Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk • Hacker News Board

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#411

Post by rorykoehler » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:40 PM UTC

mikeg8 wrote: post #360

politelemon wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do they have the budget for counseling when students and teachers pass away? It pains me to admit that this didn't even occur to me as part of the topic of teachers being sent back. The human aspects of students-teacher relationships. I feel I've been desensitized to this after exposing myself to a constant stream of news, and now I'm thinking further about what other aspects lie behind other headlines. Thank you f…

I agree - this never really occurred to me either. My girlfriend's mother is a preschool teacher who just had to go back to in-person sessions and she believes some of these kids will have trauma's from being young and terrified. One little girl is afraid to touch anything and constantly asks if objects have been cleaned/safe to touch? it's heartbreaking to her.

I really struggled with this with my toddler. In the end I decided to chill out and take whatever comes as a consequence rather than traumatise my child for life.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#412

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:41 PM UTC

ciarannolan wrote: post #369

MattGaiser wrote: post #299

I have to ask you Americans. Are you giving up on society yet? I'm Canadian, and it is surreal watching the country below us completely waste the lockdown so they can go to beaches and bars and then urgently move to shoving kids back into the classroom. Do you still feel that you can count on your government? On your neighbours?

>Are you giving up on society yet? The answer to this for me depends on what the election in November holds. Making a mistake once and having to live with it for 4 years is manageable. Institutions can recover. But another 4 years of this is would be an unmitigated disaster for the republic.

[deleted]

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#413

Post by panda-giddiness » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:41 PM UTC

steve76 wrote: post #91

hellofunk wrote: post #40

Well it is definitely true that having schools fully open does not contribute to much greater risk if the community already has the virus under control as this has been widely demonstrated by many European countries where infection rates continued to decrease, hospitalizations and deaths decreased, even as schools fully opened. But in those countries, they actually did the responsible thing and had a full uncompromis…

Today the same people saying we messed up the lock down cheered a mob which just burnt down the city.

> Today [some subset of] people saying we messed up the lock down cheered a mob which just [destroyed some property].

There's no need to be hyperbolic; it's possible to have a nuanced view on both of these issues. When you presume the latter are the former, the only group of people you denigrate are the strawmen you created.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#414

Post by csa » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

twblalock wrote: post #333

MattGaiser wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even on the outside, it seems like pushing kids back into the classroom is poorly thought out. I can't imagine the shitshow it must seem like on the inside.

The problem is, remote education has been a complete disaster. I know a few teachers. Apparently their students found out that the state was unwilling to hold anyone back a year during the pandemic, they shared this information with each other, and now a substantial amount of them are not doing any work. In some classes, more than half the students are permanently absent! Either their parents don't know, or don't car…

Interesting. What grade levels?

This seems to reflect that many of these folks seem to think what they are asked to learn is largely detached from their dat-to-day lives. I would agree with that assessment for high school students who are not college-bound.

Specifically, high school for these folks is a rehash of middle school, a simplified version of college prep (which is not relevant for folks not going to college), or both.

One thing that I have taken away from the quarantine is that the function of school as childcare is as much or more important than the function of school as a place to learn for many people.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#415

Post by mikeg8 » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

mulmen wrote: post #330

MattGaiser wrote: post #299

I have to ask you Americans. Are you giving up on society yet? I'm Canadian, and it is surreal watching the country below us completely waste the lockdown so they can go to beaches and bars and then urgently move to shoving kids back into the classroom. Do you still feel that you can count on your government? On your neighbours?

I’m optimistic. We are being tested from many directions right now and when we come out of this we will be better for it.

Same. Progress isn't always smooth or comfortable. Like being at the gym and feeling your muscles burn. But the work and struggle will be worth it, and I'm confident the American spirit will pull us through to a better future.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#416

Post by sfteus » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

nickff wrote: post #374

vb6sp6 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> seems like the only viable option is to force some companies to manufacture more masks This doesn't have to be complicated: We can subsidize masks.

The manufacturer prices would be higher, thus triggering price gouging laws.

