So, I'm going back to work (educator) tomorrow. I strongly feel I should get hazard pay.

[Coventina]

I actually feel less safe than when I went back in the fall.

Now I KNOW my students are not vaccinated, not quarantining when they are supposed to, frequently don't wear masks properly, etc. etc.

Yet we're supposed to just smile, put our lives at risk and thank everyone for the privilege.

Why do we treat educators in this country so poorly?

I don't blame the Chicago teachers for trying to force going back to virtual.

on edit: clarity

[sarcasmo]

1. Double mask, and you all deserve hazard pay.

[leftstreet]

2. Yes you should

This is all so f-ed up

Be careful

[ShazzieB]

3. You absolutely should get hazard pay.

No 2 ways about it!

[MustLoveBeagles]

4. You deserve hazard pay

[LoisB]

5. Much respect for educators. Stay safe.

[cadoman]

6. how do your coworkers feel? union?

Things will only change when we collectively come together to make it happen.I think if even 10% of the teachers refused to come in the district would be forced to adjust.

[AwakeAtLast]

7. I went back last Monday

Our infected numbers went up every day. Our nurse said we will be lucky to be in person two more weeks.

I see 450 students daily.

[Jon King]

8. Okay, whats your answer for parents who work?????

It is one thing to say remote learning. But if a teacher is relatively healthy, boosted, masked they have a better chance of getting killed in a car crash or 20 other ways than Covid.

So what is your answer to the issue? Close schools, parents can not work, the entire supply chain comes crashing down, we enter an economic depression????

Think big picture, the longer this goes on where we do not just tough it out and get through this wave the greater chance right wingers take the House, the greater chance Manchin says no to everything including voting rights, the weaker Biden gets. So yeah, we better start getting things back to normal, reasonable risks and all, to at least try to help Biden regain some poll numbers.

Seriously, enough is enough with this. Kids are better off in school and teachers who are boosted and masked are not at great risk. Geez folks, at some point we have to run the dang country and live with Covid. Yes this wave will put some strain on about 20% of hospitals in low vaxxed areas, but it will pass fast.

We believe in science right? The science says if you are boosted and masked, you will likely have zero symptoms or mild symptoms. It is what it is, Covid in some variant will be around forever.

[Celerity]

9. +💯

[NJCher]

10. The answer

Is a decent childcare system. However, this answer is unrealistic right now because we are so deficient in human support systems.

Normally I agree with you on most of your posts. However on this one you make claims that should at least have an url.

Does anyone remember the teacher who was overheard or taped saying about parents that they miss their babysitting system? She got a lot of flack for saying that and may have even been placed on administrative leave. It is, however, true.

I am a teacher but fortunate to have outdoor classes. I see exactly what coventina is saying and she is right. I would be having the same issues if I had to teach all day inside.

[BigmanPigman]

13. Ditto!!!!!!!!!!!!

I said for years we teachers were payed babysitters and I did the math. If I charged per hour per student at a baby sitter's salary I would have made twice as much money. Really! We teachers broke it down and we knew the truth. We teachers are treated as nothing more than babysitters and are paid a lot less. Teachers work 50-60 hour weeks, get sick all the time, and have enormous work loads. The stress is enormous and that is why teachers are quitting in larger numbers now.

[Scrivener7]

15. 68 of my colleagues died in my school system in the first days of the first spike. Including some

good friends. After 68, they stopped publishing the number. I would guess it was in the many hundreds.

The hospitalization numbers today in my state are higher than any time since the first spike. I understand this is less virulent, but the sheer numbers of infected people mean the deaths will still be high.

You are requiring teachers to be cannon fodder so you have baby sitters.

They should not have to die for your childcare issues. Yes, I understand the problem is difficult for working parents. Someone else dying is not in the answer.

And PS: numbers of children in ICUs are climbing geometrically. I am guessing that when numbers of them begin to die - and they will - you will find some other solution to your childcare issue.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

16. The answer is to not make school the backstop for working parents.

[beaglelover]

20. +INFINITY

Agree with you so much it's hard to even express it! LOL!

[JanMichael]

21. The US model for using public schools as daycare is patently stupid.

While it is used that way I get the gripe.

That said we should have never started relying on schools to baby sit kids. Oh and what about vacations and summer? What then? Do parents not work for 8 or 9 weeks in the summer?

Maybe better family planning is needed as well.

Lastly while Covid is dominating the in school environment (which it is) I would bet that remote, while it sucks, is better than half manned schools and busses that don't run due to drivers being out.

[kimbutgar]

11. I Substituted Thursday and wore an n95 instead of my usual cloth mask

A lot of my fellow substitutes didn’t come back this year but the kids need to see subs they are used to. I purposely sub at only two schools do the kids are comfortable knowing me when I sub.

But I get it, teachers being apprehensive.

[BigmanPigman]

12. As an elementary school teacher I agree whole heartedly!

This SUCKS!!!!!!!! When I was teaching I was sick 90% of the school year and that was with a flu shot and hand sanitizer on every kid's desk. Teachers are nothing of value as far as districts are concerned. I was so sick from a moldy building that I has to sit up in bed to sleep since I was coughing up so much. I got every weirdo illness possible (almost died from loss of blood due to pneumonia, mono at the age of 44 years old, etc). Even with a new classroom that had windows which I could open we were all getting colds throughout the year. I was told that this is normal and I would build immunity. That never happened after 15+ hears and it forced me to retire early. The school district did NOTHING when I complained and it took an entire class to get sick from the mold for the disrict to finally step up and I had to go to the teachers union for any help at all. The union saved my life, literally. They got health officials into the building and it was condemned and destroyed. It basically all come down to one thing...MONEY!!! Disricts don't give a shit about teachers and rarely about the kids (I am honest). When the kids' parents were pissed off it helped to a degree. They do listen to parents (also a $$$ issue since districts are paid per kid, per day from the state). If a kid is sick, the district loses $$$ from the state. Greedy bastards!

[myohmy2]

14. "...I should get hazard pay."

...as well you should...

...but hazard pay won't do you any good if you or a loved one contracts COVID gets horribly sick or dies...

...what you need is a safe working and teaching environment which ultimately costs money...

...I understand the necessity of getting kids back to in-class learning and parents need for stability but I come down more on the side of you and the CTU...whenever possible we should taylor decisions on working to the local current circumstance...but

...we are all going to have to adjust ourselves, system and lives to ongoing endemic/pandemic diseases while keeping workers as safe as possible in the process...we should follow the science but let everyone in the working environment have a voice in the final decision...

...those who are putting their lives and family's well-being on the line should have the lion's share of the final decision...

...in the meantime do what your gut tells you...

...bless you and be safe...

[XanaDUer2]

17. Public librarians, too

No mask mandate in this county, and library staff are expected to be THISCLOSE to patrons when you help them. Admin doesn't give a shit

[XanaDUer2]

18. Kick nt

[Emile]

19. K&R