The numbers are in. The families of NYC by an overwhelming margin want no part of in-person schooling during a pandemic.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza gave parents a one-time-only offer in November to return to in-person schooling. We now know that only 35,000 of over 700,000 students who were all remote had their parents sign up to apply for in-person learning during the opt-in window in November. That's about 5% of the all remote students. The vast majority of parents, including my wife and me, are not buying that schools are safe. We are keeping our kids home until this pandemic is behind us.
These almost non-existent return percentages come despite a huge propaganda campaign led by the mayor, the NY Times, the governor, other media outlets, UFT President Michael Mulgrew ("We've proven to people we can open our schools safely"), and even some activists saying that school buildings should be open in a pandemic.
When we subtract the 6,000 who left in-person blended learning at the same time as the 35,000 signed up to go back, it means that around 700,000 students of the approximately 1 million NYC students want fully remote schooling. Even the very pro-open NY times education reporter Eliza Shapiro was left wondering about remote learning from these conclusive statistics.
The results raised urgent questions about why the city had spent so many months rushing to prepare school buildings while spending relatively little time focusing on improving remote learning. Almost all children will spend much of their time learning remotely, and about 700,000 students will spend their entire week taking online classes.
Further down:
About 60,000 children who have requested devices from the city for remote learning have not received them, and others are still struggling to connect to Wi-Fi.
Mulgrew and the Chancellor had basically no answers this morning on Up Close on Channel 7. Carranza blamed the problem with remote learning on a backlog for devices that he said was a supply problem because of so much competition with other districts. Mulgrew went on about how the DOE's instructional people left it to the schools on remote learning and how our most vulnerable students need in-person learning.
We all knew the second wave of COVID-19 was coming. Parents saying no to in-person schooling should be viewed as a huge rebuke of the mayor, chancellor, and UFT president who have spent so much time trying to open up schools and not enough on the vast majority of families who want no part of it.
Instead of even talking about a premature second reopening of school buildings that should never have opened in the first place, why don't the UFT and DOE make their major focus on maximizing the remote learning experience? Let's get as many students as possible to be able to successfully log onto online classes. Everyone needs a working device and wifi. How about a Situation Room for that and a map of tech needs and real widespread tech support?
Remote learning is now the mode of instruction for everyone in NYC and it will be for the vast majority of NYC families until a safe vaccine for COVID-19 is widely available, probably next spring. The mayor and UFT need to deal with that reality and not cater to a small group of vocal parents and their media supporters who want buildings to open no matter what it seems.
Closely examine the city's own Situation Room web-page if you don't buy what most parents have figured out: Schools are not safe. There's no need to consider reopening buildings in the near term.
Sue Edelman covered the testing in schools issue today in the NY Post.
Finally, for everyone who argues that schools are basically immune from spreading the virus, this piece from WSWS is worth a read even if you don't have a socialist bone in your body.
32 comments:
One point. Those who chose blended are still not going in.
The million dollar question is if Cuomo is going to force NYC schools to open again when the state data concludes NYC is actually at 3%. The pissing match is getting very old my friends.
Thank you James, I do not trust that the schools are safe. Even healthy people get sick. I know for myself, I'd rather stay remote until the vaccines are given and the pandemic is over. I do not feel safe in schools sorry not sorry. They should have focused more on remote instruction.
I teach a Remote Only class. None of my families were the the least bit engaged with the idea of opting their children into buildings for blended learning. In fact, families communicated they are so relieved now they made this remote only decision early on given the way Covid-19 things are playing out around the city. Not one family entertained the idea of opting for blended learning.
Also, do you really think they are going to force students to get tested? Fat chance!
I'm not supporting or defending the mayor or the chancellor.
However, the children of more educated, more affluent parents, children who will succeed in remote or in almost any mode at all are not the focus of a progressive mayor and his progressive chancellor. The argument for the majority is not one the mayor hears. He hears the minority, the poor, the underclass, the special education kids, the other city. This is the tale he hears and governs for. At least that's how he sees it and sees himself.
Seriously, mulgrew said he was going to negotiate the spring break days in October 2020. What is going on? Can we get something finalized? I will take CAR days. Just get it done.
Mulgrew wants regional closures not citywide closures. Unbelievable.
Why not do what Gov DeSantis did in Fla and have a fully remote option for parents who want that and then real 5-day school for everyone else?
This can be paired with a "no-excuses" policy for remote. No-showing for class equals truant, and if your dog ate your phone, you can go to real school instead where you can't turn off video or go mute.
In my (home) school district, 80% chose in person. No subway of course, but I wonder how many City students and parents didn't want to bother coming in only 1 or 2 days a week in the 3-cohort schools.
Tjl,
Doe would never do that because students run the show.
Lol. Students would fail and then it would be because of racism.
TJL,
That full time in school option needs to be staffed by volunteers. If you want to go in and freeze your ass off to keep adequate ventilation, go right ahead but let teachers who wish to work from home continue to do so, no questions asked.
Agreed anonymous 8:06, Teachers should have the option to be remote and let the volunteers like TJL go in. I for one rather stay remote and not put myself and my family in danger.
Students who are signed up for blended often don't attend at all. It skews the statistics just to show that they are signed up for blended because not signing up for anything puts them in the category of blended - whereas many still registered as "blended" go remote!
You are wrong Shelley. De Blasio hears his Park Slope donors, not the poor. Underclass knows this is bullshit. Park sSlopers are the ones who want schools open. It's limousine liberals.
What is an appropriate amount to have in the tda if you are 40 and plan on quitting in the next year?
I meant total amount accrued up to this point
@9:23 I am 40 and have 165,000 qpp/tda not sure if that is even good.
