The P&R Plague Thread (Covid-19)

jaws said:
I wish CNN could be a little more consistent in their reporting. As I said earlier in this thread, it isn't just about antibodies. 
Click to expand...


It was the Lancet, quoting the Spanish medical experts, who used the term "unachievable" and not CNN's idea.

 
Betsy DeVos is just the worst.

Has she ever even pretended to care about the well-being of students or educators? Or has it just been an unfettered push for more charter schools and dismantling Title IX protections for sexual assault victims?


 
jaws said:
I know right. I should put more stock into a story on CNN that references a study that wasn't peer reviewed from a journal that had to walk back a hydroxychloroquine study.
Click to expand...


What exactly are you pushing back on here? The word "unachievable," the Spanish study, the Lancet, or CNN?

 
Danny Bateman said:
Betsy DeVos is just the worst.

Has she ever even pretended to care about the well-being of students or educators? Or has it just been an unfettered push for more charter schools and dismantling Title IX protections for sexual assault victims?
Click to expand...
I agree that she is the worst but for once, she's not wrong.  The whole 2 day a week thing is a god awful idea for multiple reasons.

 
RedSavage said:
I agree that she is the worst but for once, she's not wrong.  The whole 2 day a week thing is a god awful idea for multiple reasons.
Click to expand...


I'll freely admit I don't have the answers and what you're saying may well be true, but it's also been clear to me for a couple months now that people making sweeping, unequivocal statements about several months in the future at the rate all of this is evolving continues to blow up in their faces and make them look like morons and maybe they should knock that off.

Florida is surging quite badly right now and the other day their governor wiped out all the funding for their online learning program.

Aside from naked appeals to score political points, why do things like this when we don't yet know where we'll be in a few months? Who does this serve?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Danny Bateman said:
I'll freely admit I don't have the answers and what you're saying may well be true, but it's also been clear to me for a couple months now that people making sweeping, unequivocal statements about several months in the future at the rate all of this is evolving continues to blow up in their faces and make them look like morons and maybe they should knock that off.

Florida is surging quite badly right now and the other day their governor wiped out all the funding for their online learning program.

Aside from naked appeals to score political points, why do things like this when we don't yet know where we'll be in a few months? Who does this serve?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure where you are located but school districts like Omaha Public Schools have set plans in stone for the 2/3 day school week in the fall.  I agree that it's too soon to make an ultimate judgement call and make some of these statements but at the same time, the school districts are already making a judgement call as well.  

 
RedSavage said:
I'm not sure where you are located but school districts like Omaha Public Schools have set plans in stone for the 2/3 day school week in the fall.  I agree that it's too soon to make an ultimate judgement call and make some of these statements but at the same time, the school districts are already making a judgement call as well.  
Click to expand...


We just moved to central MI but had been living in central NE prior.

Personally I utterly distrust DeVos's motives and judgment when it comes to individual school districts, teachers, students, etc. Of all of Trump's motley crew of cabinet members, she's one that I most think bought her seat via her years of charitable donations to GOP causes. 

I would prefer she take on a supportive role for whatever plans individual school districts choose to implement rather than lambasting one specific approach and apparently mandating another. Especially as such a fierce advocate of "choice." 

But you're right, we're definitely getting into crunch time where solid plans need to start being formulated and implemented.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Danny Bateman said:
We just moved to central MI but had been living in central NE prior.

Personally I utterly distrust DeVos's motives and judgment when it comes to individual school districts, teachers, students, etc. Of all of Trump's motley crew of cabinet members, she's one that I most think bought her seat via her years of charitable donations to GOP causes. 

I would prefer she take on a supportive role for whatever plans individual school districts choose to implement rather than lambasting one specific approach and apparently mandating another. Especially as such a fierce advocate of "choice." 

But you're right, we're definitely getting into crunch time where solid plans need to start being formulated and implemented.
Click to expand...
I completely agree with all of that.  I definitely don't think she's suited for the job and bought it.  And in a position like hers, the stance of supporting the individual school districts is probably the best one. 

It's just my personal opinion and I could of course be wrong but my opinion is that the 2/3 day week is incredibly idiotic.  What about children with different last names, as it's A-K Mon/Tues and K-Z Thurs/Fri, with alternating Wednesdays?  Are parents just to be expected to take 2 or 3 days a week off of work and still get paid for a job they aren't doing?  Are they going to get paid to be teachers?  Do teachers get paid less?  What about single parent households?  How do parents pay for the cost of childcare if they can't take off work?  These are just a few of the reasons I think it's a terrible idea.

 
RedSavage said:
I completely agree with all of that.  I definitely don't think she's suited for the job and bought it.  And in a position like hers, the stance of supporting the individual school districts is probably the best one. 

It's just my personal opinion and I could of course be wrong but my opinion is that the 2/3 day week is incredibly idiotic.  What about children with different last names, as it's A-K Mon/Tues and K-Z Thurs/Fri, with alternating Wednesdays?  Are parents just to be expected to take 2 or 3 days a week off of work and still get paid for a job they aren't doing?  Are they going to get paid to be teachers?  Do teachers get paid less?  What about single parent households?  How do parents pay for the cost of childcare if they can't take off work?  These are just a few of the reasons I think it's a terrible idea.
Click to expand...


100% agree. We're on the same page. It's definitely going to be a clusterf#&% if they go this route, but I'm not sure other options are very appealing. Admittedly I haven't read enough of the research to know how risky a normal school schedule would be for kids and educators. I know for a while there was some talk that children were not as susceptible to the virus, but what about the immunocompromised kids? What about those with comorbidities that place them at higher risk? 

I cannot imagine it's going to be easy to enforce social distancing and proper personal hygiene habits, especially among younger students. 

What I think we can all agree on is that there's not really a clear-cut best approach here either way. So the pros and cons will have to be weighed. I can say I'm very envious I'm not the one making these decisions. Godspeed to those who are. I'm sure they're not very comfortable with Trump and DeVos pressuring them to take their preferred approach.

 
Danny Bateman said:
Betsy DeVos is just the worst.

Has she ever even pretended to care about the well-being of students or educators? Or has it just been an unfettered push for more charter schools and dismantling Title IX protections for sexual assault victims?
Click to expand...
This is actually becoming popular.  We were going to be 50/50 but now will be 100%.  More and more schools are moving to it because the alternative for most districts is a logistical nightmare.

There are 3 options for most places.  All back at school.  50/50 or all at home.  The 50/50 just makes no sense.  The idea that you are going to socially distance kids from each other is not practical.  I am teaching a summer school class right now, with smart responsible HS students.  It is impossible to keep those 20 away from each other.  So the 50/50 idea is great in theory but just won't be all that practical.  

Online is great in theory too...but very difficult for some classes and crazy hard for K-8 students.  

 
Back
Top