This is from NBC 5 Chicago:
While it remains unclear if Chicago Public Schools will resume in-person instruction this fall, many teachers have voiced concerns, wondering if returning to the classroom is worth the risk.
At a press conference unrelated to the schools' decision on Thursday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said details on the district's reopening plan are set to be released, though she declined to give a specific timeline.
Paula Barajas, a special education teacher at Ruiz Elementary School on the city's West Side, said keeping schools clean was a challenge even before the coronavirus pandemic.
"...Doing it now during a pandemic makes me really nervous," she said. "I don't have confidence it can be done."
CPS has said it will work to develop its own rules and regulations to allow children to return to schools safely. Officials have planned to gather feedback from parents, teachers and other staff.
According to a survey by the Chicago Teachers Union, 85% of respondents feel they should not or might not go back to the classroom unless there is a detailed plan and resources guaranteeing a safe return.
"I haven’t heard much about PPE. I haven’t heard much about the six feet distancing," Barajas said. "I haven’t heard much about deep cleaning and what that would look like."
According to guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, students and staff must wear face coverings, hand sanitizer must be readily available and daily temperature checks will be required.
However, teachers say those rules alone don't go far enough to ensure a safe return.
"How do we minimize the number of people in a space?" said Stacy Davis-Gates, CTU vice president. "How do we have good air ventilation in those spaces? How do we make sure we are conforming our space to meet kindergartners, high school students?"
You get the point. Do you see President Mulgrew questioning the deep cleaning or ventilation in NYC? On ventilation, Mulgrew said, "School HVACs for ventilation are being improved." What does that even mean? Many school buildings have terrible ventilation.
In NYC, we seem to hear a great deal about getting federal Heroes Act money and not much about how rank and file UFTers feel about opening school buildings in a truly safe way. Has the UFT even surveyed all of its members on returning as LA and Chicago unions have? If I missed it, I will gladly correct the record.
83% in LA say stay closed. 85% in Chicago say there have to be resources for a safe return.Nothing on NYC where many more died but Mulgrew has his highchair at the table.
ReplyDeleteThe NYC Department of Education has put forward the outline of its plan for our public schools next fall. They call it “blended learning.” But to many parents, it sounds more like “disaster.” Many of you have been asking: with kids in school only one-half or even one-third of the time, how could I possibly go to work? It’s a question we can and must answer.
ReplyDeleteAbout half of elementary school families (and nearly 30% of those with middle schoolers) indicated in a recent survey that they would need child care for the time their kids aren’t in the classroom. But so far the City has no plans to provide it. Under the proposed DOE plan, you can have a kid, or you can have a job, but you can’t really have both.
NY Post
ReplyDeleteGov. Andrew Cuomo predicted New York will see another bump in coronavirus cases because of the pandemic’s surge in many southern and western states — and admitted the quarantine he imposed on visitors from hotspot areas will be unable to stop it.
“Look, we’re doing everything we can. The quarantine, we have an enforcement mechanism. But, you know, how do you catch somebody driving in, right? I mean, it’s very very difficult, it’s trying to catch water in a screen,” Cuomo said Friday on WAMC radio.
Cuomo imposed a travel advisory on 19 states with rising COVID-19 infections — including California, Florida and Texas — that requires visitors from these areas to quarantine for 14 days upon entering New York.
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“You’re going to see our numbers and the Northeast numbers probably start to increase because the virus that you see now in the south and the west, California has real trouble, it’s going to come back here,” he said.
When a sociopath tells you to send your kids to school in a pandemic what do you do?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Nationwide teacher's strike.
Go back in. Hip hip hooray. The sociopath has enough sense to have your back. Right? Yes. Go back in. What can happen?
DeleteWhat happened with the survey completed by DOE employees? - Nobody has shared those results...
ReplyDeleteAnybody was able to access and complete the "parents" survey... Assuming those who completed it were parents, it was only 75% of those who answered that want their children inside school buildings...; that is not 75% of actual parents.
If malls are required to update their AC systems, and indoor dining in NYC is not allowed..., how can they justify having people indoors in school buildings (for a much longer time than you would spend eating inside a restaurant) and without the necessary updates to AC systems?
" In 18 years I’ve had vomit, urine, blood and even poop (back when I taught middle school none-the-less I don’t even know how that happened) in my room, not to mention spit and snot. Kid coworkers are not the same as adults. �� I teach elementary art- 400 students. 20 or so at a time, five or six classes a day. So much exposure. I’m nervous. And I love my job and hated distance learning because I miss my kids! I really do want to go back! But this is scary stuff and I don’t see how we’ll be safe." - Tracy Rose
ReplyDeleteIn all of this talk of child care I am confused. When I was raising my children as single parent, I paid through the nose to access child care for my children so that I could continue working. My personal dilemmas had nothing to to with ability to get my job done. Yes, I did hit roadblocks now and then that had to be worked out. I am forever grateful to my employer's who cut me some slack. But, this narrative playing over and over that society is responsible for your childcare conveniences or expenses is being overly exasperated at this point. We all do what we have to do and if that means you have to pay someone, anyone, a neighbor $60.00 a week then so be it.
ReplyDeleteThat's my opinion, I lived the circumstances and have succeeded in spite of having to pay out so my children were monitored. Guess what was the sweet reward??? My children saw my hard work and perseverance, they grew up to be college graduates with sustaining careers of their own. I am a Very Proud Single Parent!! A job well done!
