LOS ANGELES — Amid COVID-19 infections and deaths surging to record highs, Trump’s threats to open schools prematurely, and a groundbreaking research paper that outlines necessary conditions for safely reopening schools, the UTLA Board of Directors and Bargaining Team are calling on LAUSD to keep school campuses closed when the semester begins on Aug. 18.
“It is time to take a stand against Trump’s dangerous, anti-science agenda that puts the lives of our members, our students, and our families at risk,” said UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz. “We all want to physically open schools and be back with our students, but lives hang in the balance. Safety has to be the priority. We need to get this right for our communities.”
A little later on:
Even before the spike in infections and Trump's reckless talk, there were serious issues with starting the year on school campuses. The state and federal governments have not provided the additional resources or funds needed for increased health and safety measures and there is not enough time for the district to put together the detailed, rigorous plans for a safe return to campus.
And what about hearing from the membership of the union?
UTLA is also engaging all members in a poll on Friday, July 10, to find out where they stand on re-opening campuses. UTLA will notify members and the media the results of the poll Friday night.
We are still waiting for that UFT poll unless I missed it and would anyone trust it to be fair anyway?
And more from LA as there is an update today from Fox 11LA:
LOS ANGELES - The union representing teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District is urging schools to keep campuses closed. The 2020-21 school year is set to begin next month.
“We are asking the district not to reopen schools physically but to instead focus on negotiation on a robust distance learning program for the fall of 2020, UTLA Bargaining Co-Chair Arlene Inouye said during Friday morning’s virtual update.
United Teachers Los Angeles said it is not safe to return to school campuses amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and that distance learning is the best way to go for the safety of students, teachers and staff.
“We are asking the district not to reopen schools physically but to instead focus on negotiation on a robust distance learning program for the fall of 2020, UTLA Bargaining Co-Chair Arlene Inouye said during Friday morning’s virtual update.
During an appearance on Good Day LA in May, LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beautner confirmed school is back in session on August 18, whether students or back on campus or not.
Parents have voiced concerns about the lack of clear messaging about what the next school year entails.
I wish we had a real union representing us here in NYC. I do not agree with every position UTLA takes but I certainly think they are fighting for their members and their students as their priority, not for their own perks and power.
Update: We have the poll results via Diane Ravitch:
POLL Results: 83% of UTLA members say LAUSD schools should not physically reopen August 18
Out of the more than 18,000 UTLA members who submitted responses to our informal poll in less than 12 hours, 83% agree with the UTLA Board of Directors and Bargaining Team that LAUSD should not physically reopen schools on August 18.
Because of the overwhelming response to the online member poll, the deadline to submit responses was extended to 8 pm. There were technical issues related to some aggressive spam filters that interfered with delivery and the poll function. The poll asked one question: Do you agree with the UTLA Board of Directors and UTLA Bargaining Team that LAUSD should not physically reopen school campuses on August 18th?
21 comments:
Hong Kong reported 38 new coronavirus cases on Friday, edging down from Thursday’s 42 but broadly in line with a sharp increase that the city registered over the past three days.
Authorities said 32 of the new cases were locally transmitted after the city reported mostly imported cases for months.
The total number of cases since late January now stands at 1,404. Seven people have died.
In NYC, we get hundreds of cases a day still.
Well, too bad we pay mulgrew $1600 a year...each. Wow.
This is how a union fights for what is right. They got an agreement on remote learning in LA. We were sent into buildings in March in NY to get infected.
WaPo
Daily coronavirus death toll in U.S. increases after months of decline, as hospitals in hot-spot states are overwhelmed
The United States reported more than 4,200 deaths in the past seven days, and experts warn that the trend could continue to get worse.
The U.S. also reported its highest single-day infections — more than 67,000 cases — on Thursday.
Trump got this shit under control. Send us all back to the subways and school buildings.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/07/09/covid-19-school-reopenings-arizona-teachers/5411122002/
Every year, Mrs. Byrd taught folk dance to her first-grade students.
And though she had once retired, Mrs. Byrd loved teaching so much, she couldn't help but return to the classroom, her husband, Jesse Byrd, said.
Now she's gone. Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd died June 26 after testing positive for COVID-19.
She taught first grade in the Hayden-Winkelman Unified School District in a small eastern Arizona community. Before she tested positive, Byrd and two other teachers taught a summer school class virtually from the same classroom. All three teachers came down with the virus.
