‘It is not safe to return to the classroom.’ Teachers union lobbies for full distance learning

Many reasonable adults who have been following the news and case count have previously predicted that despite the district’s hopes, opening Palo Alto schools in the Fall would be unlikely.

I know we are in unprecedented and difficult times, but I do expect Palo Alto administrators to have a solid understanding of COVID-19 so that they can make informed decisions, instead of relying on outside agencies. For instance administrators, like our superintendent, should understand all the ways of transmission rather than tweet comments about why not allowing choir classes is a “head-scratcher”. (Multiple people singing without masks in an enclosed space increases aerosol transmission of COVID-19.)

I urge the Administration to first personally learn more about COVID-19 themselves, like many parents in the school district are, rather than solely relying on the County for stage level considerations – so that the Administration can make more informed plans. Then I recommend Administrators put together a solid plan for 100% online education followed by figuring out a hybrid return to school model and lastly a full return to school plan. This doesn’t mean schools don’t return in a hybrid fashion in the Fall, but it does mean that resources are put first into planning for a likely bad case scenario so that the district is not caught unprepared.

Large companies in Santa Clara County have anticipated remaining closed through the rest of the year with the hope that they can open earlier. Their efforts have first been spent making 100% remote as effective as possible and then on limited return to office plans. Although our schools have different priorities than these companies, these companies are making similar types of decisions. Planning for 100% remote first is practical, prevents larger community confusion, and puts the physical, emotional, and mental safety and welfare of teachers, staff, children, and the community first.

Let’s give teachers the training they are asking for to teach remotely effectively and look to them as partners in getting schools back successfully instead of antagonists. Ultimately they are the ones we entrust our children’s safety and education to and parents the administration should support their welfare, too. Although we are in crazy times, please remember it is the long term welfare of the administration-teacher-student-community relationship that will determine the health and success of our children.

This is the most sensible approach and avoids promising the impossible (at best) and potential tragedy at worst. Brave and responsible of educators to face the realities. Let’s not shoot the messengers; let’s get busy brainstorming how to help with childcare and make distance learning consistent and the best it can be. It’s the district and board’s responsibility to now make the official decision.

100% Midtown Parent.

But the hybrid model is too rigid. We must be Student-Focused.

We need a model that plans to bring students back in regularly and as soon as possible, even if it’s only 10% at a time. A safety evaluation should be done weekly and priority models used. This evaluation should consider the spaces / rooms, the type of classes, the type of students, and the need for connectedness for mental health. Every student should have the chance to have some class in person.

The current MOU proposed by the teacher’s union is unacceptable. The County should determine whether the return is safe and how many students can be present per SF. If teachers are not comfortable, they should be able to stream into classrooms with an aide present in the in-person classroom. If students are not comfortable returning, they should be able to stream in as well.

Starting a 100% online is not a problem as long as there is a a flexible and robust return policy that gives teachers and STUDENTS flexibility. For example, if a doctor’s note is required for a student to stay home, that is unacceptable in this pandemic.

I have attached an email that I sent to the PAUSD earlier this morning. It includes my general support of online instruction together with my concern that the PAUSD has not shown much interest in making online successful.

I wonder what the teachers actually want. They don’t want in-person classes because of safety, but they don’t seem interested in online because they don’t like it or something. Do they expect to be paid for doing nothing?

Email follows:
_______
Dear Board and Superintendent,

I am writing concerning the online instruction components (OL) of your plans for the coming year.

It appears that you have already committed to OL for the secondary students but are planning to have in-person instruction for elementary. My reading of the pandemic situation is that you may yet find yourself going to OL for all or part of the elementary students.

In any case, OL is going to be important in the coming year.

Here are some of my thoughts.

VALUE OF OL: I am dismayed by the disparaging and ignorant comments that some PAUSD leaders have made about the value of OL instruction. I spent the bulk of my own career working on OL instruction at Stanford, Computer Curriculum Corporation, Rutgers University, and other places.

In my opinion, the district is simply wrong about the value of OL.

There are now literally thousands of companies and other groups in the US doing OL. The content is used at many K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and training facilities. Many MS degrees are completely OL, and it is hard to find a training “class” that meets physically. These activities are growing quickly and the pandemic will bring further growth in OL , just as it is increasing telehealth and telecommuting.

I have seen enough of this future to know that it works. The proviso, of course, is that you must try it seriously. Educational techniques and materials always rise or fall on the implementation.

HOW YOU APPROACH OL: The PAUSD has made a huge mistake with how it has approached OL with the teachers, parents, and students. You have given everyone permission to fail, and your predictions are self-fulfilling.

You should be telling people that there are a great many success stories for OL, and that PAUSD can do well at this if it tries.

TRY AGAIN: If you don’t have sufficient in-house expertise, find some people to help. There are plenty of them.

