K-12 fall plans

[Caracal]

There is no solution that saves those lives while letting the rest of us have good lives in a modern American sense.

Of course there are options. Is there some magic bullet that could fix problems of deindustrialization? No, but there are lots of things that could improve the situation. They would just cost money.

[apl68]

We're now up to over 20 active cases in our county.  I assume that they are largely associated with the schools.

[spork]

Good ProPublica and New Yorker article on the potential educational costs to poor children of closing K-12 schools:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/05/the-students-left-behind-by-remote-learning.

[nebo113]

We're now up to over 20 active cases in our county.  I assume that they are largely associated with the schools.

Our active cases in small rural county is increasing and schools opened yesterday.

[apl68]

The teachers' union in Little Rock has said that they are only going to offer online instruction until further notice:

https://katv.com/news/local/little-rock-teachers-wont-show-up-for-in-person-union-says

[apl68]

Our local schools have found offering in-person instruction five days a week so awkward that they are going to start going online-only on Mondays.


In Little Rock the teachers' union received such negative feedback that they reversed themselves on the refusal to teach in-person.  Now some of the parents are refusing to show up for online classes:


https://katv.com/news/local/lrsd-parents-plan-virtual-blackout-demand-change-for-students-and-teachers

[FishProf]

In Little Rock the teachers' union received such negative feedback that they reversed themselves on the refusal to teach in-person.  Now some of the parents are refusing to show up for online classes:

https://katv.com/news/local/lrsd-parents-plan-virtual-blackout-demand-change-for-students-and-teachers

Wrong link?  That doesn't say what you implied.

[apl68]

In Little Rock the teachers' union received such negative feedback that they reversed themselves on the refusal to teach in-person.  Now some of the parents are refusing to show up for online classes:

https://katv.com/news/local/lrsd-parents-plan-virtual-blackout-demand-change-for-students-and-teachers

Wrong link?  That doesn't say what you implied.

Sorry, that article didn't include the part about the teachers calling off the refusal to hold face-to-face classes:


https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/little-rock/little-rock-teacher-organization-announces-they-will-not-report-to-in-person-classes/91-77cbb42f-be63-491d-9558-c9e0031d1bc4

[FishProf]

OK, that's better.  But above you said

In Little Rock the teachers' union received such negative feedback that they reversed themselves on the refusal to teach in-person. 

The new link you provided said they reversed after 68 of them were disciplined.

"Negative feedback" implies the public (parents) were angry at the strike action.  That isn't what the link you shared says. 

[apl68]

OK, that's better.  But above you said

In Little Rock the teachers' union received such negative feedback that they reversed themselves on the refusal to teach in-person. 

The new link you provided said they reversed after 68 of them were disciplined.

"Negative feedback" implies the public (parents) were angry at the strike action.  That isn't what the link you shared says.

To me, discipline seems like a pretty definite form of "feedback."  I can see how my choice of words was inexact.  Sorry.

[FishProf]

OK, that's better.  But above you said

In Little Rock the teachers' union received such negative feedback that they reversed themselves on the refusal to teach in-person. 

The new link you provided said they reversed after 68 of them were disciplined.

"Negative feedback" implies the public (parents) were angry at the strike action.  That isn't what the link you shared says.

To me, discipline seems like a pretty definite form of "feedback."  I can see how my choice of words was inexact.  Sorry.

I wonder if there will/can be any repercussions of the discipline that was handed down (what ever that was).  In my union, we're told that if we get a direct order that violates the contract, we should do as ordered and then grieve.  "The Contract" isn't a good reason to refuse, and may lead to firing for "insubordination"

I have no idea if that is true, but it is what we've been told.

[polly_mer]

Our local public schools just announced giving up on the hybrid model that had been implemented only this month (and only elementary as the first phase) in favor of every class going back to fully remote until at least MLK day.  This transition back to fully remote is due to a lack of substitute teacher pool who are willing to teach at all, let alone in person, combined with survey results indicating that many faculty and staff were anticipating holiday plans that would require 14-day quarantine.

Community spread here still isn't a problem for most of the criteria on the public health list to close the schools.  The problem is lack of substitutes since we're down to a pool of fewer than 10 people when more than a hundred people is standard and still not always sufficient during flu season.

How's it looking where you are?

[nebo113]

Local school board giving bonuses to keep faculty and staff coming in, so board/admin won't have to make a decision on going all virtual.  School districts in surrounding counties are also in deep kimchi.

[apl68]

As mentioned on the main virus thread, one town in our county has had so many students and teachers in quarantine that they've had to shut down.  The cases and quarantines were spread across all grades.

Still open for the moment in our town.

[ab_grp]

Kids have been remote for most or all of this school year.  Given the situation in our state and county, I honestly would not be surprised if they don't see the inside of a classroom until next school year, if then.  We have been told by the state powers that be (including medical experts) to prepare for another year of this.  I'm not sure if that's true, but it's probably best to take precautions.  Lots of kids apparently have at least one failing grade, unfortunately.  Our daughter seems to be doing pretty well, but they don't seem to have much schoolwork (even less than before).