Sunday, September 05, 2021

TEACHERS COLLEGE PROFESSOR CALLS FOR REMOTE OPTION IN DAILY NEWS OPINION PIECE

Professor Stephanie Fagin-Jones makes a compelling case for a remote option for NYC families in the NY Daily News.

Back in March 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 hit New York City, there was no question about schools going remote. Fast forward to now, as the much more infectious and contagious delta variant wreaks havoc across the country, resulting in a dramatic increase in the rate of child hospitalizations with COVID-19 in the U.S. since July, prompting the Centers for Disease Control to acknowledge that the war has changed.

Alarmingly, child case rates in NYC are seven to 10 times higher this week than in the same week in 2020, and positivity rates among school-aged children have skyrocketed since the end of the school year, surpassing any age group in NYC.

“In light of this data,” proposes education Prof. Jen Jennings of Princeton, “Let’s evaluate the argument against offering families a remote schooling option this fall."

But last week, ignoring the current scientific reality and disregarding the fundamental rights of concerned parents to make decisions about our children’s safety and education, Mayor de Blasio announced his back-to-school strategy based on outdated pre-delta data. Furthermore, de Blasio, who regularly touts his progressivism, inexplicably has chosen to join the ranks of policymakers in states like Texas, Florida and Missouri in removing any remote options for families, thereby forcing city parents to gamble with our kids’ health, if not their lives.

I’m a researcher who has studied heroism and morality throughout my 20-year career as a social scientist. In his “final act” as a mayor with likely gubernatorial aspirations, de Blasio is putting politics over pediatrics, peddling a false narrative and posing as a hero offering students a “homecoming” in the fall, as if they were completing a hero’s journey, when in reality, they are just now entering the belly of the whale.

As a parent and psychologist, I know that schoolchildren, with certain exceptions, do best when they are learning in person, and that an eventual return to in-person learning should be our goal. However, even the most conservative epidemiological models on the delta variant suggest that sending unvaccinated kids with masks to school could result in 40% of elementary schoolers testing positive within three months.

Believe me, I would much rather my kids return to school in the fall than learn remotely, but according to a recent survey, thousands of families, among them Black and Hispanic, who often have the least access to and may be the most negatively impacted by remote learning, are far from assured that the proposed strategies will keep our schoolchildren safe and are clamoring for a centralized remote option.

De Blasio says his strategy is based on a “gold standard of health and safety measures.” But the CDC itself says that their guidelines confirming the effectiveness of school safety measures like masking, spacing and testing are based on the much weaker alpha-, not delta-variant data and thus warrant increased vigilance 

Disturbingly, the DOE in numerous ways is being less vigilant than last year, for example, by not: tracking vaccination status; requiring a baseline negative COVID test to start school; ensuring social distancing in overcrowded schools; and by ill-advisedly reducing “opt-in” random testing to twice a month for 10% of unvaccinated students, down from 20% each week last year, thus flouting the CDC K-12 guidelines stating that testing in areas with high community transmission should be conducted at least once per week.

As parents, we’re not all in the same boat. Not all parents can utilize or even want a remote option. Mental health concerns about academic decline, anxiety and depression due to social isolation are real. Yet parents all over the city are joining the call for remote learning, something that’s being offered in 85% of the 69 member districts represented by the Council of the Great City Schools.

De Blasio is putting parents and children in a double bind by mandating a return to the classroom while medical experts question the safety of this choice. “It’s a sad thing to say that our kids are really guinea pigs,” laments Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at UT School of Public Health.

If even one of our too-young-to-be-vaccinated “guinea pigs” contracts COVID-19 and fails to “come home” as a result of de Blasio’s hazardous policy, it will not only be tragic, but also morally inexcusable, given that it could have been prevented.

Fagin-Jones is an adjunct associate professor of psychology at Columbia University Teachers College.

NY Daily News

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47 comments:

ed notes online said...

Must listen to Osterholm podcast this week. Covers many school issues -- including the learning loss -- he says people -- ie de Blasio - start off with the most important thing is to open schools which is really not the most important thing.

Anonymous said...

At the root of this farce is "mayoral control" of NY City public schools.
The public schools have been criminally mismanaged for 20 years.

First Bloomberg, and now de Blasio.
It is time to leave "mayoral control" behind and do
what is necessary to restore sanity, quality and achievement to the NY city public schools.

The UFT, in a world where it actually represents the safety of teachers, should file criminal charges against de Blasio for reckless endangerment. There is abundant evidence for de Blasio's criminal mismanagement.

Enough of de Blasio' criminal mismanagement.

Also, someone should tell de Blasio that no one voted for him in the presidential primaries
and no one will vote for him for governor, He should stop wasting other peoples money
and move on.

Anonymous said...

So it's not an option? I thought Mulgrew said that DeBlasio understands a remote option is needed. I've been telling parents, dont worry it's coming. Any day now. If this sounds like sarcasm, it isnt.

Anonymous said...

