Coronavirus:

[HONDO74]

How the hell are we going to do this?' The panic over reopening schools
https://news.yahoo.com/hell-going-panic ... 52989.html

Pediatricians say schools should strive to bring kids back to classrooms. Teachers unions are on the verge of revolt, in fear of infections. Local school districts are struggling with everything from technology to staging schools for socially distanced learning.

The CDC issued additional guidance this week on safely reopening schools, with infections spiking in the South and West. Some education leaders fear the guidelines are being disregarded, casting doubt anew on how the new school year will even be able to launch. Yet the beginning of the school year is nearing and worried parents are wondering if they will be able to count on in-person classes resuming by the time they must return to work, inextricably tying school reopenings to the revival of the economy.

In Virginia, Fairfax County’s teachers unions say teachers aren’t comfortable returning to schools and are encouraging members to state their preference for online learning until more information about face-to-face instruction is available. In Texas, the governor is now requiring face masks in public spaces in counties with 20 or more Covid-19 cases — but his order didn't mention schools. Arizona has delayed schools’ reopening date until mid-August as cases surge.

From social distancing to health checks, the list of concerns is seemingly endless as school districts draft their plans, many of which are still in the development stages. Those concerns are only intensifying as Covid-19 cases begin to skyrocket.

[robert.]

Pennsylvania schools mandate 3 ft spacing in class. No masks in class. Masks in hallway between classes. Masks on buses. No 3ft spacing on bus. Lunch in regular classroom. No lunch in cafeteria. Probably no fall sports. Football parents are ready to bring suit against the athletic association. Parents claim "kids need scholarship money from football". Best case scenario Monday, Wednesday,Friday in school. Tuesday Thursday home from school. while schools get a deep cleaning. lots of push back from the teachers union. Over 1/3 of the school bus drives have retired for good. most of them are 70+ years old. working for a few extra bucks in retirement.
I have mentioned this before. My wife and i will keep our kid home this year. We are looking into several online schools. They are public schools. Local school districts hate these schools and there is a push in PA. to end them. They receive state funding for every student that goes there. That is money out of the local school budget. Classes appear to be one big zoom meeting. Classes are taught by a teacher trained in online schooling. Online schooling comes with a few drawbacks. somebody needs to be home with the kid. For the past few weeks i have been working on setting up a room for learning. One area of the house with no food,no toys no games and no BS. I need to increase our internet speed. With my 2020 income so low. Comcast may do it for free.2020 and 2021 will be a defining moment in my life. One to remember. I'm trying to make the best of it.

[chuck]

2020 and 2021 will be a defining moment in my life. One to remember. I'm trying to make the best of it.

That's about the best any of us can do. I appreciate the time and effort you are putting in for the kids. They didn't ask for any of this and are in the least position to do anything about it.

One cautionary note. Your network speed is only part of the problem. Zoom can take a dump whenever a single party has a lagging connection. One thing you can do to improve things is have the kids connection(s) as the only ACTIVE network connections in the house at the time of schooling. Try to avoid streaming TV and/or switch the smart phones to xG (I don't know what your local settings are) if you have an unlimited data plan. Do as much as possible to save bandwidth.

BTW, it's not a bad idea to reboot their computers at the start of their classes and remind them not to go wandering off on the net. My wife has to use zoom for her OLI meetings and there are bandwidth issues if I try to stream something on the smart TV or set the phone for WiFi (which is stupid since we have unlimited wi-fi). I've participated in Zoom "meetings" with as many as 60 people and they work well as long as the participants observe the rules about muting their microphones, use the "raise hands" to talk, and DON'T accidentally touch the share screen button. These were all retirees and had various IT skill levels. I was actually surprised by how many actually connected and participated.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

In Virginia, Fairfax County’s teachers unions say teachers aren’t comfortable returning to schools and are encouraging members to state their preference for online learning until more information about face-to-face instruction is available. In Texas, the governor is now requiring face masks in public spaces in counties with 20 or more Covid-19 cases — but his order didn't mention schools. Arizona has delayed schools’ reopening date until mid-August as cases surge.

Fairfax County does not have a functional online learning system.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Pennsylvania schools mandate 3 ft spacing in class. No masks in class. Masks in hallway between classes. Masks on buses.

Thought PA just mandated wearing of masks? No masks in class just defeats all the rest and promotes classrooms to be incubators.

Probably no fall sports. Football parents are ready to bring suit against the athletic association. Parents claim "kids need scholarship money from football".

Pathetic. Truly pathetic. Maybe their kids might consider getting an actual education?

I have mentioned this before. My wife and i will keep our kid home this year. We are looking into several online schools. They are public schools. Local school districts hate these schools and there is a push in PA. to end them. They receive state funding for every student that goes there. That is money out of the local school budget. Classes appear to be one big zoom meeting. Classes are taught by a teacher trained in online schooling. Online schooling comes with a few drawbacks. somebody needs to be home with the kid. For the past few weeks i have been working on setting up a room for learning. One area of the house with no food,no toys no games and no BS. I need to increase our internet speed. With my 2020 income so low. Comcast may do it for free.2020 and 2021 will be a defining moment in my life. One to remember. I'm trying to make the best of it.

