Ask Me Help Desk - Teachers Unions

Teachers Unions

We need new names for them that reflect their decisions to ruin the lives of children by forcing cities to shut down schools when everyday precautions that everyone else in the country is told to do to prevent covid infection could and should be exercised ;and for their support for systemic racist policies that deny children's parents education choice. Maybe Antikid ? The UFT is proving it'sef to be the enemy of NYC parents .They have put their narrow interests over the best interests of children.They are holding NYC to ridiculously narrow standards . Now Quid's lead candidate for Sec Education is AFT Pres Randi Weingarten . She is a disaster .

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomder55

We need new names for them that reflect their decisions to ruin the lives of children by forcing cities to shut down schools when everyday precautions that everyone else in the country is told to do to prevent covid infection could and should be exercised

The infection and death numbers tell a wholly different story on the Covid control front. The pandemic is running rampant through your country due to systemic ineptitude, economy and "freedom" over public health... While other countries are seeing peaks and troughs, America has a high plateau with very little let up in sight.
So, with Thanksgiving next week, be prepared for those numbers to increase dramatically...
There is no Greater Good, just Me, Me, me, it's about time personal responsibility kicked in...

Quote:

While other countries are seeing peaks and troughs, America has a high plateau with very little let up in sight.

As has been shown here many times, many leading European countries such as France, Germany, and the U.K. are experiencing spikes right now, and they are some of the leaders in centralized control and planning, so I see no point in following their lead.

As to Tom's post, it is accurate. Covid is clearly not a great threat to those under 55, and that would include all students and nearly all teachers. Not to suggest we should become casual about it at all, but we can't just throw away a year of school over this.

If Randi Weingarten is appointed, then we will soon be seeing mandated schools sessions telling children that homosexual lifestyles of all kinds are perfectly acceptable, and helping first graders make the decision to have a sex change operation.

Time for some cold hard numbers...
Difficult I know.

The mortality rate is, to be really conservative, 1%.
Population of America is 330 million (rounded)
So that would give a death rate due to this pandemic of 3.3 MILLION !!!

While the USA is currently way under that number, it's not due to careful management or virus control.
The distributed nature of the population has played a huge hand in this, have a closer look at the population centers and how hard they have been hit.
Your "health service" is buckling under the pressure caring for Covid cases.

Quote:

The mortality rate is, to be really conservative, 1%.
Population of America is 330 million (rounded)
So that would give a death rate due to this pandemic of 3.3 MILLION !!!

While the USA is currently way under that number, it's not due to careful management or virus control.
The distributed nature of the population has played a huge hand in this, have a closer look at the population centers and how hard they have been hit.
Your "health service" is buckling under the pressure caring for Covid cases.

So our death number should, in your view, be around 3 mil, and yet is less than 1/10 of that, but we can't credit our "management or virus control" since it's due to our "distributed...population"? So you are saying that states like South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana should be doing very well? I would suggest you look at those states for yourself. They are struggling like everyone else. Our management and control, all things considered, has been about as good as could be expected. Not nearly as rigid as the three European countries I mentioned, but they are spiking as well, so it just seems to be true that this virus is highly contagious and there is not much to be done to stop it. It can be slowed down some, but not stopped until we get to a vaccine which should, by all that's right, be named the Donald J. Trump vaccine.

Sweden did very little in the way of control, and they are doing better than many other countries, so it is just a hard illness to predict. Most of the criticism here has just been a manifestation of "We hate Donald Trump."

You are doing a tremendous job at virus control, a model for the rest of the world.

Well, your own statement was that we should have expected 3.3 million deaths, but instead we have less than 1/10 of that, so either your statement was ridiculous, or we are doing fantastically better than we should have expected. Take your pick.

Clearly the irony is lost...

Clearly you have no answer.

I do, however, I'm keeping my own counsel.

Quote:

I do, however, I'm keeping my own counsel.

Like I said. You have no answers. Are you related to the lady on this board? You two are very similar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Like I said. You have no answers. Are you related to the lady on this board? You two are very similar.

And our common factor on this board is....

Evasiveness. Total evasiveness.

I have no wish to enter into a destructive circular argument.
Oddly enough, I have the ability to look beyond the mutterances of our "leaders" and have a wider outlook.
I'm not a blind follower more an open minded scholar.