He says what we all say.dibozo and meisha dont care.unless there is a huge push from parents who refuse to send their kids, it eont make a bit of diff.till enough people die or get very sick.doe is a sinking ship, like the Titanic.

Anonymous said...

But he wont get in yrouble like cuomo and thr seniors.

Anonymous said...

Is this a remote option for teachers as well?

Anonymous said...

If they're not considering a remote option for students what makes you think an option for teachers will even be considered? They don't even want a remote option for those with medical exemptions.

Anonymous said...

9:51 it really is up to the parents and if they want schools open, they will be. But there should be a remote option. In lower grades if students dont show up they call CPS so they cant just not show

Anonymous said...

The Mayor's approach to covid management in public schools is a quiet capitulation to just letting this virus loose. Cases will skyrocket as soon as unvaccinated children are sent into school buildings. The only question now is how serious those cases will be.

At least we have the strongest union...Nevermind.

Marc said...

Mulgrew even said that there should be hundreds of thousands of cps cases open when students don't show up. I work at a transfer school. We had 50% attendance before the pandemic. We will likely have 10% attendance this year. Who cares? Nobody. We are just babysitters who commit grade fraud. I'll take my $128k and move on.

With that said, there shouldn't be a remote option for students because they will take advantage, just as they did the last 2 years. Remote, to them, means they don't even have to log in. I taught to 2 people out if 34 every period. And Porter says that's perfectly fine because they can somehow still show mastery. Ridiculous. If I have to travel, so do they.

Marc said...

You can find the video on twitter.

Teacher calls student “piece of shit” and threatens to call the cops for taking his mask off:

Anonymous said...

Unless parents make a HUGE stink for a remote option, it will not happen. And we all know that the only parents who do make a stink are the Karens and Kens who want schools open with no vaccinations or mask mandates for their kids.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, carranza was shacking up with a six figure hire. So glad Mulgrew said carranza was a brother from another mother. So glad James encourages his sheep to pay dues.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/04/ex-chancellor-carranza-shacking-up-with-staffer-he-hired-for-six-figure-job/

Anonymous said...


Gillian McKeith
@GillianMcKeith
·
18h
Israel warns that a FOURTH jab will be needed.. Virus czar calls to begin readying for eventual 4th vaccine dose | The Times of Israel

Anonymous said...

It is inevitable that students and employees will get sick and die because of de Blasio's poor judgment.

In similar act of poor judgment, Andrew Cuomo brought about the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of nursing home patients. In fact , he hid 12,000 nursing home deaths so as to save face with the federal government and the news media. That is a fact!

It is also a fact that the DOE is not prepared to start schools on Thursday. The DOE/NY city does not have enough PPE, body bags for the dead, and contingency plans for the impending disaster.

Stay safe? WTF!

Anonymous said...

@12:41

"Carranza and Mulgrew are 'twin half brothers' from the same mother." I think that is what Mulgrew said.

Anonymous said...

A lot in NYC are vaxxed, and a lot had covid and recovered. We may be close to herd immunity. We might be ok. Nobody knows yet, but I thought I'd say it just to counter all the hysteric comments.

Anonymous said...

As Trautman said in First Blood, "It's over Johnny, IT'S OVER!"

Anonymous said...

4th jab already??either they are lying or more likely, its a colossal failure.we can see that by the numbers.so why are we following their failure pattern?they werethe experiment and its a massive failure?how can they day 4 before most got the third?is everyone stuck on stupid?

Anonymous said...

MARC:whete did yoy hear this?if it is true, it really shows what an ass he is.he is already a geezer too!therr is no way to go after so many parents.just too many.nkw if they kept their kids home and did a legal pushback against such a crazy accusation, it would help everyone.the rest if the country must be laughing at us.why would anyone move here??i am surprised that i havent seen a call to keep kids home.

Anonymous said...

And i wpuld be willing to teach students at their homes as long as they are masked.
Ichabod crane, lol!

Anonymous said...

Hospitalizations in Washington continue to rise, weeks after the state reinstated masks for all.

In fact the latest mandate has failed so spectacularly, Seattle is hilariously bringing back outdoor masks.

The more masks fail, the more we need them!

Anonymous said...

@245pm. Thank you for your rational response here. It is exceedingly rare.

Anonymous said...

I’m missing all those terrifying stories of schools closing because of COVID cases and kids quarantining. Please post those stories. We need to let people know how dangerous it is to open schools. No one should have to risk getting COVID ! How many kids are getting cases ? They’re immune systems aren’t fully developed yet !

Anonymous said...

COVID positives among NFL players in August were much higher among unvaccinated players. Only 0.3 percent of vaccinated players tested positive for COVID-19 from Aug. 1-21. That figure jumped to 2.2 percent among unvaccinated players, a rate seven times higher, according to the NFL's research.

This is why we need vaccine mandates. Look at all these unvaxxed players getting COVID. We need to end this pandemic by vaccinating the whole country. Even 2% of all unvaxxed NFL players are testing positive. This is unacceptable !

The Veteran NY Teacher said...

When an article is headlined “Teachers College Professor Calls For…” I just can’t take it seriously.

