Well-meaning parents and school boards have been working remotely to determine how to safely reopen schools, but these plans are filled with uncertainty. Many of the changes make schools unrecognizable.
The Coronavirus has involved conflicting information. Now we’re seeing an uptick in cases.
It’s not what anyone wants, but fall doesn’t seem like a good time to reopen schools.
Here’s why:
1. Illness and Russian Roulette
According to the CDC, the risk might seem low for children, but they still get sick, some seriously. Children and teenagers have died. Questions still surround the disease. It’s not worth the risk. Maybe the situation will improve by January, or next summer. Currently we’re experiencing a pandemic and safety is the number one concern.
Some children develop multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), called Kawasaki disease. This can lead to life-threatening problems with the heart and other organs in the body. Every day we learn more about this disease. It doesn’t seem like we know enough to protect children and teachers for a return to school.
2. How Will the Flu and Covid-19 Tango?
Maybe Covid-19 alone doesn’t affect children as badly as adults, but what if you mix it with the flu? Every year the flu kills children. Last January, before Covid-19 became well known, 27 children had died of the flu. What will the dance of these two illnesses look like in the fall?
3. Adults Matter Too!
A large concern with children is that they can spread the disease to teachers, parents, and grandparents who could be vulnerable. It isn’t fair to risk their health by reopening schools. Teachers and staff should not have to fear their workplace.
4. Lacking Consensus
Adults can’t agree on recommendations surrounding Covid-19, so how can teachers protect children brought together in the classroom? Some students will want to wear their masks, others won’t. Some students will take the virus seriously, others won’t.
5. Serious Issues Besides School
Children from low-income families who face hunger, possible abuse, mental health difficulties, and other issues have been hit the hardest during this pandemic. Local communities including religious organizations, social workers, and mental health specialists, along with educators and school officials, are needed to continue to help those struggling.
6. Online Connection for All Students!
School districts should ensure that all students have access to remote learning. Students from low-income households should not feel pressured to return to school because they are not online. Black communities have been the hardest hit with this virus.
7. Students With Disabilities
Students with disabilities need more support during this time. It’s wrong for school districts to shirk their IDEA responsibilities. Teachers and school districts should come up with unique ways to address student needs. Teachers need to be able to connect with students and their parents online.
8. Cost for Safety
The Council of State Chief School Officers estimates that schools will need $245 billion to safely reopen. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander estimated $50 billion for K-12 and colleges and universities. Use the money to help teachers teach remotely, ensure that all students have an online connection, and plan for schools to reopen better later when the virus is contained.
9. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been diverting public school monies to private schools. Who trusts that money will go to public schools for safety? Remove DeVos from her role. She has shown her contempt for public education at a time when students and teachers need federal support more than ever.
10. Social Distancing
Social distancing is necessary, but it creates an unnatural environment for children in school. Bringing children together is a large part of what school is about. How will teachers enforce separation and isolation? How will this affect children long-term?
11. Exposure to Cleaning Products
Disinfectants and strong cleaners will be used to continuously kill the virus on surfaces. Many schools have poor ventilation or classrooms without windows. The fumes from such cleaners could be toxic for students to breath, and harmful if the solution gets on a student’s skin.
12. Masks
Masks are important to protect yourself and others. But is it healthy for a child to wear a mask for a long period of time? How will students with disabilities, or those who rely on facial cues, be able to adequately communicate?
13. Lunch and the Cafeteria
If you’re a Covid-19 carrier you may wear your mask all day only to spread the disease when you take it off to eat lunch.
14. School’s Scary!
Parents can help contain a child’s fears about the virus at home. But a dystopian school environment with scary rules and strict protocols could be a nightmare for a child. How will young learners react? So much of their learning is about play and socialization. What if a child carries the disease home to their grandpa, or believes they do? How will they feel?
15. Mental Health
Many schools lack counselors. They lack nurses too! Teachers are not prepared or equipped to be nonstop mental health providers.
16. Immunity
What will the effects be of children spending so much time in a sterile environment? Will they still build immunity for other diseases?
17. Handwashing
With this disease it’s necessary to wash your hands well. How much psychological harm will be done, and time spent, making children repeatedly wash their hands in school? How much time will this take?
18. School Restrooms
Much concern and conflicting information exist about the spread of Covid-19 in public restrooms. School bathroom conditions have always been a source of concern. Using the restroom at school should not be dangerous.
19. Teacher Qualifications
There are not enough teachers for smaller classes for social distancing. Experienced older teachers may not want to get sick. Will schools hire a glut of teachers without qualifications?
20. Playgrounds
Outside is safer, but recess and outdoor activities mean children will come in contact with each other. How do children play if they can’t use balls, jump ropes, and toys? How do they avoid the swing set and other outdoor equipment? Many community playgrounds remain closed. Why would school playgrounds be safer?
21. Accountability
How legally protected are school districts if a student or teacher catches Covid-19? What protections exist for teachers and schools?
22. Transportation
Students are close together in school buses even if they’re socially distancing. Transporting a small number of students is not cost-efficient.
23. School Infrastructure
Many schools have poor ventilation systems. Many classrooms have windows that don’t open, or they have no windows. Most schools keep classroom doors shut for safety.
24. Teachers
Teachers are being asked to risk their lives in the classroom. Some are writing their wills. There might not be enough teachers. Nor will anyone want to sub for a teacher who gets sick. No teacher should be fired for refusing to return to work.
25. Schools Open and Close
If schools open and someone gets sick they will close again.
26. Tweens and Teens Spread the Disease
It’s reported that a new study out of South Korea shows that middle and high school students spread the coronavirus as much as adults.
27. Betsy DeVos Says that All Schools Must Reopen
Betsy DeVos has never been a friend to public schools and teachers. She says all schools must reopen. Here she is being interviewed by Dana Bash on CNN.
28. Will Serious Cases of Covid-19 in Children Go Up if Children Return to School?
Some wonder if the cases of Covid-19 in children are lower because they have not been in school. Will the country see a spike in illness if children return to the classroom?
29. Teachers are Retiring Early
Teachers are retiring early because they fear being exposed to the virus. Forcing teachers into early retirement means schools will have fewer teachers when schools come back safely. Without real teachers, students will fall behind, hampering their ability to attend college or prepare for their future careers.
30. Teacher Blame
There are those who criticize teachers for not wanting to return to school for fear of the virus. These individuals will likely blame teachers if schools reopen and students get sick. Teachers must remain calmly focused on the safety of their students and themselves.
31. Nurses Shortage
Schools had a problem with a shortage of nurses before Covid-19. Now nurses are needed in schools more than ever, but most schools do not have enough nurses. It’s reported that 25 percent of schools in the United States don’t have a school nurse and another 35 percent have a part-time school nurse.
32. Outdoor Learning
This is a nice idea but faces implementation problems. How do school districts find space and deal weather? Children will still need to wear masks and practice social distancing. Most who are Covid-19 conscientious stay away from each other when out and about.
______
Instead of Reopening Now…
This disease is too bizarre and there are still too many unknowns for Americans to risk their children’s health by placing them in school. It isn’t worth it, especially when schools are a shell of what they should be.
While I’m not for technology to replace teachers, teachers teaching remotely is different. Funding at this time should go towards ensuring that all students have efficient online access to their teachers and schools in the fall. Students are not going to become zombies if they miss school for a little longer. The economy is not going to fail if children miss some school.
Religious organizations, local support groups, and school officials and teachers should find ways to assist parents with child daycare if parents are essential workers. Maybe small groups of children can meet in safe surroundings.
School boards, parents, and educators might use this time to reconsider the educational needs of students in their local communities.
This is an unprecedented time. This crisis can be used for good, for Americans to come together to rethink and bolster the nation’s public school system. Children are resilient. They will catch up when they return to better, brighter, and safer schools in the near future.
Feel free to email me your ideas about Covid-19 and schools or comment below. Feel free to disagree. I understand this is a heated topic. Just please be polite.
Reference
American Academy of Pediatrics. “COVID-19 Planning Considerations: Guidance for School Re-entry”
Amen to all of this. On a whole, we have shown, as a nation, that we don’t have what it takes to effectively fight this virus. We have made all the wrong decisions, so I have ZERO faith that we will do right when it comes to school. I wanted so desperately for my rising 9th grader to start HS in person. But…. looks like we’ll have to go a different direction.
Thanks for your comment, Veronica!
ThIs is awesome I’m a parent of a 10 grader and I’d rather my child stay on remote learning and be safe than trying to attend school at this scary time of the year. I’m also a school bus driver and I know for a fact there is no I way we the driver will be able to maintain the kids safety on the bus.
Agree kids should not return to school
Nope they should not!
I also agree with you
I agree with you sarah*
Instead of spending tons of money trying to reopen schools during pandemic money should go to improving online public education systems and learning channels .
I believe this is the right thing to do at this time, even though it worries those of us who are worried about screens replacing teachers. Thanks, Ray.
let me stop you there, why would you put “tons” of money into online schooling when the majority of students go to public school when we are not in the middle of a pandemic. you probably don’t know what it feels like for students right now, and as a student, I will say that it is very stressful and hard on my mental health. if we went back to school it would be less stressful and better on our mental health. and before you go and say “well you will catch covid” catching covid is like eating raw cookie dough we know the risk now let us live our lives.
You living your life by eating cookie dough only affects you. Putting people in large groups indoors during an airborne and deadly virus affects everyone. This isn’t about you—it’s about public health. As a student, your primary job in school is to learn to be a good and productive citizen. You have no idea how much harder it is for teachers to do their jobs online—nobody would choose to do this as some sort of easy way out. But the responsibility for public health is on the public of which you are a part. It would behoove you to stop behaving as if you are the only one suffering.
u r right grace im michael and as also a student i agree with u we student need a life all of this is soooooooooooooo stressful
Well you will catch covid and you don’t want to die, do you? I’m a student as well and staying home is safer then going to school.
Thanks for your comments, Sara.
