So, obviously, this has become the next debate that will be dumbed down to a simple left v right pissing match. But, leaving that aside (if possible), what are you thoughts?
There seems to be legitimate arguments on both sides here. Off the top of my head:
Pro-opening - Distance learning is largely ineffective, exacerbates economic inequalities, is not conducive to social and emotional services schools provide, and does not allow for the socialization aspect that, I would argue, is one of the most important things schools do. Child care is also a serious issue that many families simply will not be able to figure out if kids are home again in the fall.
Pro-closing - Coronavirus. Really, that's it. But, that's a big one. It's not looking like we're going to have this thing under control and, I can say with some certainty, that all of these social distancing and sanitation plans governors are putting out are going to be a shyt show. We can't get adults in this country to wear masks and socially distance when they go in to fukken Walmart for an hour - there's no way kids are going to keep a mask on and keep their distance for 6 straight hours every day. It puts teachers in an impossible situation to force them to fight that battle on top of trying to build the relationships needed to actually teach.
I don't think either answer to this is a good one, unfortunately. Selfishly, I want to go back...I'm sick of Zoom and pretending that distance learning is actually effective. But, I honestly don't see how that could work. These safety plans will be impossible....no exaggeration....actually impossible to enforce.
There seems to be legitimate arguments on both sides here. Off the top of my head:
Pro-opening - Distance learning is largely ineffective, exacerbates economic inequalities, is not conducive to social and emotional services schools provide, and does not allow for the socialization aspect that, I would argue, is one of the most important things schools do. Child care is also a serious issue that many families simply will not be able to figure out if kids are home again in the fall.
Pro-closing - Coronavirus. Really, that's it. But, that's a big one. It's not looking like we're going to have this thing under control and, I can say with some certainty, that all of these social distancing and sanitation plans governors are putting out are going to be a shyt show. We can't get adults in this country to wear masks and socially distance when they go in to fukken Walmart for an hour - there's no way kids are going to keep a mask on and keep their distance for 6 straight hours every day. It puts teachers in an impossible situation to force them to fight that battle on top of trying to build the relationships needed to actually teach.
I don't think either answer to this is a good one, unfortunately. Selfishly, I want to go back...I'm sick of Zoom and pretending that distance learning is actually effective. But, I honestly don't see how that could work. These safety plans will be impossible....no exaggeration....actually impossible to enforce.
Also, the maddening part is not knowing how the virus will effect different individuals or when it will be over with. So even with good "solutions", there is still uncertainty. I also doubt my school district will be able to provide a feasible solution before September, so most likely another school year of online learning.
Did it as a child) which would actually increase the educational gap between the haves and have nots at a time where that chasm is growing larger and larger.