Byrd, 61, was admitted to a hospital and put on a ventilator for more than a dozen days, her condition slowly deteriorating, before she died. Now, the community is grieving for a teacher her colleagues say was ingrained in the fabric of their school system and a matriarch her family says was the center of their world.
The teachers who survived also say Byrd's death is a stark reminder of the risks teachers will face if school reopens too soon.
The news of Byrd's death comes as President Donald Trump wages a campaign to reopen schools on time, even suggesting federal funding from schools that don't open could be "cut off."
"Everything is safety, safety, safety," said Jena Martinez-Inzunza, a Hayden-Winkelman teacher. "What a contradiction to be threatened by the president. What a contradiction to be bullied: 'Do this, or I'm going to pull funding.' What a contradiction to say our kids lives matter … Why would you push to open schools?"
Three teachers in one classroom. They thought they were being 'very careful'
Byrd's district conducts summer school every year. Usually, teachers put together fun science-based lessons for students, said Angela Skillings, one of the three teachers who tested positive for COVID-19.
This year proved to be different: As a pandemic raged, summer school was moved online.
Skillings, Martinez-Inzunza and Byrd taught their summer class together, the students a mix of kindergartners, first- and second-graders.
School reopening plans are now part of COVID-19 politics: Teachers fear for their safety.
The educators decided to teach virtually while together in the same classroom, but took what they thought were extensive measures: They wore masks, they disinfected equipment and kept distance between each other.
"We were very careful," Skillings said.
The last two are from USA Today.
EdSource
Friday, July 10, 6:40 p.m. Oakland Unified announces it will start school year with all students in distance learning on Aug 10, then phase in in-person instruction
One month before school is set to start in Oakland Unified, the district announced that all students will begin classes remotely on Aug. 10, based on recommendations from district staff and public health experts. This means all students will learn from home in virtual online classes until it is safe for the district to begin phasing in in-person instruction for the most vulnerable students, including those who are in special education, and those who are homeless or foster youth, said district spokesman John Sasaki...The district is in the process of negotiating its new 2020-21 procedures and protocols with unions and expects to release more information Monday, when it will host an online community town hall meeting from 5-7 p.m.
The unions in California look out for their members. Distance learning has to be negotiated.
I am a well known, highly dedicated, passionate, innovative, public school educator, teacher leader and have been for 10 years. I have not been asked to be part of one working group, meeting, or conversation on the return to school. Have you?
Seems like educators i.e. workers are replaceable. We are the cogs in the machine that keeps the rich wealthy. All is well. Not
Trump logic looks like this:
Coronavirus is so dangerous Paul Manafort is serving his prison time at home, but safe enough for our kids to go back to school.
It's all about not allowing teacher to sit on their butts anymore. They want us to work. Look at Florida with all their new cases and they still are opening Disneyworld.
The liberal govt let everybody out of jail. Bail reform. Covid. Cant blame trump for the thousands of other inmates released.
Too bad the uft isn't there to back us.
What will happen with the schools is a state by state decision. Look at the governor and state leaders for commendations or blame. Trump can encourage the governors to open the schools but the final decisions are not his. Trump is not to blame for the decisions each state makes about its schools.
How shitty is it to keep hearing about the awesome job many teachers unions are doing to protect their members while Mulgoon sits on his ass and sucks up to the mayor. Remember Mulgoon said a couple of weeks ago that, "NYC schools will not open up in September unless the Heroes Act passes." Well guess what, we ARE planning to open up in September and the Heroes act has not passed. He was full of crap then and he is full of crap now. If one single teacher dies come September, he, the mayor, the chancellor, and the governor will have blood on their hands once again.
@8:31 am: Is Trump the president or not? If he's tired of playing with the role, he should step aside. It seems like we are his GI Joe and Jane dolls and he's just playing with our lives. Don't you get it?
He
Doesn't
Care
About
Us or US.
Many people do not understand the truth behind masks. The negative impact on the human body by increased lung drive, decreased oxygen, and increased cortisol (stress) levels. Fact is the virus is much smaller than the pores in any mask. Many people with health conditions will worsen their illnesses by wearing ��. There is NO safe way to open school. Plus, many will resist if it is forced.
12:20 AM. You are absolutely right. The bottom line is that remote learning is a farce and everyone knows it. There is just no support for keeping teachers on full salary while at home. And there is no union backing for the teachers to do it either
1:55 I never knew that about the masks. Where can we get more information on that? I wouldn't want to wear the mask for 6 hours a day. I don't know how workers in grocery stores and other places do it.
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