Set up standards, processes and procedures, including principals and supervisors following the progress of teachers and students. I have heard many parents say that their students’ teachers were “AWOL” this last spring. If true, that is unacceptable.

No one should have to tell the PAUSD how to deal with educational issues in a professional way.

Please don’t ask us to go back in the fall. The dangers are far too high. Distance learning works- we know it works- is it ideal? Of course not but it’s better than any of us getting sick. It’s the only smart choic right now.

@Sally
“Nothing is more essential than education”

I would argue that health is more important than the temporary setback of education. We will get through this eventually, and a temporary setback of education won’t make too much of a difference in the long run.

We should divide kids into two groups: those that must attend school, and those that don’t need to be there.

Kids that must be in school include those who’s parents have their livelihood at stake, and those who’s parents must leave the home for work (e.g. healthcare workings, manufacturing, in-person services industries not affected by shutdown). Not everyone has a high-tech can-work-from-home-indefinitely job. We need to prevent a socioeconomic catastrophe by reserving in-person schooling for those kids that need it.

Some kids live with elderly grandparents or immunocompromised parents/siblings absolutely should not be in school. Some kids have both parents working from home. These kids should do remote learning and leave in-person resources to those that need it.

By bifurcating by deciding by student/family need, I think we could better allocate the scarce teaching resources.

I love my district
Oh yes I do
I love my district
in spite of you
I love my district
And so should you
This fking virus
Is not the flu

Please read the letter in full before rushing to judgment. We know that many parents were dissatisfied with emergency distance learning in the spring – so were we. Expectations and guidelines were changing daily, and often teachers would be the last to find out what we were supposed to be doing. Of course that made us look unprepared, lazy, and/or punitive when the reality is that we were working 24/7 doing the job of a therapist, administrator, truancy officer, tutor, coach… while also trying to actually teach them. And without required attendance or grades, unfortunately, there was no extrinsic motivation for students to get work done (coupled with the shock of a global pandemic and quarantine). In the fall, we will be prepared because we have spent all summer preparing. We are professionals.

Cases are rising, and we don’t know enough about the long term effects of the virus (for people of all ages). Please don’t make elementary teachers do an impossible job – they will fail, they will burn out, they will get sick, and students learning will be impacted. Please don’t make all of us travel every single day from all across the Bay to sit in our classrooms (most of us don’t even have our own classroom) all day long — there is still the problem of physical distancing and cleaning, especially common areas like our offices, lunchrooms, and bathrooms. Time + exposure. 3 teachers sharing a classroom (while masked and physical distancing) got COVID and one passed away. I’m sure you’ve heard of the 40 principals as well. It’s only a matter of time… We ALL need to stay home and stay safe so that we aren’t going back and forth between open and closed for the next two years.

DonAustin said “holding out for a return across the state until classes look and feel normal is unrealistic.” I do not know a single teacher that has an expectation of “normal” when school resumes. Teachers should have the expectation that we will be safe and that none of our colleagues will die. Long term effects from Covid-19 are not known and I resent being asked to be the test subject. Until Don Austin, the school board members and even the principals have walked a mile in our shoes (and not 5-20 years ago), it is hard to believe they know what is best. Teachers cannot do their jobs if they are worried, scared and panicked every minute they are in the classroom. I did not become a teacher to sit behind a computer to teach, but if that is going to keep me and my colleagues alive, that exactly what I will do.

@Sally “They (governing health authorities) are the experts, not you, not me, not the teachers’ union.”
Teachers are the experts in delivering instruction. If they say they can provide a better experience teaching online than in a hybrid model in the middle of a global pandemic then you should “let the experts handle it”.

Not to mention that in the United States governing health authorities are not a monolithic entity and there have been different responses at the federal, state and county levels which has has contributed to the poor containment of COVID. Now we are seeing infection rates rise much higher than in March when the shelter in place was ordered. Teachers have every right to advocate for their own safety, the safety of their families and the safety of their students because they are the classroom experts who find the governing health authorities guidance impossible to follow or too vague.

The teachers’ union is right to advocate for its members. But we should all already be advocates for our educators and staff, and work together to keep them safe, so that they can shepherd our children back to the new normal, when the time is right and safe.

As a working single parent of three boys in the district, I am keenly aware of the very real challenges of continuing to keep our kids at home. I would like nothing more than to return to the structures and joys of our pre-Covid lives. But rushing our kids back to elementary school campuses, when there is still so little understood about this virus and how to prevent its transmission and spread, will only diminish our strength and will for the long term.

Instead, let’s pause to recognize how many interdependent communities must come together to educate our children, among different generations and geographies, as well as cultures, and so many different kinds of working people. We should take care of our communities. We must not mistake an abundance of caution for a lack of reasonable action.