Extremely selfish comment. COVID 19 was not planted as some direct curse towards students. COVID 19 has changed everyone globally. The mental anguish has impacted many in all aspects of lives. The younger race is by far more resilient and are much more adaptable to change. As students, you are learners. This is a learning transition. This isn’t a time to only think of yourself. In order for you to return to in-person learning, there will have to be another person teaching. And many other persons tracking, feeding, overseeing, driving, managing, reporting, counseling, coaching, encouraging, and waiting. Those lives are important to achieve the desired goal. But should they become infected and fall ill or die, in person learning will change drastically. Until this is better understood and until we are able to protect all lives and all ages, race and genders, the in person schools need to stay closed. Putting resources into the virtual education experience is inoperative at this time. Learning how to manage stress needs to be a part of this learning setting. Its very new to everyone And its doable and can be successfully we embrace this time selflessly and not selfish. This is the first step to returning to in-person learning, embrace the now be part of this historical change and support the reason for a better and safer tomorrow.
Well stated. Thank you.
As a grandmother sitting with my 6 year old grandchild struggling with on line learning I find this article extremely disturbing. First it sounds very political with the criticism of Betsy DeVos and the comment about private schools. It seems that private schools can get their act together much better than public schools. If I can go into a Walmart or grocery store and see crowds of people standing in line or restaurants open with people seated without masks – KIDS SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL. I spoke to two teachers in our school district and they both said this is purely a teachers union issue. Unbelievable!
There have been Covid-19 cases in private schools too. DeVos, with V.P. Pence, visited Thales Academy in North Carolina. A few days later its sister school had to quarantine fourth graders and teachers for 14-days after an asymptomatic student tested positive for the coronavirus. The school still didn’t take the virus seriously.
You’re blaming schools and the teachers’ union when the problem is with the disease. Teachers feel responsible for their students. If your grandchild goes to school and comes down with Covid-19, who will you blame? DeVos has little understanding of what it means to be a teacher, or the responsibilities teachers have as teachers. She was never a teacher. She should never have been placed in the position she is in.
No, the real problem is the teacher union. Also, you used a statistic from South Korea there is no way that that is creditable also we live in the U.S. the stats are completely different as a student I am struggling to learn doing online school. it would be so much better doing school in person. Also, kids and teens cannot die from the virus if you are that worried wear a mask if you want, wash your hand more often take your own precautions, but why hurt the next generations learning when they aren’t even the ones at risk from dying.
You are a selfish person. End of story.
No, private schools aren’t doing a better job. You complain about it being political, yet your response was littered with ra-ras for the most unqualified person to be running the Federal DOE and basically equating shopping at a store with a teaching/learning atmosphere while blaming unions? If anyone is being political, it’s you. Yours couldn’t be a more offensive and highly political response.
Hello Lisa, I find your comments clearly of a person with very low maturity and unable to adjust to adversity. When you go to Walmart as an adult, you can choose the time of the day with less crowds, you can choose to clean your hands often, shop quickly, wear masks, all the measures an intelligent person can follow to protect themselves. When you open the schools, you force people into a dangerous situation, since they don’t have a choice to be exposed to children that cannot easily maintain a mask on their faces, social distancing, talkiing, coughing. The reason you want the schools open is not for your child, it is to apeace your frustration with online learning. When you open schools, you force people to be exposed, children, teachers, personnel. This is not political, this is a fact. When people are exposed in groups they spread the virus easily and endanger people’s lives. Opening schools is not an option. If the schools opens, you could easily get sick, which would terminate your ability to care for your grandchildren for a long time or forever. You have since March to designed a plan for your grandchildren. Most people chose to ignore it and expect the gov official to parent our children and “dream” the pandemic would go away. Well, history does not work like this. This will be the survival of the fittest, as always. If you are not strong enough too improvise, create, and face adversity, you will collapse. It is not political, it is an ugly truth. I hope you find solutions and stop thinking that officials need to parent your children and open the schools to fulfill your frustration. People have the right to live and not to get sick. That is the main concern, LIFE and WELLNESS for Americans, no more casualties.
Correct and very well said!
Respectfully Lisa J, I agree to disagree…whereas I do not believe political preferences should be the catalyst for this highly debatable topic, the sad reality is this – Some superintendents are being threatened with termination should they not comply with schools re-opening- based on prioritizing safety for all.
Two teachers do not capture the enormous scale of perspectives to be taken into consideration – only implicit bias presents.
As a closing caveat to your perception of comparisons – settings/situations/schools…the fact remains those who chose not to comply with the premise of ‘safety for all’ (masks/social distancing/hand washing) are not patriots as they posture – merely irresponsible individuals who are self-serving rather than embracing personal responsibility.
Health/Wellness and Peace to you
Well stated. I absolutely agree! This is all true.
It is also unbelievable that there are those who still argue against masks and the other simple safety precautions.
Listen to The Dude. Thank you.
Lisa,
I agree with you and you are not being selfish, your concern is for your family and all the children who are paying the price for political fear mongering. If teachers are willing to go to public places in crowds, then they can teach. It is exactly the same thing. And, they are far more at risk from each other than from children who do not seem to spread.
And Glory, children can die from it but my intensive research has indicated that all but one child death has also been combined with at least 2 comorbidities.. Also, it is coming to light that for some reason (probably the their enhanced mmune systems,) that children are unlikely to get very sick from it, although an extremely low number do. That number is still lower than the number of kids that get very sick or die from the seasonal flu (also mainly kids with other illnesses, as is also true with adults) In fact, seasonal flu is more deadly for children than Covid 19 and we don’t close schools for that, so WHO is selfish?
Whats more, children do not seem to pass this disease to adults. It may have happened, but virus tracing has confirmed that it is extremely rare if at all. The number of people who die from complications (usually due to commorbidites) of the season flu is not much lower than Covid. 19. There is obviously a lot of political hype around this issue. Something else is going on but that is for another post. My belief is that children with serious illnesses should be kept home and probably should always take special care or homeschool, otherwise, most kids should be back in school.
The burden of staying home is extremely high for many, Increased suicide, child abuse, sexual child abuse, drug use. neglect..etc. (parents are also struggling and having mental breakdowns)
Read the statistics on that and tell me healthy kids should not be in school.
Also, teachers who are afraid to teach can stay home and teach online. There will be more students who need that service. And elderly and otherwise sick teachers should also not be required to work.
Years of covert research by the CIA proved that if you want to “break” someone, social isolation is more effective than torture.
This blog post is from the start of the pandemic. Not today. Public schools are open now. Let’s move on.
Scared ,scared little “sheeple” . I am watching 3 high school students learn nothing for the last year. Remote learning is a bad joke. Science does not support school age kids as carriers of covid. The greater future is doomed because of liberal fear mongering.
I’m sorry for your high school students, and all students for that matter, and I understand why you and they might not like remote learning. But there are some studies that would disagree about children being carriers. Here’s one https://www.princeton.edu/news/2020/09/30/largest-covid-19-contact-tracing-study-date-finds-children-key-spread-evidence. Students also can get sick and have after-effects.
Let’s hope everyone gets vaccinated and we can say good-bye to Covid. It looks like we’re on that road….
Well John I am sorry you don’t have well founded knowledge and have to resort to insults and progaganda. Realistically speaking, we all know that conservatives do not really value education, as well establish by your message, so whether schools are open or not will not make any difference in your life. Children have the ability to catch up. This article was very well predicting on 2020.As we found out, we spent 2 years trying to pretend that there was not pandemic and opening the schools to have kids sick, some with long covid sequalae, and unfortunately many died. So the fact that you, conservatives, were so “brave” lead many of you to your grave. Ignoring a deadly disease and not having a plan to prevent death or damage is what makes conservatives so weak. “If we ignore it, it does not exist”, this is so feeble modo. This is little childlike thinking with very cognitive develpment. The reason for your anger is because you are clearly unable to find a solution to a problem, so you can only think that it is made up. Sadly, at the time of your ignorant message you did not know how many of you would perish to your simplitic thinking, Herman Cain, Marcus Lamb, Marc Bernier, Phil Valentine, Bob Enyart, Dick Farrel, Jimmy DeYoung Sr. all conservative propagandists, all dead. Unfortunately this conservative propaganda has killed many people like you. Who knows, since your message is a year old, you might be dead, as well. I hope not. If you were so concerned about education more than really getting rid of your kids during school hours, you would have known how bad education was way before the pandemic. I wonder if you knew the politics behind the standards testing, how often did you check on the content on these tests, did you ever spoke to any administrators intelligently about why kids don’t do well in these tests, just to mention one of the lovely problems with our education. Did you even try to see if your kids even knew simple material, such as subject, predicate of a sentence, the mountains of the US. Etc. Well I have, and before the pandemic it was alarming what education was, as our wonderful author Nancy Bailey does a great job, and provides incredible research and information on how education is navigating. Not attending fully to school should not be that much of a concern for 2 years. The big picture is much much problematic, but you would not know since your brain is already maxed out with conservative propaganda and you would not understand anyway, as far as your kids are out of your hair for a few hours in school, you are good. And your lack of critical thinking is was is wrong and how the powerful is taking over our lifes and Nancy so diligently puts our information about how our education is being sold!!!! Shameful. So unfortunately, with your mind, your future has being doomed for a long time. Now you know you were wrong by saying that science, which you know nothing about, did not support children being carriers. Please get a real book once in a while!!!
Well said! I’m worried about whether there’ll be another wave. There will be those who just won’t be able to take it.
Thank you for your strong words, Monica. You make a lot of sense. I also appreciate the compliment very much.
You are very welcome Nancy!!!. And yes your work to bring attention to education is remarkable. I really admire your strength and commitment to uncovering the truth on the way education is being handled or other horrifying truths about it. THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH. Your articles help me envision how I want to guide my children’s education and what I should do about it. Knowledge is power!! Yes I agree, I believe there will be another wave. Unfortunately, we know that the more we allowe this virus to infect people the more it mutates. ALL the countries are choosing to trivialize this and make it look harmless, for the sake of moving economies. This is scary and it might cost us. I hope new vaccines and medications will arrive soon, such as NOVAVAX, plus other national vaccines being developed by individual countries around the world. Science on this virus is also advancing, and the time will come when it will get in front of it, but not yet, unfortunately. Kind Regards.