Price gouging is based on a reasonable price and is subjective. If the present situation results in inflated prices due to lack of materials or needing to run at a higher capacity, that's still reasonable. California, for example, has this written into their penal code, limiting it to a 10% increase in price of the total cost of manufacturing, which includes the increased cost of production, transportation or storage.

If those companies decided that they were going to stop selling their current stock of masks completely until they sold for a higher price, that would be price gouging.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#417

Post by Mountain_Skies » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

MattGaiser wrote: post #289

newspheasant wrote: post #278

My wife is a teacher and starting school (in person) in a week and a half. There’s no answers to questions like: - Do they have the budget for counseling when students and teachers pass away? - When a teacher gets sick, what substitute teacher is going to want to teach an exposed class (also, they’ll be making sub plans with covid?)? - When they’re sick are will they be getting additional sick leave? - Do they get wo…

Even on the outside, it seems like pushing kids back into the classroom is poorly thought out. I can't imagine the shitshow it must seem like on the inside.

My girlfriend is a middle school guidance counselor. She was spending most of her week during the end of the school year dealing with referrals from teachers for students who weren't doing any work at home. Not just slacking off some, but entirely refusing to do anything. She'd try contacting the parents but many would never return her calls. The few she did contact weren't very concerned or admitted they lacked a way of making their child do their school work.

Her main concern is that this is going to widen the achievement gap between students with high parental involvement and those with low parental involvement. They've spend a lot of time trying to come up with strategies to deal with the situation but outside of sending government officials to the home for an on-site evaluation (problematic for many reasons), there's little they can do. She's worried that as time goes on, the number of students discovering they can get away with doing no work will increase.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#418

Post by amanaplanacanal » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #321

MereInterest wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Irrelevant. Plan a building for 2000 students. Figure out the best location, heating/cooling, building maintenance schedules, etc. Merge districts so that you can offer niche courses for advanced students. Then have the funding cut by 50%, because 1000 of the students go to charter schools. The fixed costs were planned out for the next 20 years, until the rug was pulled out from under schools. Instead, you get fewer…

Aren't these charter schools free and open to everyone? What's the problem? If people don't want to send their children to your public schools then take a look at why.

If they are free and open to everyone, that’s a good thing! If they just skim the good students off the top, that’s a bad thing.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#419

Post by maerF0x0 » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

not2b wrote: post #230

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think one of the things that has been so disheartening to me about the pandemic is that it has shown how we just can't really do anything anymore in the US. I mean, just look at PPE. I understand being a little flat footed when the pandemic first started, but it's been nearly 6 months now. I would have expected mass mobilization to pump out N95 masks, gloves, gowns, face shields, etc. by the millions. I mean, look…

All of this is a consequence of ideologies that have become popular in the US both in politics and in business. Having government direct a mobilization is not acceptable. A mandate that people wear masks is not acceptable. Having manufacturing capacity to make low-value products in large numbers in the US is bad business when poorer countries can do it for less. Having spare inventory is bad, because just-in-time man…

> A mandate that people wear masks is not acceptable.

Personally speaking I'm all good with wearing a mask if they let me out of my house. The Shelter in place thing has been such an overreaction that I'm kind of primed to rebel just because I'm so incensed by the violation of rights...

Wearing a mask is like requiring wearing a seatbelt. Shelter in place is like saying no one can drive except a few exceptionals.

Re: Teachers are ready to quit rather than put their lives at risk

#420

Post by rorykoehler » Fri, Jul 17, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

twblalock wrote: post #333

MattGaiser wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even on the outside, it seems like pushing kids back into the classroom is poorly thought out. I can't imagine the shitshow it must seem like on the inside.

The problem is, remote education has been a complete disaster. I know a few teachers. Apparently their students found out that the state was unwilling to hold anyone back a year during the pandemic, they shared this information with each other, and now a substantial amount of them are not doing any work. In some classes, more than half the students are permanently absent! Either their parents don't know, or don't car…

That’s a cultural problem. We need to change it so intrinsic motivation is the driving force behind education.