Like I said, you have no answers. One thing above all else that gets my goat on this board is for someone to make a statement and when confronted with evidence that contradicts it, they just withdraw into a shell and make silly statements about circular arguments, utterances, and outlooks. You're a scholar? Sure you are.

here are the American Academy of Pediatric numbers . As of November 12th, over 1 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. The age distribution of reported COVID-19 cases was provided on the health department websites of 49 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Children represented 11.5% of all cases in states reporting cases by age.A smaller subset of states reported on hospitalizations and mortality by age; the available data indicated that COVID-19-associated hospitalization and death is uncommon in children. Children were 0.00%-0.21% of all COVID-19 deaths, and 16 states reported zero child deaths and the ones who did die had preexisting conditions .

So the issues the teaches have is their own risks . I submit that when they compare to millions of other workers who are deemed essential ;and who report to work every day and live with the guidelines for a safe working environment . The only thing I can think is that they the teachers unions assume their rank and file is a selfish lot .

And those children pass the coronavirus on to not only the teachers but also to family members, relatives, and neighbors. Plus, we still don't know the negative long-term effects those children will experience in the future.

Hello NYC parents want their children in school. That means the only issue is the teachers .

Quote:

Plus, we still don't know the negative long-term effects those children will experience in the future.

But we do have a pretty good idea of the negative impacts with children losing more than a year of schooling .

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomder55

Hello NYC parents want their children in school. That means the only issue is the teachers .

Jimmy's grandma was in good health and lively until she caught her grandson's coronavirus. After coughing endlessly and trying to breathe, she died a week later. At the family's Thanksgiving get-together, Jimmy passed the virus to a couple of aunts and cousins. Three weeks later Jimmy's dad died of the virus.

Quote:

But we do have a pretty good idea of the negative impacts with children losing more than a year of schooling .

There's no timetable for education and learning. The math and grammar and science will still be there to learn. What the students are missing the most is the social interaction.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

There's no timetable for education and learning. The math and grammar and science will still be there to learn. What the students are missing the most is the social interaction.

That is an excellent point.

What hasn't been discussed is the dilemma of working parents. A single-parent family who is responsible for housing and putting food on the table, or even a two-parent family who both work need assistance. One parent may or may not be able to stay at home with a young child.

Another stimulus payment would go a long way to help such families survive. With vaccines on the horizon, the payments would not be "forever", but manageable if the Mitch McConnell crowd can see their way to help those who need help.

Quote:

There's no timetable for education and learning.

What an idea. I doubt you could find very many truly professional, experienced educators who would agree with that. If that was true, then we could just start children at the age of nine and graduate them at the age of fifteen. I used to tell my teachers that the most valuable asset we had was time. It was the one thing that we could not get more of. If you really think there is no timetable, then you have been out of the business for far, far too long.

And once again there is the never ending call for just sending out money we don't have. If it's that simple, why don't we just mail out a check for 5 grand every year to every adult American? For that matter, why not 10K? Here we are, nearly 30 tril in debt, and still making calls to go even deeper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

I doubt you could find very many truly professional, experienced educators who would agree with that. If that was true, then we could just start children at the age of nine and graduate them at the age of fifteen. I used to tell my teachers that the most valuable asset we had was time. It was the one thing that we could not get more of.

In a time of national crisis brought on by a pandemic, I think WG's comment is accurate. She's not talking about starting at nine and finishing at fifteen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Athos

In a time of national crisis brought on by a pandemic, I think WG's comment is accurate. She's not talking about starting at nine and finishing at fifteen.

JL's a literalist.

But that's a logical conclusion from her statement. If time is not important, then why wouldn't we just shorten the time kids are in school? A kid who is out for a year not only misses that year's benefits, but also slides backwards in his/her existing knowledge base. It's not a matter of simply not going forward, but of actually going backwards. Online learning can be effective for some kids, but younger students and less than highly motivated and capable older students do not do well, and that's assuming a parent is at home to make sure it all gets done.

Standards in our state have become so rigorous that teachers are constantly in high gear trying to get it all done. Many schools were already significantly behind. To simply stay home and say, "Oh well. We're not into timetables," is not an option at all that anyone wants. It's a lousy idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Standards in our state have become so rigorous that teachers are constantly in high gear trying to get it all done. Many schools were already significantly behind.

And I see over-50-year-old people here and on other sites who consistently misspell the same words, misuse apostrophes (e.g., use them in plural nouns and verbs), confuse your/you're and it's/its (not to mention there/their/they're), and put a space after a sentence and before the punctuation mark, so I wonder about education standards even years ago.

Quote:

Jimmy's grandma was in good health and lively until she caught her grandson's coronavirus. After coughing endlessly and trying to breathe, she died a week later. At the family's Thanksgiving get-together, Jimmy passed the virus to a couple of aunts and cousins. Three weeks later Jimmy's dad died of the virus.

anecdotal sob stories are great proof . Why is it that when Jimmy goes to Catholic School he is not bringing home the virus. How is it that Europe can have a more draconian lock down than proposed here and still their schools remain open . The AFT presents no negative evidence . They just arm twisted Sandinistas Bill to go along with artificial measures. . They gave a 3% threshold for the communities when in fact the schools reported rates were almost non-exitance . So NO Jimmy did not bring it home.

