8 hours, five days each week? I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question!!

K&R.

[Iggo]

35. Right after I start. (n/t)

[Fla Dem]

37. If opening schools were so important, Teachers s/h/b first in line for vaccinations.

Do not understand the logic. All essential workers were given 1st in line status for vacs. But not teachers. Now people are screaming that schools are essential to young people's live. Therefore teachers and their support staffs are also essential. Why are they not moved to the front of the line? So easy for this controversary to be resolved. But of course someone has to make it a fight against the teachers.

[quakerboy]

39. Lets follow the money.

Im curious where this druumbeat push for reopening schools is coming from. Under trump, id more or less accepted it as part of their anti science, who cares about the cost in lives pseudo machismo.

But seeing it pushed just as hard now, if not harder, I suspect some sort of political/monitary influence

Who wants kids mask to school no matter how many lives it costs? Who is funding the push?

[AllaN01Bear]

40. my late mome who was a teacher for the glendora ca unified school district

for 27 years retired in early 1984. this diss torwards teachers even happened back then. teachers are front line workers .

[Dreampuff]

42. Vaccinate teachers

Also those who work in the Meatpacking plants and factories and warehouses and convenience stores and grocery stores, Etc. They are also in constant contact with many people throughout their day. Essential businesses have been open all this time and many families have paid the cost by either getting sick themselves or losing loved ones. If we would have followed the example of a few other countries, New Zealand as an example, and shut everything down for 2 weeks, we wouldn't. be in this situation

[notinkansas]

43. In Chicago Lightfoot has done the same thing as Bloomberg.

Strong-arming the teachers back into the classroom without vaccinations.

Most Chicago schools are overcrowded and the buildings are old - which means they don't have proper ventilation to mitigate virus spread.

I understand that parents are anxious to have the children back in school, but I don't believe it is at all safe for the teachers or the children.

And that's a rotten thing to do to teachers.

[Susan Calvin]

50. And the Chicago Teachers Union management has been no prize either. nt

[LakeArenal]

51. Republicans hate licensed teachers, public schools, women and anyone else's children. Nt

[BobTheSubgenius]

53. At various points over the last couple of years, I held out some hope for Mike Bloomberg.

However, it seems that the Venn diagram that represents our intersection is a small - albeit not insignificant - area that comprises our hatred and contempt for Il Douche.

Other that that, he seems every inch a billionaire.

[BobTheSubgenius]

57. What I forgot to add was my respect for teachers.

I still remember my Grade 5 teacher, clear as day. Miss Lade. She made me love to come to class, and the year I spent with her was one of the best periods of my life.

I also had a great one that taught math in college. Not only did he teach me math, and more importantly, taught me that I could LEARN math, and my mediocre performance beforehand was a combination of disinterest on my part, and poor teaching skills on the part of others.

He took me from, basically, Grade 9 math comprising material little more complex than basic algebra, which I already knew, through trig, calculus and the bare bones of imaginary number theory. Successfully completing that much material was pretty good, but with grades in the 90's, it bordered on impossible.

And there are more that I could described that had their various attributes, but those two really stuck out.

[wendyb-NC]

55. Yes, vaccinate all teachers who wish to be vaccinated.

[Lunabell]

61. Schools are not babysitters either.

Teachers are there to educate and guide children toward the future. They aren't supposed to be used so that the workforce can keep chugging for the economy.

I realize that kids need to be in school for socialization and the best learning experience, but not at the risk of killing people and spreading this pandemic.

Teachers need to be in the front of the line for vaccinations and schools should be opened with the safety of all in mind.

[crickets]

66. Teachers deserve more support, in terms of pay and working conditions,

and in terms of just appreciating all of the hard work they do for our children. My heart goes out to all of the teachers, the school staff, the students, and their families. They're all stuck in an awful situation not of their making, and it didn't have to be this bad.

[Meowmee]

73. Schools should not be open

Until everyone is vaccinated and numbers are way down. Vaccination should be a requirement to attend school.

[Withywindle]

79. Yes, and for students too

I don't think schools should reopen until there's a vaccine approved for children, and I think only children who've had it should be allowed in.

Contrary to the propaganda being spread around, children DO get sick from COVID, and some will have organ damage that will last their whole lives, and some will die. They can also be carriers and spreaders. They're not magically immune. Maybe some selfish parents don't care about teachers or staff but MIGHT be a little less aggressive about forcing schools to reopen if they actually knew that their own child might roll the snake-eye.

[Meowmee]

90. I meant students as well

people can learn virtually online. Just vaccinate everyone first and give help where needed. Stop ******* around and do what needs to be done. Certainly children are also at risk and are known super spreaders of disease.

[Withywindle]

74. Is this even about kids? Or is it about the convenience of their parents' employers?

When do I think schools should be re-opened? When every single teacher and staff member is vaccinated. Period.

We need subsidy checks so parents can afford to stay home to help with remote learning. We need broadband and equipment provided so EVERY child can receive a safe equal education at home. We need to step up the vaccination process and put school staff at the front of the line.

[Meowmee]

77. This

[Withywindle]

80. It's totally valid to be worried that kids are depressed because they can't see their friends

So we need to work on scheduling unstructured virtual social time too. Virtual recess. Ways to have playtime online.

[Meowmee]

91. they will survive it people have survived a lot worse... just give some help

[Meowmee]

92. I don't think they should be at the front of the line though

Exposed hcw first then people at highest risk for mortality, then others such as teachers who are exposed for long periods etc. Hopefully the 200 mil vaccines purchased will get into action soon and many more will be vaccinated.

[theaocp]

83. In MI we applied for a testing waiver

For 2021, but unsure what the result is. First of all, fuck standardized testing and their bloodsucking companies like Pearson. However, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see test prep as a motivation to get students in physical seats. Canceling big tests equals $$$ woes for somebody in the donor class. We’ll see.

[Dorian Gray]

94. Wealthy kids

are mostly back in in person school.

Poor kids are not.

This is an equity issue and it's going to create problems down the road that we can't yet foresee.

I believe teachers should be prioritized for vaccination. My husband has been teaching in person since the Fall. He will be fully vaccinated next week.

Schools in NYC have been open. Private schools since September. Public since October. It's possible to do this safely and care about teachers safety and students well being. We need to prioritize it.