Today's Question of the Day
Real damage is being done to our children's development educationally as well as socially. Also at stake are the well being of parents who need to go back to work in order to support their families. The economic recovery from Dr Fauci's pandemic shutdown depends on it. Of course, that might mean something good happening before the coming election.
Enter the teacher's union:
The Teachers Union (another wing of the democratic party) is threatening strikes if schools are reopened and once again demanding more money.
"Shortly after it became official that Becky Pringle would be the next head of the nation’s largest teachers union, she set the tone for her presidency with a tweet that ended like this: “We are ready to turn up that heat.”
In an interview Friday, the National Education Association’s incoming president said that means supporting local strikes or protests over teacher safety in the era of the coronavirus, filing lawsuits to block reopening plans that teachers see as unsafe, and other efforts to put teachers at the center of the national conversation.
“You saw that as our teachers came together in the Red for Ed movement,” Pringle said, referring to the wave of teacher activism in recent years calling for higher teacher pay and more school funding. Some educators went on strike, some didn’t, she noted. “But they were willing to come together as this powerful force and demand the resources their students and their schools needed. That is the kind of energy and power that I want to unleash.”
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2020/8/7/21359386/becky-pringle-new-president-national-education-association-teachers-union
It has stuck me how irresponsible & unreasonable these radical union leaders are, though I know it's entirely political. I'm thinking of the doctors and nurses who have served us throughout this pandemic, along with all the other vital people we count on every day such as our Police and Fire departments. Teachers are vital in the lives of our children, which leads to the all important question: Aren't teachers essential workers?
Article is LOCKED by author/seeder
Tags
Who is online
65 visitors
As essential workers they wouldn't have that right to strike. They wouldn't have the right to abandon the students for political concerns.
Trump and his supporters are off topic
[deleted]
What drought you to the unfounded conclusion that essential workers don't have the right to strike?
That implies that there is NO basis for demanding standards for the safety of students, teachers and other employees and would require ignoring that FACT that Covid 19 is infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day.
In short, it's an obtuse statement.
I think you have time to correct "drought." Do you recall the Air Traffic Controllers strike from the 1980's?
That implies that there is NO basis for demanding standards for the safety of students, teachers and other employees and would require ignoring that FACT that Covid 19 is infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day.
I'm implicitly stating that they are using that as a ruse. They want misery before the election.
Since teachers aren't employed by the Federal government, your example is a false equivalency Vic.
I'm explicitly stating that your posit requires that there be NO basis for their safety concerns. Since any thinking person knows that there ARE cogent safety concerns, your posit fails.
And there are remedies like social distancing. The kids need it and the parents want it to. As usual the teachers union is the obstacle.
Wrong Again - Certain states like New York prohibit teachers from striking
Sound easy doesn't it Vic.
So Minnesota where you live has an average of 24 kids per classroom. Social distancing for that number of kids would require classrooms about 1000 sq. ft. and the standard for Minnesota is about 900. Note that does NOT leave much room for the teacher to social distance from the children.
So you're about 100 sq. ft. short for every single grade school classroom in your state, or 10%. That could mean thousands of kids needing classroom space and MORE teacher.
That's JUST the classroom, there's also getting kids TO school and in and out of their classrooms through narrow halls too. Ya, it can be done in shifts but I think you should be getting the picture that it ain't as easy as you seemed to think.
When given the choice, about 50% of parents vote for virtual learning.
The OBSTACLE is the virus and Trump's failed Administration Vic. The CDC has set ever changing guidelines and benchmarks. They make suggestions when they should be setting standards. No one trust them anymore. Only a few states even meet the devolved CDC benchmarks as they exist today, yet governors are demanding that teacher put their lives on the line for their own political gain.
Well you couldn't have been talking about NY then, could you Vic?
Minnesota???? I live in MA. If you want a model for what can be done try RI.
When given the choice, about 50% of parents vote for virtual learning.
Certainly not working parents. Where is your link? That requires a link!
The OBSTACLE is the virus and Trump's failed Administration Vic.
Oh, there goes your talking points. The teachers union is a radical organization, which needs to be broken up.
Wha? We are talking about opening schools everywhere. Get with it.
Believe me the vast majority of the parents here preferred in person education for their children and they got it.
Why not MA? Got the numbers?
As you and yours love to say so much, do your own research Vic. My numbers are from NYC last month.
I didn't state talking points, I stated facts.
Right Vic, it's radical to want safety measures for students, teachers and other employees during a pandemic.
Every state tries to find a way.
As you and yours love to say so much, do your own research Vic. My numbers are from NYC last month.
That's the biggest lie you ever told. I don't have to be asked. I provide links when I make assertions. I'd say I'm the leader in that category. You don't have a link for your claim, do ya?
I didn't state talking points, I stated facts.
You've never stated a fact going back to when you were backing the McClactchy report and their false story on Cohen being in Prague.
Right Vic, it's radical to want safety measures for students, teachers and other employees during a pandemic.
It's radical to want the American people to suffer until the election.
It looks like you are having an issue following your own thread Vic.
You said:
THEN you said:
So if NY prohibits teachers from striking, their 'radical' teachers union can't possibly cause them to 'abandon the students', CAN they Vic?
Oh and you can't be talking about the majority of other states either since they too are prohibited from striking.
It may behoove you to acknowledge the FACT that many of the states that participated in the Red for Ed movement were ALREADY prohibited from striking.
Do you think that designating them as 'essential workers' will somehow super duper prohibit strikes?