Thank you again, Monica. I can’t help but appreciate such a compliment, and your ideas and thoughts about Covid and schools. Stay safe. And keep commenting!
What a confusing time and what a difficult problem! You are right about all these concerns. However, the reality of remote teaching and learning is that even if all students are connected, all students do not show up. Not by a long shot. There are various reasons.
I am a kindergarten teacher in a low income district where chrome books were provided to each student, Wi-Fi capability included. Sometimes technology was iffy and kids could not log on. In other cases a single mom working with four children just could not prioritize her children in lower grades. Some Parents do not believe in online learning for their kids. (I provided hardcopies) Even with hardcopies mailed home, results were not great.. (Families were asked to take photos of the child’s completed work every few days.) In other cases the child has behavioral challenges and simply won’t do the work. And in a few cases, no matter what anyone did from the school, no work was turned in.
My school had teams of attendance counselors, social workers, child study team members, Administrators and our technical team providing support: calling homes to do safety checks, troubleshoot with technology, provide counseling sessions, checking in to see how we can help, encouraging Students to do their work, Just calling to say hi and let the child and parents know “we are here and we care about you.”
The results? About half of my 22 students showed up consistently. The rest was a big mixed bag. Some only showed up for the last 4-6 weeks, others a handful of times and others not at all. (Our team made sure all were safe and accounted for.)
I am not necessarily pushing to go back to school in September – I don’t know WHAT we should do! We are grappling with a very difficult – unprecedented- challenge. But it is important to have all the facts and know that even when the technology problem was solved, distance-learning doesn’t work.
I think the pandemic has exposed the fact that poor kids don’t have access to online instruction, or they have it and don’t understand how to use it. I get that.
Your comment is an excellent picture of that problem. You and your school district sound like you took on the challenge the best way possible.
I’m not a huge fan of online instruction either.
My concern however is that these are the children who will return to school, and the virus has hit their communities the hardest.
Perhaps a partial answer is to continue pushing for better use of technology and providing packets of learning materials to families. Sending them in the mail might work. Or might their be guarded home visits like standing at the end of the driveway and discussing lessons?
Children will have to play catch up when schools return.
It isn’t perfect. But these are strange times. I don’t have the answers. But thanks for being on the frontline, Phyllis, and sharing your concerns. It will be helpful for others to read.
I teach 5th grade in a low income area as well. Towards the last two weeks of school I had about 1/4 of my students still working online. All had access to private or school provided chrome books. One did packets. The problem was the same for our school. Parents were working and couldn’t always help or make sure their child was on line. Believe it or not, some kids LIED and told their parents that they had done their work. Some would click done but didn’t DO anything. Parents would get upset because they think their child did the work.
We also called, emailed, sent letters via USPO. I also do not want to get exposed to this pandemic. I have asthma, and a child at home who is very high risk. I’m not sure what should be done but can tell you the school, and the district did everything within their power to help and check up on our students. When you say that we should help with daycare, how exactly do you see that happening? Teaching is a full time job and I still have a family to take care of after I’ve given my contract hours, plus two extra, on a normal day. I cannot tell you how stressed not knowing what we will be expected to do, above and beyond what we already do, has made me feel. Teaching my students gives me purpose and is my passion. I want to do it correctly.
My preference is to be in the room with my students. That is how I determine if they understand a concept and keep them focused on the learning target. I read their body language when teaching to see how they feel about a concept. Online, they can be backlighted and you cannot see them well, or they don’t turn on their camera. Also, sometimes little brother or sister jump in and try to say hi and interrupt. Then you have a parent yelling at other kids or on a work call near by that interrupts instruction! You tell them to turn off their mics but some still turn them back on. It is not the best way to teach younger children unless a parent can be close by and make sure students are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing.
The restrictions that the CDC wants in classrooms is ridiculous. How do we keep all of those kids away from each other. Do you know how many times a week I give a student a tissue because they pick their noses? At least twice. My students also share supplies. My supply money for all 32 students is $250 for the year. I already turned in the order for paper, pencils, expo markers, binders, glue sticks, highlighters, staples, etc. I don’t have any left for tissues, sanitizer, wipes, etc.
Can you imagine little ones keeping themselves to themselves? Just think of your own children or your neighbors. They do not always follow directions the first time, second, third, . . . You get the drift. Teachers generally use the first 3 to 4 weeks helping students learn and practice routines and procedures. Then we constantly reinforce them. Maybe we should move the school year back and plan to teach over a summer? It might be best for all concerned.
I so agree with you. I teach in an urban setting. Staff returns Aug 4, and Students Aug 17. Delay the start and at least go through June.
I am also an elementary teacher and I would like to emphasize that some kids just did not participate in distance learning. With parents working either on or out if the home, and the teacher not in the room to keep them on task, some students just didn’t complete assignments. And these were kids with no underlying issues of any kind.
I certainly agree that it is a mess. I’m not keen on nonstop online learning. Some might weigh the risks and think is fine to return to school. Others think some states might be safer. My point is that the virus is not under control yet and I don’t think it is safe to return to school.
Much of this is due to parents being forced to work at home or not al all.
Please read my comment Im a student at Horace Mann Middle School in Miami-Dade Florida my name is Ismael Rivera i think school should honestly reopen. This online school thing is very difficult sometimes the connection between our classmates and teachers be acting up. it will be way better for us to go back to school because we can participate in after school activities and we really stay focus at school because in online us students cant focus and staying home all day is very boring seeing our friends and teachers face to face will be way better for us and i will do whatever i can for school to reopen.
While I appreciate your passion for school, Ismael, I think you disregard the dangers of the virus. Most of us want school to reopen, but it must be done safely, and that’s the difficult part.
Doesn’t seem like a good reason to risk our lives. Kids can catch up., but if some of us die there is no recovery.
I wonder why no one else brings this up? This is LIFE and DEATH.
To everyone who thinks that ANYTHING is more important than the lives of CHILDREN… who raised you?
Imagine a child alone in a hospital. Dying alone in a hospital. Hooked up to a ventilator.
Now let’s talk about how inconvenient social distancing is and why it’s so silly to try.
The disregard for the sacredness of life in this country is a WAY worse disease than COVID19.
EXACTLY!
kids cant die from the virus only people who have preexisting conditions and given if you get it you have a 97% chance of recovering from it there is a higher chance you will get in a fatal car crash of struck by lightning te die from the virus.
Actually that is not nessesarily true I know a couple of kids who have passed from Covid-19 and I am 11 years old.
I am sorry for your loss, Kemet. Thank you for making your point. You sound very knowledgeable. Continue to stay well.
Parents are responsible for the lives they bring into this world. It is up to the parents to hold their children accountable for assignments being completed. Learning remotely will not kill your child. Parent up and tutor your kids. If you need help learn with them!
How exactly do I “parent up” when my husband works outside the home full time and I am working from home in a full time capacity? Those 3 months where I worked remote and taught kids were extremely taxing on all of us. I can’t do it again. I need to keep my job to support my family. I agree learning remotely wont kill them but for early elementary kids it sure stunts them. Not to mention the mental health issues that have come up. I would love to be able to sit with my kids and “learn with them” its just not in the cards for my family. Not all families can stay home and teach their kids.
It is a difficult situation. No one disagrees. But it is the virus that’s the culprit. It doesn’t care what you or I think or that we have difficulties changing our routines. We still have to do what is safest for students. Perhaps you can connect with other parents who work and form small learning groups. It would be nice if schools opened for only students whose parents had to work.
Really what this shows is that, even though severely underfunded, schools and the staff inside them have been doing far more than just serving as institutions of learning. It reflects a severe problem nationwide that, what we should be doing instead of trying to figure out an acceptable risk-reward for sending our children and the staff into a potentially deadly situation, is be focusing our energies as a nation and as individual communities into finding ALTERNATIVE solutions to the status quo. Status Quo is dead. Move on and stop wasting energy on how to go back to it anytime soon. There should be a shift in resources immediately into cyber-learning and how to support families with childcare issues.
I appreciate your comment, April, and I agree with finding alternative solutions. I’m not sure what you mean by your reference to the status quo. I think for now, we need to focus on something different than what has been school, for safety reasons. But I hope, as do many others, that one of these days schools will return.
I completely agree with everything you have shared here, Phyllis. I teach middle school students and I agree that the online learning was not ideal. No amount of online can replace teachers and no matter how much of an effort we (teachers, counselors, admin) made to connect with our kids and set expectations for online, we had a high number who did not complete work for the reasons you named above. What I am struggling to understand is that in my small town of 100 k people in Texas, our covid numbers have continued climbing rapidly yet, we are set to be back on campus in three weeks! Why are we not delaying start until our numbers stabilize or better -decrease before reopening?! Lawmakers and upper district officials are pushing for normal start time, I assume this is due to funding needs that have been threatened if we do not open. Parents will have the option to choose online or in class for their child, but there is a big push to have as many as possible return in person. I literally crack up every time I hear CDC director say that if we keep kids social distancing and wearing masks we should be safe. I want to ask him to explain to me how he proposes we keep kids 6 feet apart in already overcrowded classrooms! I want to get back to normal and see students back in class as much as anyone, but not at the risk of health of our students and community. I do foresee outbreaks on campuses and several possible start/stops from in person to online. It will be rocky at best so if that is the case, I do hope standardized testing is waived and we can focus on the day- to- day struggle to help kids succeed as best as we can under the circumstances. Seems there are no clear answers and as a teacher, that does not sit well.