People who needed accommodations and are most prone are home. This is not march/april where people on ventilators and dying. The mortality rate is so low.
Biggest problem is the arbitrary 3%, CDC says 5%. City students are going to be in major trouble except for the few elite schools. I never received proper paternity leave with the ridiculous rules with two married NYC teachers, this year and a half is a blessing for a near 20 year vet (selfishly).
Tjl
Your statement assumes that a student is required to attend when classes are “live”. They aren’t. Check state regs and city policy
As negotiations on a new contract stall, the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union announced its intention to strike.
And we wait 12 years for retro
To Sunday, November 22, 2020 9:30:00 PM
It's next to impossible to answer a question about your TDA without more information. The advice to put the maximum in the TDA makes the most sense for most teachers and is generally very good advice, but it assumes a family or individual can afford to do so and that there is no better option. Your question is about how much money you may need in the future. We can't tell you that with the limited information you provided. Since you didn't tell us how long you have been enrolled in the TDA program we can't even guess how much you should have in your TDA. Moreover, we have no idea how much money, if any, you have elsewhere, what your plans are, what you will do for income if you quit at age 40. Mu advice is not not seek financial advice on a blog, even a blog dedicated to teacher finances. At age 40 you should know more about money than your question implies. The subject is complex and there is more disinformation and marketing than astute advice online. Most of the calculations for retirement used by advisers assumes you don't have a pension or a TDA or access to a good healthcare plan before 65 because most people today don't. So our is a unique and special situation; we have very good problems and choices.
That said, if you have been working as a teacher for 15 years and saved, on average, $1,000 in your TDA you might $300,000 or more by now.
While the TDA is not, strictly speaking, compounding interest at 7%, you can use this handy calculator to figure out what you might have saved.
https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator
While the typical American Yahoo continues to take sides in the battle over what US states, governors, cities, mayors, in blue and red states are doing a better job fighting the virus, the USA, the wealthiest country in the world, with the greatest scientific capacity is still one of the worst at dealing with Covid. Peru, a relatively poor country with political turmoil that makes the US look, well, not like the bandana republic it has looked like in dealing with Covid, is worse. Brazil is about the same. And there are a handful of developed states, Italy, the UK, Spain that have about the same deplorable record. To argue that Florida is doing a good job, a decent job of fighting Covid is to ignore the facts, the data, the deaths. Florida's deaths / million has been three times that of NY recently, so that it is slowly catching up with the leader in that grim statistic, not only the leader in the USA, but in the world. NY has more deaths /million than anyplace on Earth, but the world and the US are still, despite the medias insistence that we are in wave-2, in wave one. And we are in winter. While there may not be a wave 2, previous corona viruses have had two or more waves and each one more deadly.
We might learn from the African nations. There, the cooperation of states, experience fighting deadly diseases, and limited options have helped keep the deaths / million low.
10:05 I think you're talking about grading policy. It references mastery which we both know isn't happening but we both also know DiBozo and Carranza won't enforce.
I'm talking about truancy. Every minor in NYS is required to go to school. A child with unexcused absences can have an ACS case opened. NYPD picks up truant students all the time and drops them off at schools. This is one reason SI high schoolers spend their days at the movies and at Jose Tejas in Jersey.
I'd also love more info about how many of the 30% are actually showing up. My school has about 5% actually coming regularly. Most seem to be using it as a placeholder so they have the option to return.
I work at a transfer school, we have maybe 5 in person daily, the whole day.
I would be resigning and not working and living off savings.
Would need to pay for medical
I am 40
I already own a home in another state in cash
I may resign in a few months. I will be resigning by September 2020 at the very, very latest. i hung on this long because I wanted to get the retro, and I'm considering getting to that time to have 20 years, makes a big pension difference.
There must be big differences across the system. Last week I saw 19 out of 20 students I was scheduled to teach this morning, all of whom I watched successfully complete the worksheet after the lesson. Today I "saw" 2 of them, and while they communicated via the chat box, who knows whether they really know the work.
10:01 in my opinion 165k is nowhere near what you will need in tda if you plan to live off it. You can’t collect your pension til 55. With only 20 yrs you will have a reduced pension if you collect before 62. Don’t resign. Do what you can and don’t worry about the rest and wait to get fired. If you’re going to quit anyway, why not stick around, relax a bit and let them try to fire you. I’m not saying don’t teach. I’m saying fuck their hoops they expect you to jump through. If I were going to take a reduced pension and was only 40 I would want at least 700K in my tda before I left...maybe even more. UFT advised 300k in addition to full tier 4 pension. Remember your pension cost of living increases will be crumbs so you need substantial savings as well so you’re not old and broke one day. Good luck.
There are two 40 year olds asking here...I'm not sure i want to share all the very specific info in public. Some of us can no longer take the pain. Shelley, do you have an email address?
Week over week comparison school open vs closed (same cohort)
Last week in person:
Period 1 8/9 89%
Period 3 11/11 100%
Period 5 7/9 78%
Period 6 7/10 70%
Period 7 (remote class) 4/39 10%
In person total 33/39 85%
Remote 4/39 10%
This week all remote
Period 1 & 3 2/20 10%
Period 5 & 6 2/19 11%
Period 7 3/39 8%
Total 7/78 9%
Remote learning. Gave a test based on a video we watched in class and video has been posted for 5 days. 3 students bothered to take the test.
40, 20, 20.
LOL.
Tjl
I am remote about half my students show up on a regular basis. And the teachers that are in person are telling me students are not coming. Guess it depends on the school but don’t generalize just based on your experience
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