[BostonCard]

I guess you don't know when you've lost the argument.  Newsom is not reopening schools.  Mosts of the major school districts in CA are going online only.  School teachers have already said they will not go back into classes when it is not safe.  And teachers in Florida have sued DeSantis over his reopening.  Even if they lose the court case, I would expect a strike.  In CA at least, this debate is over.

More generally, asking teachers to risk their lives for a few months of education is monstrous and disgusting.  Read this article and tell me that this is fair: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/opini...afety.html  Even if we let teachers individually choose, do their families get a vote?  Do the coworkers of their family members get a vote?  You know which parents will be most likely to send their kids to school in person?  The ones who think the virus is a hoax.   It's clear that a substantial proportion of Americans are either ignorant ofthe risks of covid or are making a political choice to downplay those risks.  Should we empower these people to make decisions about the health of others?  No.  Let the experts decide.  And they have--school districts all over CA have looked at the evidence and decided to keep schools closed.

As for online educatino, we have barely tried to do ioso far, and people are already saying it's impossible. That's bullshit.  The argument for "permanent" losses due to poor education is bullshit also.  No one has ever been through this on a mass scale before.  Kids are resilient.  And it is totally possible that we can invest more in education as we come of out of covid to make up for any shortcomings now.  Send kids to summer school.  Hire more teachers.  Hire tutors.  I am not an education expert, and I could brainstorm a list of interventions to help.  Again, we've tried nothing, and people are acting like that's the best we can do.  Ridiculous.

I accept that, at least in California, the debate is over.  But that doesn't mean I have to agree with the decision.  I think we will do immense long-term damage to children.  Unfortunately, this has been framed as "reopen schools" versus "don't reopen schools", and really nobody has spent the time and effort to give educators the plan that Grohl advocates.

I'm all for letting the experts offer their opinion.  Experts like the National Academy of Science Engineering and Medicine:

https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2...d-benefits

WASHINGTON — Weighing the health risks of reopening K-12 schools in fall 2020 against the educational risks of providing no in-person instruction, school districts should prioritize reopening schools full time, especially for grades K-5 and students with special needs, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Opening schools will benefit families beyond providing education, including by supplying child care, school services, meals, and other family supports. Without in-person instruction, schools risk children falling behind academically and exacerbating educational inequities.

Yes, the administration is being stupid with its "damned the torpedoes" approach to reopening schools.  But that doesn't mean that the alternative is keeping schools closed.  The alternative is actually putting in the damned work to develop a plan, as the article you cited recommends, to open schools safely.  Will it be easy?  Absolutely not.  Will it be cheap?  Hell, no.  But saying we will no open schools, period, is defeatism.

How f'd up are our priorities that we reopened bars?  That we considered marijuana dispensaries "essential businesses"?  Even opening restaurants, beaches, etc. are trivial, compared to the importance of educating our children effectively.

BC

[BostonCard]

I guess you don't know when you've lost the argument.  Newsom is not reopening schools.  Mosts of the major school districts in CA are going online only.  School teachers have already said they will not go back into classes when it is not safe.  And teachers in Florida have sued DeSantis over his reopening.  Even if they lose the court case, I would expect a strike.  In CA at least, this debate is over.

More generally, asking teachers to risk their lives for a few months of education is monstrous and disgusting.  Read this article and tell me that this is fair: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/opini...afety.html  Even if we let teachers individually choose, do their families get a vote?  Do the coworkers of their family members get a vote?  You know which parents will be most likely to send their kids to school in person?  The ones who think the virus is a hoax.   It's clear that a substantial proportion of Americans are either ignorant ofthe risks of covid or are making a political choice to downplay those risks.  Should we empower these people to make decisions about the health of others?  No.  Let the experts decide.  And they have--school districts all over CA have looked at the evidence and decided to keep schools closed.

As for online educatino, we have barely tried to do ioso far, and people are already saying it's impossible. That's bullshit.  The argument for "permanent" losses due to poor education is bullshit also.  No one has ever been through this on a mass scale before.  Kids are resilient.  And it is totally possible that we can invest more in education as we come of out of covid to make up for any shortcomings now.  Send kids to summer school.  Hire more teachers.  Hire tutors.  I am not an education expert, and I could brainstorm a list of interventions to help.  Again, we've tried nothing, and people are acting like that's the best we can do.  Ridiculous.

I accept that, at least in California, the debate is over.  But that doesn't mean I have to agree with the decision.  I think we will do immense long-term damage to children.  Unfortunately, this has been framed as "reopen schools" versus "don't reopen schools", and really nobody has spent the time and effort to give educators the plan that Grohl advocates.

I'm all for letting the experts offer their opinion.  Experts like the National Academy of Science Engineering and Medicine:

https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2...d-benefits

WASHINGTON — Weighing the health risks of reopening K-12 schools in fall 2020 against the educational risks of providing no in-person instruction, school districts should prioritize reopening schools full time, especially for grades K-5 and students with special needs, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Opening schools will benefit families beyond providing education, including by supplying child care, school services, meals, and other family supports. Without in-person instruction, schools risk children falling behind academically and exacerbating educational inequities.

Yes, the administration is being stupid with its "damned the torpedoes" approach to reopening schools.  But that doesn't mean that the alternative is keeping schools closed.  The alternative is actually putting in the damned work to develop a plan, as the article you cited recommends, to open schools safely.  Will it be easy?  Absolutely not.  Will it be cheap?  Hell, no.  But saying we will no open schools, period, is defeatism.

How f'd up are our priorities that we reopened bars?  That we considered marijuana dispensaries "essential businesses"?  Even opening restaurants, beaches, etc. are trivial, compared to the importance of educating our children effectively.

BC