I say self led learning is the future. If there are other reasons for the concept of school to reopen then we should look for alternatives that will help those families with problems about who will take care of my child or that don’t have a clue about technology. As a teacher in a small private school in Puerto Rico, my concerns are that we’ll be breathing in all the chemicals we’ll have to use to keep our classrooms disinfected, that the smaller children won’t be able to keep their masks on, will share them, remove them when they sneeze for example, the problems that will come from not breathing freely, and how my school basically doesn’t breathe because it has almost no windows so everything from COVID-19 to the sprays etc used will remain in that space. Also teachers have families and are struggling between their own health and well-being and teaching. We may need to have more social workers doing home visits, and maybe finding ways for people to care for a few children in an open space like is mentioned above, but just a few, just in case there is an infected person but putting that whole population together for several hours and days a week certainly won’t help with the fight against COVID-19. ????
Students still need teachers. I agree about finding alternatives and your concerns about disinfectants. Your comment makes great sense, Jeannette. Adding more social workers to visit homes is a good idea. They can practice social distancing during home visits. I like the idea of small groups of children too. It is more manageable. Thank you, and stay well there in Puerto Rico!
COVID19, has defiantly showed us that parents are not responsible for there children and that the education system is in place as a means of welfare checks on children and daycare providers for parents.
Distance learning will only be a temporary inconvenience. The whole process is new for the learners and most teachers. Parents also have a key roll in this. Parent must be responsible enough to over see their child’s attendance. Employers also need to be flexible and understanding here. Its should not be more pressure thats placed on parents who have to now activity insure their children are engaging with online education.
The structure needs to offer a recess or game time. Something to get the kids, all ages involved with each other for at least. 30 min per day. This game time should have a challenge and there should be a goal. By not letting the students who master or win at these games until, lets say, after 2nd period the next day, will increase the likelihood of attendance. Also, parents need to have access to join any online class observing only. This would give parents a better understanding to the online learning system. It also allows the parent to actively be present and take part in their child’s education. This would also help out the teachers.
There aren’t any excuses especially now for parents to not be part of the solution. This is a global crisis not personal and we can overcome these challenges together. Those who fail will have failed because they couldn’t get out of the “self” box or were doomed to complain about the situation as though it was only happening to them.
This is the real tragedy!
This is a well thought out answer, and the game idea is intriguing. It reminds me of my former students with learning disabilities who took on challenging work knowing they would be able to play chess at the end of class and possibly on Fridays. Your note of parent involvement is well-taken as well.
The only disagreement I have is the idea that parents aren’t responsible for their children. Of course, those parents do exist, but most parents, especially during this unprecedented time, are trying their best. Many have lost jobs and are trying to juggle a lot. It is understandable that they need to work and find childcare in order to stay afloat. Not saying schools should stay open for that reason. But on one hand, the city leaves their place of employment open but the school is closed. What do they do? So on that point, we disagree. It’s a dilemma.
But thank you for your thoughtful responses.
I have taught 29 years. I am a single parent. I am terrified that I or my children will bring it home. I have an underlying health condition. If I end up on the hospital on a vent who will take care of my kids? Closest family is 900 miles away. There are no state plans in place for teachers at risk. 60% of our staff is either over 60 or has health issues. I guarantee once schools open there will be needless deaths. Is it worth it? At what cost? Are we as teachers human sacrifices as well as our students? This is a scary time we’re living in. My job is not worth disability or death.
You should not have to fear your workplace, Ellen. I hope this is resolved for your sake.
Dear Nancy,
Anyone who is fearful should do more research. Masks aren’t healthy, isolation isn’t healthy, and there are medicines to treat patients who are symtomatic. We know a lot more about the virus and treatments. Cases ending in ventelators and deaths have declined significantly. One of your reader’s comments said “kids can catch up” is obviously not a teacher.
What is your expertise to making these claims. Also, as a teacher I know that children can catch up.
With respect;
Schools should be open. Teachers should be there. The data is overwhelming. Here’s some evidence. I can provide much, much more, if you’d like…
An economist who collected coronavirus data from 841 childcare centers explains how parents should decide whether to send kids back to school
Oster collected data from 841 US childcare centers.
Of more than 20,000 students, there were 44 reported cases of COVID-19. That’s 0.22%. Among more than 7,000 staff members, there were 86 confirmed cases. That’s 1.2%.
In other words, 99.8% of students and 98.8% of teachers did NOT become infected.
What evidence do you have that you shouldn’t be in school?
I’d like to see the citation if you have it handy. I disagree that the data is overwhelming in favor of opening schools. There’s new information coming out about this virus everyday. First, they said children couldn’t spread it. Next we hear they can spread it. That’s just one example. But thanks for your comment, Viv.
Hundreds of children and counselors have contracted it from camps in Georgia, Texas, Missouri, and a Christian Camp as well…..Most other children have been isolated so we do not know.
When I hear concerns of kids falling behind I am truly baffled. Catch up to what? The newspaper is written on a 5th grade reading level. Most state testing is based on 80% of the information from previous school years. Additionally because ALL students are in this situation that means they will ALL be in similar circumstances. It isn’t worth one single life. Not one.
Amen!
My son has an IEP and remote learning is hard for him but I rather struggle with him than send him to school
Hello, I was a special education teacher for 29 years. Beside the obvious difficulties this population will face and is facing with this situation, I can’t begin to imagine how to write a legal, fair, and realistic IEP for these students. I think it could be a legal nightmare getting ready to explode.
When I think about my students, sure some could deal with this situation like little troopers. But for many, I’m afraid, this will spell frustration and disaster. I do think school districts need to reopen but more thought is needed regarding the day to day difficulties for students, including those with special needs. Schools are rushing to create an acceptable plan for reopening within weeks. Once open, the hard details of day to day education will again fall solely on individual teachers who will be pushing the limits to get the nearly impossible job done.
Yes, reopen but give it another month, a month of proper staff development and support so schools and their staffs have the time to truly address and resolve and plan adequately for the type of year they and their students will be facing.
I disagree about reopening, but I understand your points. And school districts if they are going to reopen certainly need more time to figure out how to do it safely. Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Stay well.
It is such a difficult choice, either way. I know of parents in my neighborhood who say that their grade school children were getting reams of worksheets to fill out at home, and parents have to devote huge amounts of time to helping them get organzied, just as a classroom teacher would. If a parent works full time, that means parents have a second job at night, helping their kids. Plus, the children resent the tedious use of worksheets..
I have a three year old granddaughter who is at the age where socializing with other children is so very important. And what do parents do, where both work full time and cannot be home supervising?
This is defiinitely choosing between a rock and a hard place.
Thanks, Adele. It’s a huge problem. And learning at home is inconvenient and for some families not an option. Parents who work need a plan for safe daycare.
But schools are being remade in such strange ways to address the virus so that young children will not be socializing. They cannot be near each other or share toys, etc.
If there’s so much danger I don’t think it’s worth it.
You mentioned communities coming together to provide daycare for little ones. What specifically do you think would be a reasonable option for families with little ones needing care? Personally I am opting not to send my daughter to public kinder but I run a home based preschool which I plan to keep operating.
I know that some parents are unable to stay home, so a smaller setting with safety precautions would seem to be the next best thing to home.
Thank You! These are exactly the things I have been trying to tell my community.
Thank you for your comment, Dawn.
im so scared of going back i have asthma and a 60-year-old dad. I’m sure that kids will try to cheat the system outside of school because they think its a hoax. Opening schools is a jump start to a second giant wave of cases which will make the mortality rate higher for children.
I’m so sorry, Shealyn. I don’t blame you. I hope that you can manage to stay safe. This administration is putting so many at risk. Is there a way you can join other teachers and the union to reject your district’s reopening plans? There’s always power in numbers. Take care.
Amen sister. I was forced to resign because the district would not give me an involuntary leave. They would not accept my situation of living with my wife with Asthma and having my wife’s 82 year old mother living with us.
Best of luck to you. So sorry.
Thank you for sharing, Don. Everyone seems to have personal situations that make working during Covid-19 dangerous. No teacher should be forced to resign at this time.
What about teachers like myself with children, especially small children? How do we effectively teach at home and also make sure our own kids are getting an education????
That’s tough, Jared. I’m not dismissing the fact that having children at home and teaching remotely is easy.
But it’s my opinion that the school environment is not safe to return to at this time.
Is there someone you can reach out to at your school or in your school district to get support?
I am over 60 and a teacher and can’t wait to get back in the classroom. I have gone out to places with large gathering and let me tell you places are so clean now I don’t mind going out. Wear a mask and keep washing your hands. This is the healthiest I have been in many years. No flu or cold.
Yes to all! Also
23. This so-called “blended” learning concept will lead to half-assed-ness. If the decision was made NOW to stay safe and learn remotely, the planning could be focused ON THAT (the teaching and learning, and making it work!) rather than focusing on cleanliness and distancing.
I agree and find myself saying half-assed a lot. Thanks, Rachel!
I think the more remote learning is used, the more parents and students will appreciate their schools. But it is a decent temporary solution to keep kids safe..
I fear if schools come back slipshod and students get sick, parents might be more willing to go the virtual route for good.
Maybe I think too much.
Excellent post.
I would add to #12 – face shields would work better in classrooms. Students and teachers could see and hear each other. Breathing issues with mask would be decreased. Less social anxiety.with the face shield.
Thank you!
Has it been shown that shields are as effective? I’m thinking they are not, from my haphazard reading?
However, shields are not very effective alone. They are designed to work in conjunction with a mask.
I totally agree to use face shields.
But I think they’re supposed to be used with masks.
I could almost argue every point the other way. I want my kids in school. It’s not going to be perfect but the solution is creating options so each family can do what’s best for them. We are a 2 working parent household. Homeschooling is not an option for us.
I agree! Especially #7!
I understand the difficulties have been enormous, especially with families with children who have disabilities. You’ve gotten little help from the U.S. DOE, but we’re talking about a virus here. How can options include school when children and adults can get sick?
When I hear concerns of kids falling behind I am truly baffled. Catch up to what? The newspaper is written on a 5th grade reading level. Most state testing is based on 80% of the information from previous school years. Additionally because ALL students are in this situation that means they will ALL be in similar circumstances. It isn’t worth one single life. Not one.