Is there a less reputable place for education advice and theories than Teachers College?

Anonymous said...

Columbia University is not reputable? Say what?

Anonymous said...

This happened in Illinois. The teacher is a band teacher and musician, Scott Grigoletto.

www.google.com/search?q=%22Scott+Grigoletto%22

The Veteran NY Teacher said...


9:28:00

I wouldn’t say Columbia University is not reputable. That is very broad and simplistic.

I did say Teachers College has been the source of so much absolutely awful education advice and theory it is simply not reputable. Here in the trenches it is now a punchline. (Of course the grads and profs take themselves very seriously… which makes it all the more hysterical.)

Anonymous said...

Agree with 9:19. Been to enough TC workshops to know Columbia is now a farce of an education when it comes to teaching teachers.

Anonymous said...

Victorian quarantine hub
Protecting the community from COVID-19 with a purpose-built quarantine facility.

https://www.vic.gov.au/victorian-quarantine-hub

Maybe this could help the situation for our city schools.

Anonymous said...

Happy, healthy Labor Day and L'Shonah Tovah to those celebrating a new and hopefully better year.

Anonymous said...

6:39, well saying "when an article is headlined “Teachers College Professor Calls For…” I just can’t take it seriously", without specific examples of this awful education advice and theories, sounds just as broad and specific.

Sounded like you just dismissed the article without even bother to see if it had any merit to it.

7:26 your post comes across as a lie. lol.

Anonymous said...

typo: that should say broad and simplistic.

JR said...

Remember when biden said "Vaxxed or masked?"

I guess that was a lie as well.

BREAKING: Cowboys' Pro Bowler Zack Martin has tested positive for #COVID19, despite being fully vaccinated. Martin will miss the first game of the season against the Bucs due to the NFL’s strict Covid policies.

Remember when they said the vaccine would keep you from getting and spreading COVID?

Anonymous said...

People who work at Teachers College are a bunch of losers. They could not cut in the real classrooms of NYC so now they hide behind bullshit consulting gigs telling us the "best" way to teach.

Anonymous said...

11:39 how much do they make?

Anonymous said...

11:12... nobody ever said the Vax was a 100% guarantee. His case will probably be mild.

Anonymous said...

1:32 TC gets about $1500 per day. No idea what consultant’s cut is.

Prehistoric pedagogue said...

I very much doubt that there is a single full-time faculty member of TC who could last until lunch in any NYC middle school. If our medical schools were as lacking in practical knowledge as TC the hearses would make every highway in the state look like the BQE

Anonymous said...

It's sounds like it may be similar to other teaching programs I've heard about. The training includes videos that were obviously filmed at Charter schools so the reality is far different from the reality. If you were to film the reality of middle or high schools, potential teachers would trip over themselves running the hell outta there.

So they give little suggestions which sound cute in theory, but are ridiculous, like turn and talk. But in NYC school environments you could provide rules about protocols for discussion and then practice, practice, practice.

Also, teaching schools use "I Do, We Do, You Do". That too works if you could settle the students down long enough to model what you want them to do, so everything starts with classroom management.

I don't know about this specific Teaching College but I get the feeling that's some of what's going on here. It feels like a bait and switch but the new teachers do come in knowing about Danielson, the latest technology, and various classroom management techniques. For example a lot of teachers that I've noticed that struggle the most do not use a formal tone, which is the equivalent of teachers saying they don't smile before December. And they don't use a timer. I knew a teacher who would lock his door at the late bell and if you were late, you had to wait for the quiz to be over. It's like you always have to try new things, and Teaching Colleges give you a toolbox full of tricks if you're open to translating those techniques for a NYC classroom.

Maybe turn on soft music. I had an AP tell me that the music was a little boring. I didn't pay her any mind and I told her about it, because I know when to use hip hop music vs. soothing music and I know my students, and they were quiet, and working.

Anonymous said...

Biden said vaxxed or masked. That was a lie.

Anonymous said...

Biden is setting policy for NYC? I think not.

Anonymous said...

Nowhere in the country does vaxxed or masked apply according to Biden even though that is his quote. So it's a lie.

Anonymous said...

Originally it was vaxxed or masked until the vaccine received full approval. Get over it.

Anonymous said...

7:16 so many surges all over the place, school's about to open and there are no exemptions, no remote options, no social distance, and all you can do is whine about a Biden quote from months ago which we were not able to keep to because of death wish cultists like you who would rather die and kill your entire families just to "own the libs"? Grow the hell up because you sound small and petty. Nobody gives a damn about "vaxx or mask" because you crybabies can't handle the mask without having a complete unhinged meltdown. Now it's vaxx or get the hell out. Go find a job with your like minded right wing pals.

Anon2323 said...

Ahead of the curve again!!! Vaccines causing issues with menstruation need to study.

https://nypost.com/2021/09/07/nih-to-study-how-covid-19-vaccine-impacts-menstrual-cycle/

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/08/09/1024190379/covid-vaccine-period-menstrual-cycle-research