Trump seems to think so since on Aug. 21, he did just that, so you're question is a little late and moot Vic.
Many working parents have been struggling with this matter for MONTHS. I'm just lucky enough that I have a job that I can do from home; therefore, my son is doing all virtual this year and my daughter is starting with virtual or "distance" learning as they're calling it initially, with hope she can finish her senior year in person because of the electives she has and wants to attend. I know plenty of working parents that don't really want to send their kids into school, but don't have much choice in the matter, because they have to go back to work.
Nope, can't believe you since the Redding Schools website clearly states that they are STILL in Phase 2 and only open to at most 50% capacity.
Ain't the internet grand?
You wouldn't violate the CoC by calling me a liar could you Vic?
Where did I ask you for links Vic?
I am only aware of ONE category that you lead in, locking seeds after getting the last word.
Then Trump should resign.
It couldn't really be a violation, since you've called so many liars, so many times!
Where did I ask you for links Vic?
You didn't, I did, remember? You refused!
I am only aware of ONE category that you lead in, locking seeds after getting the last word.
No, that category title belongs to a dear friend of yours.
Then Trump should resign.
Sorry, but do keep hoping. You know "hope & change"
He did not.
He specifically stated that it was the biggest lie you have ever told.
Didn't call you a liar.
Calling out a LIE, as I have successfully done so many time with you, is NOT the same as calling you a LIAR. If you think it is, you should as a moderator to grab some crayons and explain it to you.
I didn't refuse, I told you, my numbers are from NYC last month. Go look them up.
I have no 'dear friends' here Vic. I'm not one to dole out that revered title to people I have never met in person.
I'm working to make sure the Trump's will be resigned to get his ass out of OUR White House.
Yes, it beats 'fear and loathing'.
Unfortunately, THAT isn't even close to the biggest lie HE ever told.
so, even by your own words, he didn't call you a liar.
I can't believe you admitted it!
The level of obtuseness in your comments never disappoints.
You also claim to never having the last word.
Here is yet another one I'm giving you.
Good night all.
I guess they don't consider themselves essential. They can mask up and distance just like everyone else.
One thing is certain...the majority of them don't give a damn about educating our kids....just getting more pay and benefits.
If that's the case, we should offer people the choice. We need better schools and teachers. That's what the student testing did for us. It told us as much about teachers as it did students. We need a complete overhaul of the education system and we especially need to break up the union!
What’s really bad is teachers where they are doing distance learning who are concerned about and even trying to find ways to prevent parents of kids staying home from listening/watching the distance learning sessions for fear that conservative parents might act on what they hear...
Even when they have the kids learning from home, they worry about the parents listening in. We aren't supposed to know they are brainwashing our kids.
"What’s really bad is teachers where they are doing distance learning who are concerned about and even trying to find ways to prevent parents of kids staying home from listening/watching the distance learning sessions for fear that conservative parents might act on what they hear.."
What the huh?
It's a matter of risk calculation. You are asking teachers to increase their risk of dying for the sake of the children of strangers.
Oh - but the risk is small.
How much additional risk should a person be forced to take beyond the risk normally associated with their job?
If we double your risk of a fatal automobile accident driving to work - would you still be OK with it? Three times? Four? The risk is small.
Is there a level of risk you would find unacceptable?
The US had a teacher shortage before the pandemic and it's getting worse with teachers quitting and retiring early because they don't feel that they are being protected.
I don't blame them one bit.
Education (especially science) is one of the most important issues for a society and teachers should be properly supported and paid.
My son and daughter in law are both teachers in Florida. My son has been back in his classroom since Aug 10th, my daughter in law since Aug 24th. The parents were given the choice of virtual or in person in both districts they teach in. My daughter in law has a totally virtual class. My sons largest class at this time has six in person students, the rest of his students tune in virtually. I would conclude that means most of the parents, at least in these 2 districts are choosing to keep their children home at this time.
I see a bit of criticism in some comments about teachers that may be true in some cases but not the majority.
I don’t believe it is fair to criticize a teacher for being concerned about returning to the classroom when I don’t know their situation, whether it be an underlying condition they have, or perhaps someone they live with may have. The schools are over crowded now and there is no realistic way to practice social distancing and I care just as much about them as I do the students and who ever they may be going home too, which in a lot of cases can be their grandparents.
I don’t believe that most teachers only care about money and benefits and do want to educate the kids.
I know that the standardized testing is something the teachers I know are frustrated with not because it shows that the teachers aren’t doing a good job but what it doesn’t show.
For example, my son teaches 11th and 12th graders in OCPS. He teaches a subject that is tested and is expected to obtain a majority passing grade which is understandable correct? Here is the problem with that, the majority of his students are non English speaking. There are no translators in his classroom to help and most of the students have no desire to take the English tutoring that is offered. He spends countless hours trying to come up with different ways to teach and communicate with his students which I am proud to say, seems to work because he has improved the overall history scores at his school each year that he has taught. Not an easy task!
Just my two cents.
Just an interesting tit bit on elementary teacher evaluation. If a teacher develops a reputation as being especially skilled at teaching - math to those with math problems or reading for those with mild reading problems - parents try to get their children into that teacher's class. Administrators will also place students with mild learning problems in that teacher's class. While those students will probably do better with that teacher, their testing performance may be below that of students who do not have those problems.
Guess what happens when that teacher gets compared to the other teachers?
I think I know. That teacher is criticized for not having scores as high as the others?
If I had kids and could afford it, I would hire one of the teachers not working as a home tutor.