Parents that demand their kids go to school because it makes their lives easier seem very selfish. I’m not denying the very real issues but you can’t demand someone risk their lives and those of their family and friends for convenience sakes is unfair. Homeschooling is not the only option. Get a tutor, babysitter, leave them with family, organize a small community school setting with limited kids. Think of is as school share instead of ride share.
I like the idea of a small community with children that can be easily followed and taught. Thanks for your comments, Tara.
If you edit/republish this piece, please include teachers regarding exposure to chemicals (#11)…and for that matter mental health issues et al. It’s not only the kids who are at risk, but we, the professional educators as well. Teachers should not be the answer to daycare issues, as placeholders to sacrifice ourselves to get the economy back on track. We are professionals. We are some of the most highly educated, and lowest paid professionals in the US. I, personally, will not be going back into a classroom again until there is a vaccine, and Betsy DeVos et al are purged from any “leadership” roles. This is a heartbreaking decision, after 22 years in the profession. But my health and the health of my family/students is paramount.
I could not agree more, Hilary! This is the first piece I’ve read that actually considered the teachers! I am a teaching librarian who is exposed to at least 100 students a day and 700 over the course of a rotation. That’s a lot of exposure! And I become a cross-contaminant between the classes I serve! I love and miss my students, but it is not time to go back to the classroom.
I absolutely agree with all 22 reasons. This is not the time to return back to school. There are too many variables and risks. As educators, I understand all sides, but the bottom line is that this virus is REAL, this virus KILLS. Death is final. There is No Treatment, Vaccine, or Cure. SAFETY supercedes all of the potential issues. Teachers, need to continue remote instruction and we all need to heed the warnings to stay home! Thanks for sharing such an excellent article. Please keep passing it on!!!
Thank you for your comment, Jassundra..
Thanks for the comment, Alisa.
#3 Adults Matter Too! I absolutely agree! Thanks Hillary.
I am considering resigning from my job as well. My school district seems pretty intent on bringing all students back as usual and I’m scared of contracting the virus, dying and leaving my own children motherless. Plus, I have to worry about my oldest getting it at school and my youngest getting it at daycare. If I stay home, I can keep them out of school and daycare.
That’s sadder than sad. I’m sorry. Please try to consider other options. Even if you have to leave your school, try to look beyond to extend your career after this mess is over. By the way, can you take a leave of absence? Is that a possibility?
Hi Hillary, #11 means everyone in the classroom. Thanks for your comment. It was stated well.
Thank you for this article. I agree with you all are valid concerns. The truth is what ever choice is made people will be mad.
I’d like to see teachers work on the distance learning plan and make improvements. I think we can make it better. Teachers on average are older and are more likely to have their own concerns with child care of their own and elderly parents/ family members at risk. Safety is number #1 and schools in our typical setting is NOT safe right now so why are we pushing to get everyone inside and be “back to normal”. I think we all see by now that nothing will be normal.
If what families need is daycare let’s use school buildings and figure out a way provide daycare where students can work on school assignments with all the schools resources. The adults in charge don’t have to be the teacher just someone that knows how to use technology and can focus on the safety precautions required. The teacher can NOT teach online and in person at the same time while trying to meet all those safety guidelines too and troubleshoot technology. The school building can provide the resources, access to technology to complete online work, day care and use outside space as a summer camp type setting for those who need it. The teacher can continue teaching online and making it better. The kids that can stay home and learn do that. The kids that can’t stay home they can go to a school building where they have child care, the schools resources, and summer camp activities outside where it’s safer then indoors. I’ve read most daycares don’t want to or can’t help kids do the school work so schools would focus on being able to do the school work part of the time and outside activities the other part of the time.
Good ideas. Who will watch the kids and who will pay for it? Sounds like funding is being cut not added to public education because of the economy. If buildings are open then that will cost as well as personnel. I could see this as a viable option but we have to realize that the secretary of education has decided to not give the CARES Act money to public education for these kind of solutions.
“If what families need is daycare let’s use school buildings and figure out a way provide daycare where students can work on school assignments with all the schools resources.”
I think this is a good point! Along with safety. Thank you.
I agree with CFD. If we knew ahead of time that were going to teach online for certain, we could prepare for the next 2 months for that scenario. Instruction will be much better this Fall as teachers will have experience, and so will parents. We were thrust into that environment with no notice, unprepared and with a lot uncertainty in March. This Fall we will know what to expect. And graded need to count somehow, and attendance to online classes needs to be required like at school, and all students need their own device, and every home needs reliable internet. (That’s a lot of “ands.”)
Also push governments to make sure that all areas of the country have reliable high speed Internet
This is an excellent point. If my district decided now to hold school online this fall, we could be preparing right now for making it successful. I feel as if I’m wasting precious time right now, just waiting. I could be putting my plans together.
Thank you for a great article really gives me “ food for thought!” I live in Arizona I’m 64 and I agree with you.
Thank you for your comment, Janella.
This isn’t the first pandemic in this country. What have we learned from history? (i.e. Spanish flu).
Well, during the Spanish Flu, there was a second wave, deadlier than the first, brought on by parades and celebrations at the end of the war.
I think we learned that going out in large groups, not wearing masks, and not social distancing leads to deadlier resurgences.
Yes the exposure is greater, but what have we learned about schools during the flu epidemic? Did they close schools? Did people wear masks?
Yes to both. Some schools were out for several months and masks were pretty common, although there were “anti mask leagues” then too. Just finished reading a book about this
“one can lead a horse to water but one can’t make it drink”. Or as I t’d tell kids “If you refuse to drink the water you’ll still be thirsty” I can’t drink it for you . / If they want to learn they will learn …those that don’t , won’t .
The majority of our substitute teachers are retired folks looking for a second income, and will probably decline to take sub jobs. When a teacher is out sick, who will fill their shoes? If it’s determined to be covid-19, we’re looking at a minimum of two weeks. Who will create the sub plans? Or will the entire class or school be quarantined? How will the school pivot to on-line learning so as not to be penalized for missing the 180 requirement? It will take an army of educators to open schools. Where is the funding coming from?
There are a lot of serious questions to be answered *before* schools open. Which districts are really thinking thinking it through thoroughly? Will they prepare parents for unexpected repeated closures?
Until they can substantially answer all these questions (and more!), schools should stay closed.
I have not heard any references to substitutes teachers, but you make an excellent point. Thank you, Sheri!
My God. Finally the article I’ve been searching for all over the internet. I 200% agree and I’m an 8th grade teacher in a large public school district in Texas. Opening schools would be an egregious mistake. I will not be returning under these circumstances nor will my children. Thank you so much for writing this. It will be shared generously.
Thanks! I appreciate your comment.
My two older kids, 17 and 13 did well with online instruction. My 6 year -old however did not. All three of them started with an overwhelming amount of work that needed to be guided by a parent, through multiple links, Facebook groups and other resources. My issue is that not everyone gets to stay at home during the pandemic. Both my husband and I have worked everyday. In addition to that I was switched to nights in a COVID unit. Nothing is simple.
No. I am sure it is not simple. I hate the virus. I know that families are hurting. I am also not a fan of all online learning. All of this is a mess. But it is still my opinion that schools should not reopen until it is safe to do so. Some say that they are safer in some states than others. Perhaps that is true. There have been so many unknowns though, that I still think that we might need a little more time to get the virus under control. My guess is that schools will reopen in some places.
Thank you teachers for all your hard work.I know this must be a very stressful time for you all especially the uncertainty of not knowing how this is all going to turn out. Hang in there,Stay strong, and hopefully we can get through this together. Your friend,Eric.
That’s nice. Thank you, Eric.
I totally agree with you about this situation. Reopening school in the fall will definitely prove that we don’t care about the well-being of our educators, parents or students. My last child just graduated this school year and I’m an former educators. However, I have grandchildren that’s school age and I’m all for Virtual school. Come on now, these kids are our future and if we allow reopening schools and COVID-19 kill them off, then where is our future? They should do online school this school year and let’s get this virus under control before going back into the classrooms.
Thanks, Stacy.
I am a parent and our problem was it was too easy to say your are in class and then go surf You tube. They did not require to show faces in Zoom so they could just ben their phones. they did not have any papers or textbooks.
So my suggestions directly reflect this:
must show faces during Zooms
a method for teachers and parents to see what is on the student’s screen
quick feedback on assignment completions and grade
paper worksheets
textbooks
flexibility with in classes depending on the family if virus is looking better at that time
if virus is out of control, no in person meetings, and possibly even tacking on an extra school year if ….they are out of class more than 3/4 of a year (including time from last year)
maybe arranging for outside classes for 1/5 of the class each day of the 5 day week
There are ways to hold students accountable through online learning with many technologies. Real time learning is the best. Teachers need more support and training but it is very possible to improve this online system. In some sense it develops the individual learner. Students will learn their true learning style and strengths through this.
Shared via Shareaholic. Its no way we can send are kids to school and keep them safe and mentally because they are to young to understand why they cant hang out with friend or eat with them so i think we should prided every parent student with computers and printers so they can do work at home it safe look at the news and when we were in lock down how it was and now we are all running free not all follow rules thats why the death toll goes upthink about kids they are all we have for our future and they depend on us to keep them safe because if they go to school and. Like some say u can have the sickness and not know and spread it to other people its safier to stay home
My special education child needs in person learning at school, not from a stupid computer where she cannot learn.
I am a retired special ed. teacher, and I have written repeatedly of my concerns surrounding online learning, especially for students with disabilities. Of course face-to-face instruction is best. I wrote this post because of my concerns surrounding the virus. Many students with disabilities also have health problems. While it is an inconvenience, my suggestion is that children get the best support possible at home or in small controlled settings with the best safety measures until the threat of the virus is over.