Reads like you are succeeding and have realistic plan.

[chuck]

Pathetic. Truly pathetic. Maybe their kids might consider getting an actual education?

When I went to my kids high school honor's convocation I was surprised at the number of students who were lettering in the "other" sports (not football, baseball, basketball). They earned letters in their sports and this was an avenue to get some of the title nine scholarship money. I knew a lot of them from non sport associations with my kids and had no idea they were that dedicated.

I won't comment on the football players part but Title Nine forced collegiate sports to open up sponsorship for ALL sports including traditionally woman's sports. I once had the opportunity to attend the end of year honors program for the athletic department. I think this because I was often called on to give tours of our lab facilities and provide background on the program to students being recruited. Our undergraduate counselor knew I was an alumni and had a child that attended our school so I could cover most of the pertinent areas of interest. ALL of the participants had earned academic honors and were all very polite, articulate, and demonstrated leadership skills far beyond what I ran into in the general academic settings I was used to operating in. These were mostly students who would not have been at our school without those sports scholarships. In general those kids were far better work study/temps than the general population. They demonstrated responsibility and had excellent work ethics. The marching band kids were particularly good workers.

Note: ALL of these kids knew going in that they were not going to make it in professional sports BUT they used their talents and work ethics to get into school and to work hard to get their degrees. In most cases they had to work harder than their non-scholarship classmates.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Note: ALL of these kids knew going in that they were not going to make it in professional sports BUT they used their talents and work ethics to get into school and to work hard to get their degrees. In most cases they had to work harder than their non-scholarship classmates.

The parents are the real problem, not the kids.

[Chris Webster]

Pediatricians say schools should strive to bring kids back to classrooms. Teachers unions are on the verge of revolt, in fear of infections. Local school districts are struggling with everything from technology to staging schools for socially distanced learning.

My spouse is an administrator in a local school district -- she was a Principal, then was promoted to the next level up. Several teachers she knew have passed from Covid and one of her closest work friends, a Principal, lost her dad to it.

I can't blame the teachers for revolting.

[chuck]

The parents are the real problem, not the kids.

Agreed.

Several teachers she knew have passed from Covid and one of her closest work friends, a Principal, lost her dad to it.

That is so sad. Sorry for her losses and the families of the people who were taken by this horrible disease.

BTW, it's the kids that are being cheated big time by this mess we are in. No graduation per se. No summer jobs to earn money for college. Possibly no college because the schools will have to operate on reduced scheduling. Worst of all, no way out of this except to be patient which is probably the hardest thing for them to do.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.................no way out of this except to be patient..................

We have as a country collectively failed.

[healey36]

In Virginia, Fairfax County’s teachers unions say teachers aren’t comfortable returning to schools and are encouraging members to state their preference for online learning until more information about face-to-face instruction is available. In Texas, the governor is now requiring face masks in public spaces in counties with 20 or more Covid-19 cases — but his order didn't mention schools. Arizona has delayed schools’ reopening date until mid-August as cases surge.

Fairfax County does not have a functional online learning system.

Having watched my daughter, a sixth-grade math teacher, try to use online tools to teach math to 12-13 year-olds, I have my doubts it's possible to teach elementary or middle school kids remotely, especially when a high percentage of the parents refuse to engage, claiming it's not their job to teach their children. I'm pretty confidant there's not a county in Maryland with a robust enough online system to claim any degree of success, and I don't see much happening to up the game for the fall. That said, most of the teachers I know are hoping for a return to the classroom come September, as online learning was an unmitigated disaster.

[healey36]

.................no way out of this except to be patient..................

We have as a country collectively failed.

We are a country that responds to nothing until it's nearly an epic disaster. We refuse to take proactive steps on anything in deference to the almighty dollar (with the possible exception of defense spending). Until that changes, we are doomed to a continuation of the cycle.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.............when a high percentage of the parents refuse to engage, claiming it's not their job to teach their children.

And that's why our country is failing in education.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.................no way out of this except to be patient..................

We have as a country collectively failed.

We are a country that responds to nothing until it's nearly an epic disaster. We refuse to take proactive steps on anything in deference to the almighty dollar (with the possible exception of defense spending). Until that changes, we are doomed to a continuation of the cycle.

We are unable to look any further ahead than the business numbers of the next quarter or the next election. In between, we do nothing, refuse to plan, etc. while the rest of the world passes us by.........

[healey36]

We have as a country collectively failed.

We are a country that responds to nothing until it's nearly an epic disaster. We refuse to take proactive steps on anything in deference to the almighty dollar (with the possible exception of defense spending). Until that changes, we are doomed to a continuation of the cycle.

We are unable to look any further ahead than the business numbers of the next quarter or the next election. In between, we do nothing, refuse to plan, etc. while the rest of the world passes us by.........

When I first got into corporate finance/accounting, we routinely prepared five, ten, fifteen year plans. I retired five years ago, and it had probably been at least fifteen years since the last five year plan had been prepared. Part of that was due to the acceleration in the development of telecommunications technology...you couldn't plan ten years out for market changes you couldn't envision. Hats off to Alvin Toffler, as much of what he wrote has come to pass.