Quote:

And I see over-50-year-old people here and on other sites who consistently misspell the same words, misuse apostrophes (e.g., use them in plural nouns and verbs), confuse your/you're and it's/its (not to mention there/their/they're), and put a space after a sentence and before the punctuation mark, so I wonder about education standards even years ago.

You have made similar mistakes in grammar, so should we wonder about your standards? And if some people have not received a solid education, then is pulling them out of school for a year a plausible solution?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

You have made similar mistakes in grammar, so should we wonder about your standards?

Always the putdown.

I'm am one of those over 50. I always proofread my responses but, even then, miss an occasional mistake. Fb messaging is horrible to proofread, what with autocorrect out-thinking me.

Quote:

And if some people have not received a solid education, then is pulling them out of school for a year a plausible solution?

Otherwise, they and/or people they are in contact with will get very sick or die. Miss a year of school or someone close to you dies. Pick one.

You talk about learning being important, but someone hasn't learned the basic concepts, that distancing and hygiene is what beats CV19 and that means many things; firstly, you are not free to infect others and that means freedom of movement must be curtailed, particularly in hotspots of infection. With the large number of community infestations everyone must be considered a suspect carrier and guilty until proven innocent. Asymptomatic children are a risk and as many teachers are in the risk categories concern must be given to vulnerability so online learning becomes an option

Children will not be damaged by a period of home schooling and non school going. They will be damaged if their teachers die or their parents die

um I'm talking about the bluest of blue states in the bluest of blue cities where Sandinista Bill and il duce Cuomo have run roughshod on rights and brags about it .

Quote:

Children will not be damaged by a period of home schooling and non school going. They will be damaged if their teachers die or their parents die

study after study on the negative impacts on children tell a different tale.

Adverse consequences of school closures (unesco.org)

Pediatric Group Calls for Children to Return to Schools Despite Coronavirus | Education News | US News

Why A.A.P. Guidelines Are Pushing for Schools to Reopen This Fall - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomder55

Why A.A.P. Guidelines Are Pushing for Schools to Reopen This Fall - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

I see you cite the NYSlimes when it suits you.

Quote:

I'm am one of those over 50.

Uhm...well, never mind.

Dismiss school and put education at risk or have school and put lives at risk. Tough decisions. I can understand why some would dismiss school, but it's silly to pretend that it will not have negative consequences.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Dismiss school and put education at risk or have school and put lives at risk. Tough decisions. I can understand why some would dismiss school, but it's silly to pretend that it will not have negative consequences.

Such as -- compared to spreading illness and causing death?

Quote:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/custom...quote_icon.png Originally Posted by tomder55 https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/custom...post-right.png
Why A.A.P. Guidelines Are Pushing for Schools to Reopen This Fall - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

I see you cite the NYSlimes when it suits you.

That is correct ;as rare as that is .

Here is another one

Europe’s Locked Down, but Schools Are Open - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Quote:

the continent’s leaders have largely adopted the advice of experts who contend that the public health risks of keeping children in school are outweighed by educational and social benefits, reports our colleague Melissa Eddy, a correspondent based in Berlin.
“We cannot and will not allow our children and young people’s futures to be another victim of this disease,” said Micheal Martin, the Irish prime minister, in a national address. “They need their education.”

Quote:

Such as -- compared to spreading illness and causing death?

These protests sound rather hollow coming from a person who has no problem with 900 thousand unborn children a year put to death in abortion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

These protests sound rather hollow coming from a person who has no problem with 900 thousand unborn children a year put to death in abortion.

This coming from the guy who cheered Trump for caging babies and children at the southern border after they had been irrevocably separated from parents/family members.

Quote:

who cheered Trump for caging babies and children at the southern border after they had been irrevocably separated from parents/family members.

That is a complete and total falsehood unlike your support of abortion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

That is a complete and total falsehood unlike your support of abortion.

I've never stated my thinking on abortion except that having one or not should be a decision made by a woman and her doctor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlisenbe

These protests sound rather hollow coming from a person who has no problem with 900 thousand unborn children a year put to death in abortion.

why don't you give it a rest, we have been all over that

What possible topic is there that has not been discussed a hundred times already? Besides, this anti-Trump rhetoric cloaked in a supposed concern for life needs to be pointed out. You don't stand up for the unborn, so it falls on me to do and you to complain about it.