Online instruction offers many possibilities for differentiation. There are also many opportunities for video conferencing or video instruction with teachers, and it’s flexible to meet each individual’s needs. Google Meet and Zoom offer face-to-face interactions so teachers can answer questions and show how to do things on the computer screen. And it is so much safer than sitting in a classroom with asymptomatic teens or kids chatting wildly and spreading the virus. I teach reading and since March I used several different tools to reach my students with IEPs and GIEPs online. The alternative is to send your son/daughter to school to pick up possible COVID 19 and the flu. From my perspective, I would rather have a healthy child than a sick one, and I would rather be alive myself to see my child.
It’s not perfect, but online might be best for a short time. Teachers can also offer supplemental packets of activities. Many teachers have been doing this.
Online school for a short amount of time for one semester might’ve been sufficient. Long term for a whole school year there are a lot of holes that only one hour of learning does not fill. Not only that but the only thing remaining closed is the school system everything else is open. These parents need a place for their kids to go they can be safe. The safest place for them is at school. Everybody needs to wear a mask. Everybody needs to do the safe distancing and washing your hands. Shutting down and keeping schools close doesn’t make sense if you’re not gonna shut everything else down too. All that is really telling our kids is that their education is not as important as we have been telling them because it is the one thing that we can keep closed. If you can open the churches and the bars and have barbecue parties and have recreational sports you should be able to have school
The thing is, churches and bars should not be open and people should not be at barbecues. These are some of the reasons why our currently numbers are skyrocketing.
I agree, Kari. Thank you.
in the end, religion is the most important things to people aren’t they
My number 1 challenge was my mental and emotional health. I am a teacher. (18 + years) I teach math which can pose a great deal of a challenge online. I have a 7 yr old at home with me who wants a snack every 40 minutes! . My husband is a frontline employee at one of the busiest hospitals in our city. He works with cancer patients and he has come in contact with patients and coworkers that have tested positive for Covid-19. People I care about have died in the last 3 months and I couldn’t get to them. or extend proper condolences. Two of my students parents have died. One from a heart attack and the other from cancer. Several students were confirmed sick with ‘this virus. The neighboring school had a math teacher pass away from Covid. Btw…. he went to the hospital and the hospital sent him home. He died hours later???? These are just a few things that I know of. I’m sure I missed other sickness and death because I had to stop taking in Información for my mental health.
This was too much for me. I tipped over.
I was not well during the first month of this pandemic. I reached out to my family, coworkers, God, and my therapist!
Beyond the physical arrangements is the mental health that honestly is more challenging . The students have the same concerns as we do. They are not immune to this emotional time.
We need choices in the fall. As bad as my child needs interaction he will not be attending school in the fall unless conditions. drastically improve.
The virus doesn’t care about choices. But I hope you can recover from all your concerns and difficulties. Hang in there. It sounds like you’re making the best choice for your child. Thanks for commenting and sharing your concerns.
Schools have historically been grossly underfunded and rely on school staff to somehow make it work. We usually do with scores of unpaid hours and out-of-pocket purchases. I have no reason to think this will be any different, but this time, making it work on the backs of school staff could cost us our lives. I love my job but I’m not willing to die for it.
That’s an excellent point. The years of underfunding schools is on display with this virus. And there’s still concerns about how the money is being spent. Thank you, Jean.
Well, it was so sad when I couldn’t see my children and wish them well at the end of the school year. … But I am so nervous to return to school. Wearing a mask all day and never seeing a smile will cause a lot of psychological problems for our children. I really don’t believe it is the right time to return, however I am not a fan of long term virtual learning, but it is all we have for now. Safety should come first. Lord help us!!!!!❤️????????❤️????????❤️????????
Thank you, Rosalind. Many share your concerns. I appreciate your comment.
Children with special needs require a great deal of attention such as touching, toileting needs, facial cues and just more attention. We love them but they require more attention. The attention they need will be difficult to give. We could cause more harm to their progress with failing to meet their needs. It would be very difficult at this time.
They are often also more vulnerable to the disease. Thank you again, Rosalind.
Congratulations, Nancy! Your discussions always are good. This one got a lot of response. I feel the decision about returning to school hinges on local knowledge about the presence of the virus. We can properly test and trace, but will we? Right now, we have very few active cases around here. Many people are feeling like the boy has cried wolf. Will they wake up to the wolf?
Schools are the only real world when it comes to rhinoviruses.
I know a lot of people who believe that and it is reasonable. But will we? Yes that’s the question. So much money spent on safety protocol that seems unnatural for schools and children.
Thanks, Roy.
I am a special education teacher and it was extremely difficult for my students to engage in remote learning. They have parents who are essential workers, multiple siblings trying to share one computer, caretakers or parents who do not speak English and spotty internet service at best. I am not sure of how to proceed at this point, but if going back to school means wearing masks, washing your hands every half hour, social distancing and a no contact recess, it does not sound like it is safe to return. It will take an emotional toll on the well being of our younger population. Many students and staff have compromised immune systems or underlying conditions which also adds more anxiety to an already stressful situation. I have been caring for my 7 and 9 year old grandchildren so that my own daughters are able to work. I have not even mentioned bus transportation, which is another issue altogether. I do not feel comfortable with going back to school in the fall unless a vaccine is developed and it doesn’t seem like we are entering a intensive care unit. While juggling remote learning and teaching is not a perfect solurion, it will not kill us or expose our families to unneccessary risks. The safety of our students, parents, families, and staff should be a top priority! God Bless us Everyone 🙂
Thank you, Helene. Nicely put. It is appreciated. Stay well.
“Children from low income families who face hunger, possible abuse, mental health difficulties, and other issues have been hit the hardest during this pandemic. But these are issues outside of school. ”
Except that these are all issues that get punted onto schools because children cannot learn if they are hungry, too traumatized or mentally unwell.
Absolutely. They aren’t outside of schools. It made me rethink that sentence. I’ve removed it. Thank you, Jess!
Hi Jess I appreciate you looking out for the Children of low-income families, but let’s face the facts. Most low-income families don’t have great Wi-Fi connections, and the school handout routers are not gonna get the job done with multiple people on zoom. Also, a kid dealing with hard things at home are gonna want to get to a protective place outside there home
Pediatricians are now calling for schools to re-open citing that children are not as at risk of complications or even transferring the virus.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/opinion/coronavirus-schools.html
I whole-heartedly disagree with this assessment.
It has not been fully studied whether children are carriers or not. Yes, some evidence suggests not, but we know very little about this disease and I have not seen one peer-reviewed study that corroborates this observation. There was mention of the YMCA centers that remained open for care of the children of essential workers that showed very little, if any, transfer. However, if one compares the activities of the YMCA to school, one would see that school has far more complicated necessities and nuances that you won’t find at the Y. If the two environments were comparable, why don’t we just skip school altogether and send everyone’s child to the YMCA instead?
Regardless, if children are not necessarily carriers of this virus, they are definitely super spreaders of flu and colds. Beyond your point of protecting children when COVID mixes with flu, what about flu during the pandemic for the adults in the schools? Schools are Petrie dishes for all sorts of viral infections, so now we are putting adult staff members at greater risk for complications should they be exposed to SARS-CoV2 because their immune systems are already fighting against the flus and colds that children spread. I don’t know about you, but I would want to be at my optimum level of health during a pandemic, not in a fight against all other viruses on top of this one.
Asking pediatricians if schools are safe environments for adults is like asking doctors who specialize in geriatrics to weigh in with best practices in pre-school.
Hi, Nancy,
Thank you so much for writing this piece. I teach in Oregon. I have been worried sick about what I expect our state and district to do this fall. I expect them to try to have what they call a “hybrid” model (partly online, partly in person), and leave it on the teachers to choose not to come in, or to take a stand. Then they can blame us for the fallout from the public about the decision that they’re afraid to make.
I am like another one of your commenters, who said that she’d been searching and searching online for anyone who was saying what you said: that we should not have in-person school this fall.
Hi Katy, Your point about the hybrid model is interesting. We’ll see what happens as summer moves on. Hang in there. I appreciate your comment. I think more people are starting to write about this.
This should be reason #1
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them
This respected scientist says this: “Indoor spaces, with limited air exchange or recycled air and lots of people, are concerning from a transmission standpoint.” And that is exactly the problem with physically being in the school buildings! It’s nobody’s first choice, but online learning is the best of all the worst alternatives.
Excellent! Thanks for sharing, Scott. I saw it a while back but it covers it all.
Reason #24
Mask wearing and social distancing rules require 100% compliance, Fidelity to mask wearing and social distancing requires self-control and maturity. Ha! It will prove to be impossible to enforce these behaviors with children and adolescents who are notorious for their lack of self control and maturity. And what about the kids who love to break rules for the sport of it?. What should the consequences be for violations? Translation: Rules that are unenforceable break down very quickly in schools. The discipline issues that evolve from mask wearing and social distancing will make an already difficult situation an unbearable nightmare for teachers and administrators in many schools.
Once the breakdown happen, then what?
Reason #25
Re-opening will be a house of cards doomed to collapse. The time, money, and energy used to attempt re-opening will prove to be wasted, and a very bad look for individual schools, teachers, and administrators who are being asked to do the impossible. School attendance will dwindle as parents get wind of the realities of safety measures as they gradually fall apart. We know better but the external pressures to re-open are enormous. This is a lose-lose situation with no solution other than an effective vaccine that is mandated for all children and staff. Ha! Then we have the anti-vaxxers to deal with.
I believe that we will be witnessing the gradual downfall of compulsory K to 12 public schooling, an event that will forever alter this cornerstone institution.
Spot ON
I agree with your post comments. It concerns me that in my state (Ohio) they are leaving mask requirements TBD by individual school boards? No uniformity, no windows that open in the building, and a hair brained scheme to have students eat lunches in classrooms rather than cafeterias; this will result in saliva, food droppings and spittle all over the building rather than one location with staggered times and a custodial staff equipped to disinfect regularly. The lack of planning, common sense and foresight is mind boggling.