$60 a week. You got away dirt cheap. Is your neighbor available?
ReplyDeleteLol. Her children are in college so today's rate is probably higher.
DeleteIf something happens to me, my family will sue.
ReplyDelete@7:06: Good for you. I'm sure your children are not only proud to have a determined mom but also a mom who provided them with a wonderful roadmap. My mom was widowed at 45. She too did what had to be done to raise 4 children under 17. All college graduates and contributors to society.
ReplyDeleteNY1:
ReplyDeleteTitle: Can NYC Make its Century-Old School Buildings Safe from Coronavirus?:
City Councilman Mark Treyger told NY1 though; he's concerned that the ventilation in some schools will put teachers and students at risk. He wants to give the health department the authority to inspect all public schools.
"For some reason, the Mayor's office does not allow health inspectors entering school buildings,” Treyger explained. "The Mayor's plan that he released with the Chancellor is incomplete and leaves many people unready."
The Department of Education responded to Councilman Treyger's criticism saying maintenance will be performed on school HVAC and ventilation systems: “We will not compromise the health and safety of New Yorkers. We are using every resource available to us to prepare schools, and the two months until they reopen we’ll continue to work in lockstep with health experts and adjust and finalize plans to keep everyone safe.”
CNN- Leader of teachers union (Randi Weingarten): DeVos has done nothing to teachers last few years. Also makes mention that CDC documents warned of "highest risk" if schools fully reopened.
ReplyDeleteAs the debate continues about the reopening of schools, Bill Gates continues to talk about the status of the corona virus in the USA. Does he have a medical degree? Is he Fauci?
ReplyDeleteIt is no secret that distance learning is essentially no learning at all. Yes, the bright motivated kids still learn but the average kids zone out, the Special Ed kids struggle, and the kids who cleverly avoid work and learning in person do so even more effectively on line.
ReplyDeleteWe ought to start with the given that the kids will be in their schools all day in September and plan social distancing, hygiene, and masks from there.
We know the disease does not kill kids (outlier alert!) and vulnerable older folk have to have extra protections.
The city's 3000+ Day Care Facilities are opening Monday July 13 ...staff will be there.
Schools can figure it out too.
Where is the explanation and discussion of why 70 DOE employees died needlessly in March and April?
ReplyDeleteAre we going to dishonor the memory of our fallen comrades by passively submitting to the failed judgment of our incompetent school chancellor?
Are teacher's sacrificial employees who are unwilling to fight for their safety, the safety of their families and the safety of their students?
Is Mulgrew and the UFt beholden to the boss of NY city so that Mulgrew can have a highchair at the negotiation table.
Will our classrooms and shared bathrooms become novel killing zones in September?
Who will validate that the air exchange and ventilation are adequate to prevent to super spreader outbreaks?
WE KNOW FROM OUR EXPERIENCE OF YEARS OF WITH ABUSE, MALFEASANCE AND MISMANAGEMENT THAT THAT WE CAN NOT TRUST MULGREW OF THE DOE!
No worries, Trump will protect you. He is working on a plan to ensure that the teachers are safe. He's even willing to withhold federal funds.
DeleteAssuming the day all North Americans are vaccinated with a 100% effective vaccine is not around the corner, we've got to return to in-person education while protecting the vulnerable.
ReplyDelete(I know the 'vaccine or nada' crew as well as the political #resistnormalcy folks might have difficulty with the above.)
7:18: Although I'm not taking the doe's side, there is no way those 70 teacher could prove they got covid from the schools they went to. It's like blaming McDonald's because you're overweight or a certain cleaner as to the reason you got Cancer, so I think the doe taking blame for those teachers is never going to happen if you view it through that perspective.
ReplyDeleteWe stayed open in NY when the disease was spreading out of control in March. Those 75+ deaths of our brothers and sisters were all a coincidence? Yeah and I have a bridge to sell you.
ReplyDeleteThe DOE operates under the presumption of malfeasance, corruption and incompetence.
ReplyDeleteYes, UFT leadership constantly deflects from actually fighting for teachers because they claim we have to focus 100% on post Janus dues collection. Dead educators can't pay dues, and if this is what's happening to teachers now, no one is going to want to become one in the future.
ReplyDeleteAnybody else waiting for the @UFT to back Cuomo's inevitable "Everybody back to school!" call and send their shills out to attack any critics w/ #UFTdoingtheright thing or some other jive, just as they did for the lost (and uncompensated) spring break?
Spring break comp?
ReplyDeletePerhaps this year we’ll see the first nationwide teachers strike. The lives of many, it seems, will depend on it.
ReplyDeleteMulgrew will be the holdout. Can't risk those precious dues.
ReplyDeleteThe buildings will not be safe in September, PERIOD.
ReplyDeleteOur school year calendar? Our Spring Break pay?
ReplyDeleteDoe any reading this blog trust the DOE or UFT?
Speak up or forever hold your peace!
Lets watch Mulgrew fold like a cheap suit.
ReplyDelete1:46 PM how do cheap suits fold differently from expensive ones?
ReplyDeleteIs that a riddle? Can't wait for answer?
ReplyDelete1:46 PM Check out how your own suits fold. Do your own homework
ReplyDelete