Thank you, Diane Ravitch!
https://dianeravitch.net/2020/07/02/nancy-bailey-22-reasons-why-schools-should-not-open-this-fall/
My thanks to the Badass Teachers Association!
https://www.badassteacher.org/bats-blog/22-reasons-why-schools-should-not-reopen-in-the-fall-by-nancy-bailey
I am a substitute teacher that is my income. I have a teaching degree but have just been a substitute teacher i haven’t worked since March how will this inpact the 900 of us in just one district i sub we have always been there for schools and districts when they need it? Now what?
Great points Nancy! I am opting for homeschooling, since I very much dislike online learning. If they decide to open, the virus will devastate society. It is not really a choice. We cannot open in fall! Politics will decide different and we will pay greatly. I agree with you 100%. Let’s be safe first. You are right, children can catch up very easily. I am certainly not going to take the risk with my children. But we don’t have a plan, neither funding, nor resources to craft any productive safe return to school. People continue to fail to accept that this situation is here to stay for a while. Wishing to return to normality does not make it happen. Thank you for your thoughts and analisys.
Thank you, Monica. Great point about homeschooling. I agree about the strange thoughts about this virus. Wishing doesn’t make it happen. Take care!
As a bus driver with a full bus mostly low income kids I am terrified but need my job! Prayers that me and my kids are safe this school year .
If schools open, you better start thinking of the teachers not just the students. If the teachers are out sick for two or more weeks, you may have to close the schools completely without virtual learning. Some teachers have 30 students 6 times per day for a total of 180 student per day.
Here’s another reality. Some teachers have kids who are going to school and if those kids get sick the teachers will have to stay home with them for 14 days. Will the district take sick days away for that? Or will they start not paying teachers?
What good is an educated brain if it’s dead? Keep our children safe and home!
I am a parent of now second grader. We had great experience with digital learning. My child was able to do it in her own time. Mond through thursday it was done by 4pm and Friday usually i would post everything for her around 6 pm. Her teacher gave us list of “zoom meetings” for a month in advance. Usually it was around 4 pm when most parents were home. She would test students reading, math, social studies and science. She would read a question, they would have to turn mic off and they had to show her on cam what they wrote on a paper. Sometimes certain videos would not work (maybe 3 for the whole dl time) but she would text us back with a link for simmilar video on youtube and no one was punished because they couldnt open certain video on dl page. Furthermore, her specials teachers always underlined that they want kids to have fun (art, music, stem and pe). While i feel it is important for kids to express themselves in these subjects i do not agree with loads of work where they would have to make videos and sing or play instruments and so on (unless they really want it because my child for example is so shy and she does not even like to be photographed. Moreover, i do not see how can schools with limited budget follow cdc guidelines? After conversation with her principal it was clear to me that first they do not ba e enough busses to transport kids to school and follow social distancing.. Second, they will have 20 students per classrom (cdc dont recommend more than 12). Third, who can watch 20 kids washing hands for 20 seconds? Also masks are mandatory but they have to take them off to eat. There will not be socializing so i do not see how can wearing a mask for 7 hours be healthy and normal for kids. Finally, in person or DL? We do not really have a choice because with the new rule that DL has to be from 8 am to 3 pm (for ES). This means i do not have that one or 2 extra hours to turn my child’s homework in and she is too little to do it herself. This means i as a parent dont have a choice any more but to send my child back to school. While before specially on fridays i was turning hw in by 6 pm i will have to do it by 3 pm now. So for me that means i will either have to send her to school or i will have to quit my job to make her safe. However, if DL was like it was so far i would not think twice i would just do DL. Right now i am in dilema what to do? Also how do you keep 7 years old on the comp for 6 plus hours per day?
P.S. just to state Germany, Denmark and Sweden, opened their schools but kids were going to schools in shifts (one week 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade mon, wed, fri, and next week tuesday and thursday. The same weeks 4th and 5th grades were in tuesday and thursday and next week mon, wed, friday) plus they had only 15 students in much bigger classrooms (sitting behind each other 5 students in each row). I believe parents and teachers can help each other in this situation and make sure that kids do not fall behind academically. I believe we can all work together for betterment of our society.
Agree kids should not return to school
All valid points Nancy. I hope someone will include
“still living in the 20th century.” A little tech could reduce
the spread and fear, i.e. UV lights at every entrance for
starters…
Reality check here! I have been a teacher for 25 years and know there are a very high percentage of teachers with pre-existing conditions and other complication from diabetes and obesity. Covid-19 will take them out fairly quickly, not to mention students too! Then everything gets shut down! Just hope you can make it to then! Sad but true!
What an asinine list of helicopter parenting at its worst. At least half of the points are arguments for opening school.
“Parents can help contain a child’s fears about the virus at home. But a dystopian school environment with scary rules and strict protocols could be a nightmare for a child. ”
Tossing away a year of your life and a young child’s formative years is playing right into a dystopian environment. It’s a complete disregard for what the data actually says about this virus being a statistical non-threat to children not only as carriers but also as transmitters.
And mental health concerns? Please. Suicide and depression are already skyrocketing as a direct result of this overkill lockdown.
“Follow the science” has been a refrain for 4 months now. Well, follow the science. The science from myriad sources that indicates this is a low-risk for children, that they generally do not transmit it to adults and that school is not a high-risk environment.
Allow a virtual option for the helicopter parents so they can’t ruin everyone’s else lives. Send the rest back to school, where they belong and where it’s best for them.
What a truck load of privileged drivel. The lack of compassion for people who have to work and can’t sit around a laptop with their first and second graders all day is staggering. Not everyone has a retired grandma to come work as a part-time teacher.
Just appalling.
It’s always intriguing to hear from those who speak with such certainty about the virus and the safety of opening schools. Are you a teacher? If so, do you teach in a modern school?
Do you know anything about the teachers who are working remotely to help students keep up, who actually do the work and struggle to help children and teens make sense of this pandemic?
Do you follow the science? Because even if you push the safety of teachers aside, I’ve read about uncertainty surrounding this virus especially surrounding the longterm effects that Covid might have on children.
But thank you for your comment. It’s always good to see the reality behind public opinion when it comes to such serious concerns about children and this virus.
“Are you a teacher? If so, do you teach in a modern school?”
This is so disingenuous and a logical fallacy. Teachers should not be the universal opinion considered on this issue. Almost everyone with children sends them to school.
We don’t apply this line of thinking to any other profession. Our society forms policy all the time based on what’s best for everyone, not what’s best for one segment of the labor force. The idea that me not being a teacher somehow invalidates my opinion is absurd. What am I is a parent who witnessed firsthand the gross inadequacy of “virtual learning” AND I am one privileged enough to be able to stay home.
A laptop is not going to teach my first grader how to read. It can’t replace the emotional IQ of a professional and provides NONE of the vital social interaction children need. What’s alarming to me about this, is how ready so many educators are to abandon children in their greatest hour of need. You can’t live for years saying “what’s best for the children” and now say you want school closed.
It’s so dismissive of lower class and blue collar families to think that this is an acceptable replacement for school. There is a mountain of early research that supports schools can be opened safely. The CDC itself has assessed this and determined it is a risk worth taking because the consequences are too great.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/health/coronavirus-schools-reopening.html
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/07/08/peds.2020-004879
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32371442/
Sorry Nancy, the science is not on your side this time. There is a risk to opening school, there is a risk to opening anything. Some risks need to be taken to have a functioning society.
Michael, you didn’t answer my question. I am assuming you aren’t a teacher.
If you were, you would better understand the difficulties teachers will face implementing what the AAP and the CDC and others pontificate teachers should do.
I wish I could believe the science is settled. I am one who resents sensationalized journalism meant to scare. I waited a long time to write anything about schools opening or staying closed.
But what has troubled me most about this virus is the uncertainty.
For example, your last research viewpoint “Children are not COVID-19 super spreaders: time to go back to school” must have been published before “Older Children Spread the Coronavirus Just as Much as Adults, Large Study Finds.”
https://www.axios.com/childen-coronavirus-spread-schools-d925b7c3-0d74-4242-a4a1-d72d5d7696f5.html
If you’ve read my blog, you would know I’m not a fan of online learning either, but I think remote learning, which doesn’t have to be online learning, is called for here.
Unfortunately, I know teachers who will retire early due to this mess, and those who might get sick, or worse.
Parents might then find they will have nothing left but online learning.
Last, but most important, there is still uncertainty surrounding young children and Covid-19. It sounds like they don’t really understand the lasting effects children could have with the virus.
https://cbs12.com/news/local/doctors-concerned-that-covid-19-may-be-harming-lungs-of-children
I must also add, that since teachers are doing the work, they should be heard. They aren’t doctors, but doctors should at least TRY to better understand the circumstances in which they work.
I resent armchair critics who pontificate what teachers should do, when they know little about children, how schools work, and how the virus will affect their school routine. Some of these individuals never set foot in a school other than for a photo op.
Most of these gripers are the same people who don’t like public education in the first place.
I did answer your question and said I wasn’t a teacher a couple of times.
“I must also add, that since teachers are doing the work, they should be heard.”
Heard, yes, ultimate authority, no. No profession works this way. Construction workers don’t get the best materials because that is not what policy dictates. Attorneys don’t write laws because they work in court and know which laws are best.
What I resent are people typically leaning on science, then doing an about face when the science doesn’t agree with them and saying the science is “too early” and hasn’t “been tested thoroughly.” Yes there will be years of follow-up study until we know everything about COVID19, but we can almost universally say at this point that the children most damaged by remote learning (age 4-10) are the lowest risk group for this virus.
Nobody is suggesting that we throw all caution out the window and pretend school is normal, but there are ways to return to face-to-face learning with added safety protocols to mitigate the risks and do what’s best for our kids. Students with conditions, students living with families with conditions as well as teachers in these scenarios should be afforded extra protections, but we should be accommodating those families individually, not uniformly closing all schools because of a small affected portion of the population.
What also disturbs me is that the dates for normalcy are continually pushed back and the threshold for acceptable risk is constantly changing. Close school in September, and what if it’s not “safe enough” in November? No one is willing to quantify the risk, all I continue to hear is that “one death is unacceptable,” which is just fantasy-world nonsense. There is a level of risk that has to be accepted to move our society forward.
The best solution at this time is to reopen schools (obviously where it is safe to do so, I concede that in areas of FL, AZ, etc., there needs to be a delay at this time) with a virtual option, and to be frank, ruthlessly enforce the safety protocols. If children or their families can’t wear a mask, and can’t adhere to the new structures put in place, they can’t come to school. If the teachers are willing to meet in the middle and work, the families should be held accountable for playing their role.
It doesn’t sound like you read my links.
Maybe you missed my other reply to you where I linked the most recent research where middle and high schoolers spread the virus like adults. Or about possible lasting effects of lung damage in children who’ve had Covid.
Seven children just contracted the mult-system inflammatory disease in Florida. One died.
I’m also not sure you read this blog post. You don’t seem to understand the difficulties teachers will face in school trying to keep their students and themselves safe.
I always appreciate a good debate, but it isn’t possible when one side speaks with such certainty. So take care, Michael.
Thank you!!! You comments are spot on and exactly how I feel as well. However, as you note from the authors comments, if you voice comments like this you are going to get backlash. Proof that if you have an opposing opinion you are going get the heat and you eloquently responded to the heat. I agree that most of the list could be used as proof to open, I stated that in my first comment on this post. Fortunately my kids have been allowed to go to a district run camp the entire summer and now will be attending the same camp during the closure where there will be staff prepared to assist with the online learning. It comes at a cost though and we are fortunate we can afford it. Not sure what other families are going to do if they can’t afford it and have working parents. It also filled up in 48 hours which goes to show you the high demand for this type of program.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/school-openings-across-globe-suggest-ways-keep-coronavirus-bay-despite-outbreaks
Everyone knows that schools are important and it is terrible to close schools, but many don’t understand the problems facing teachers and school districts in America. This country has not invested in its public schools like other countries.
Everyone wants schools open but some teachers were actually begging for PPE donations!
Overcrowded classes and rundown school facilities are two of the problems.
Scientists have a huge disconnect with the reality of public schooling in America. Parents and many teachers who you’re entrusting the safety of your children to are worried. The virus doesn’t care about inconvenience.
Look, either we have a pandemic or we don’t. If it is bad enough to close down the Republican convention in Florida, why is it safe for children and teachers?
You assume I don’t understand which is one of the actual issues here. My mom was a math teacher for 30 years in a low income district. I watched her come home and fight with my dad about how she was spending our household income on school supplies and how she came home late at night prepping for the next day. I heard their arguments about how she didn’t have a phone in her room (back in the day) and my dad was concerned for her safety. I also heard her horrible stories of abuse. The girl that disappeared for a whole week and so my mom drove to her house after school only to find out this 11 year old was staying home to watch her siblings while her mom sold herself on the street corner during the day. The 12 year old who was dropping weight like crazy only for her to find a back pack loaded with meth, that day she came home and cried and cried. The kids that got sucked into gangs because there was no one at home. The list goes on and on. I understand what teachers go through. In fact I had a teacher at my house Friday night and she admitted to me in confidence she wants to be back but its not a popular opinion.
To use your words…..LOOK, either we have a pandemic or we dont…..sure ok I can agree we do. In my opinion the “cure” is worse then the disease but you and I will never agree and that is ok. That is what makes this country great, the diversity of opinions and thoughts coming together. If you want to keep your kids at home then I admire that decision and am happy you have the ability to do so. But I want my kids to go to school. period. and there are teachers that want to be back. There are no easy answers and you are 100% right that teachers and schools are underfunded BIG time. We can just agree to disagree.
One of the problems with this virus is that it has been turned into a political issue. The virus doesn’t care about that. Good for your mom. What I assume is that you still don’t understand the reality of school facilities and the problems teachers will face especially in low income districts.
Protective services and social workers should still be working with schools and teachers remotely and with home visits to check on children. I also know teachers who are retiring early. Some are writing their wills.
Yes schools are underfunded which is part of why they’re unsafe. I continue to read unrealistic ideas by those who likely haven’t stepped in a school ever.
Reopening schools really depends on the viral spread in each area. It’s not a one-size-fits-all action. The CDC has declared mixed results on the role of children and teens in spreading the virus. No one can say 100 percent that children will not get sick or get adults sick if schools reopen. That’s the science. Let’s look at what happened in Isreal, for instance, when schools reopened. Take into account that three children in Florida recently died from COVID 19. Reopening daycares in Texas caused the virus to spread and infect hundreds. It’s risky to reopen a school in an area where cases are high and the virus is spreading quickly. It makes more sense to open schools in an area where the virus is under control. It makes sense that some parents are concerned about their children either getting sick or bringing the virus home to their parents or grandparents. In areas where the spread is high, adults have a greater chance of conctracting the virus. The ideal situation would be parents getting back to work and students being in school getting the education and socialization they need, but this is not an ideal time for many areas in the U.S. Cases are rising. If you are fortunate to live in an area where viral spread is not high, that is good for you and your children. Some are not so lucky. It is also important to think about how schools are reopening. The CDC admits that children should be in school, but it also advocates for safe reopenings, not full reopenings that ignore specific guidelines. Even in areas where viral spread is low, schools still need to be mindful of how they reopen, and if they cannot reopen safely to maintain a low level of spread, then it is best not to reopen at all because this could put everyone at risk for a surge and reclosing situation, which is what working parents do not need. So yes, I agree kids should be in school and parents should get back to work instead of sitting around their computers all day, but only if schools can do so safely.
“No one can say 100 percent that children will not get sick or get adults sick if schools reopen. That’s the science.”
Nobody is saying 100% that children won’t get sick and that’s an impossible standard. The science is saying that risk is less with children than with adults, and that the consequences of extended isolation are greater than the risks, particularly for children aged 4-10.
This fantasy of 100% safety that was not even being discussed within the first 2 months is mystifying. How we went from flatten the curve, to close school until safety is 100%, is incredible.
I can only hope you are correct about the virus being a “statistical non threat to children”. The schools have been shuttered and children have been safe at home since March so there are no US statistics. I pray my students will not become a statistic.
What about the threat to teachers and school staff and the threats that will come home with the children?
The voice of reason. Thank you my friend.
As a soon to be 11th grader, this seriously scares me. I don’t want to potentially die, kill my friends, family, or teachers, or miss school. Remote learning just can’t work. Rural areas, like south Missouri, don’t get equal coverage. Sure, the school can give kids computers, but they can’t ensure internet because they, in MO at least, have been defunded, and connection can be really spotty.
I think school can wait a whole year. Packet learning taught me nothing (I got crosswords for algebra II and told to read for English II), and that’s about all rural schools like mine could do. We barely learn half of what we need to in a school year, so picking up in January is a bad idea, Coronavirus or no.
Take it from a worried, low income, would-be Junior, School can wait. It’s not worth risking MILLIONS of lives over a political debate.
Thank you, Caleb! A thoughtful analysis! I agree. I’m sorry if you get spotty Internet service. My suggestion to you would be get books in the area/s that you find interesting and think about what you would most like to do with your career. You sound like you’re going places. Thank you for commenting on my blog. It’s always an honor to hear from a student. If you find time, keep us posted as to how you’re doing. Stay well!
I am a special education teacher. Special Ed. students come to school scared under normal conditions. Under COVID conditions, they will be stressed out more than ever, and nowhere near able to focus and learn. Then when a school needs to close, due to infections, these students will be under continuous change and uncertainty. Can you imagine how hard that will be on a student with autism and his or her parents.
I also live with two family members with serious underlying conditions. I am being forced to resign or be fired. Looks like I am resigning, losing my pay and health insurance for a year or more. Why should teachers who live with vulnerable family members be forced to make this choice? Thirteen years with my district and this is how it ends!
How sad. I’m sorry, Dom. It is unbelievable the disrespect being shown teachers at this serious time. I can only hope that this thinking pattern will turn around before schools are made into petri dishes. Thank you for sharing. Hang in there. Stay well.
8 Days into Notre Dame and 145 cases .Schools need to stay closed
145 cases and all of them will be fine in a week. COVID does not do anything to healthy people
Except put them in the hospital, on respirators, and kill them…..
I agree on the article because the governor decided to let the students stay home and do online school because of covid 19. I heard that kids get infected easy when they go back to school just saying.
they will do online school learn nothing, and fail class in future years. Instead of going to school, get COVID, and have it do nothing
Let parents pick the school of their choice as long as they follow all recommendations on Covid safety. We get to pick our college, where we go grocery shopping and our doctor, but our school is a one size fits all decided by our zip code. Poor people living in poor neighborhoods are stuck going to terrible schools, it doesn’t make sense.
I tried to show the problems teachers run into due to Covid-19. I think these problems are probably worse in old schools with poor ventilation systems, but Covid-19 is scary in general for all students and teachers.
As far as choice, I’ve taught in a poor school in a poor neighborhood and it was no picnic. But poor children don’t usually get accepted to the best private schools. They will wind up in charter schools many of which will be online without qualified teachers.
I’d like to see better investment in all public schools helping to lift neighborhoods out of poverty and giving people a sense of ownership. Thanks for commenting.
yes exactly!!!
No not exactly! Selfish and incorrect. We haven’t seen the whole picture yet. This is only the beginning. Kids can die from COVID and have. Adults are the most likely to have complications from COVID and adults are the ones teaching. Another comment above said almost the same but then compared COVID to auto accidents. How irrelevant and ridiculous to even touch on such thought. They don’t compare neither would any other means of which people could potentially die. But back to the auto accident point, you don’t catch or spread accidents. Accidents are called accidents because of just that. They are unplanned events that randomly happen. COVID may not be seen or planned also but COVID is contagious and COVID spreads. Need I also say that the deaths by auto accident. Read the comparison here: https://www.med.unc.edu/pharm/files/2020/04/Not-Like-the-Flu-Not-Like-Car-Crashes-Not-Like-The-New-Atlantis-Printer-Friendly.pdf
Another excellent response and excellent link! Thank you!
true! thanks for the comment*