During a very different kind of national crisis, H.L. Mencken noted that, “For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” Rigidly sticking to a reopening plan, come hell or high water, is just that: clear, simple, and wrong. Things can, and often do, get worse before they get better. We need to face these dynamic times with sobriety and caution, and protect those who give our children so much.

Unfortunately there is no “students union” who will advocate for education of students. If schools will close, parents should receive a rebate on property taxes so they can send their kids to schools that are actually open.

@Sally: Agreed. None of us are health experts. How I wish the county health dept were in charge instead of Don Austin, the Board, or the teachers union. Unfortunately, the health dept has punted to each district to make its own decisions as long as they can follow certain health guidelines. Given the public health officer’s revelation that kids over the age of 13 in fact DO spread the virus to others, given the wiring of the teenage brain that makes them congregate and take risks, given the logistics of operating a school as big as our high schools, and all the issues with our facilties (HVAC, windows, bathrooms, hallways) not to mention the budget — the reality is that WE CANNOT meet those guidelines. The decision to have the secondary schools 100% online is really the only viable option.

@rsmithjr: In person instruction will always be the ideal, and rightly so. Distance learning works just fine for some students. Our technology access and training has been mediocre for decades, so it is not surprising that we find ourselves struggling now. I wish the district would hire an expert to train us, and buy us iPads with Pencils, and all sorts of things I see in other (mostly private) schools. Unfortunately, the district and the Board say the budget outlook is grim, so I suspect we will continue with “teachers teaching teachers” which only goes so far. We have been assigned an online training course to complete before school starts. My expectations are low, but I will approach it with an open mind and I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

For years and years the district, the state, and the country have neglected our public schools, which is compounding the challenges of reopening schools and distance learning. Until communities decide to take real action, things will remain the same.

Don Austin has repeatedly challenged teachers who express concern about schools reopening to give him solutions, or to suggest what it would take for us to feel “comfortable.” We have answered his questions but his plan has not changed accordingly. I will reiterate them here:

1. To reduce risk to teachers, the hybrid plan would have to call for teachers to teach only group A OR group B, not both, which would require hiring more teachers, which I don’t think is an option given financial constraints? Dividing students into two groups A and B for hybrid model protects students from each other only when they are on campus, and does not protect teachers at all as we will still be exposed to both groups of students.

2. The HVAC systems would need to be inspected for COVID safety (intake, filtering, circulation), assessed, cleaned, filters upgraded, and the dilapidated system that covers several older buildings at Paly would need likely to be replaced entirely (I believe there is bond money for that project but the project is several years down on the construction schedule — is not a number one priority)

3. Install windows that open in classrooms that do not have them (again, costs money)

4. address ventilation in bathrooms and address shared bathroom safety and cleaning ($$$$)

5. Face shields and surgical masks for all staff. (again, $$$$$$)

6. Construct outdoor “classrooms”/tents — create a plan for outdoor classes — this should have been priority number one from three months ago. ($$$$$)

7. Address technology needs and teacher training in a meaningful and actionable way — this needs a fresh approach and quality control. (again, $$$$$)

8. Ensure that every single student in the entire district has Internet and a Chromebook or computer. Without this, distance learning doesn’t work. ($$$$$)

9. In the distance learning model, allow teachers the flexibility to teach online from the location (home or on campus) that enables them to do their best job — we can’t be in the classroom if our own children are at home, while some teachers without children or with older children might feel they can do a better job teaching online from campus.

10. Construct a model where all instruction is delivered online, everyone is working and learning from home, but each teacher comes to campus one or two days a week for individual or small group tutorials with students scheduled as needed by each teacher, with the option of meeting outdoors on campus rather than in the classroom.

11. Care and plan for and INVEST IN not just student safety, but teacher safety as well.

I am grateful for the current decision that high schools will start with the 100% distance model. However, requiring us to stream content from our classrooms rather than our homes is absurd and puts us at some risk for zero benefit, other than to pacify the parents who suspect that we are just floating in our swimming pools drinking margaritas all day. It ignores the very real challenges of those of us with children at home and the risks to our safety.

Wanted to throw in my thoughts. I teach at Paly but my sentiments also apply to elementary school teachers.

In May, when we were being asked by the district whether we wanted to become a full distance teacher, I thought no, I want to be around my students. Then as the past two months passed, I realized that no amount of PPE can reduce my risk of getting infected in my classroom enough where I can feel safe. Yes, education is one of society’s most important values, but health supersedes it.

These discussions are complicated, but one point I’d like to highlight is this: at this point in time, in-person education is not likely to be better than online. Class will be constantly paused to remind students to practice various hygiene techniques. Discussions will be much more limited because students now have to talk to their peers from at least six feet away. Group projects where students work together to build a structure will disappear. If a teacher gets sick with COVID-19 or something with similar symptoms, they will now be home not teaching at all, possibly for at least a week. A substitute could fill in, but let’s be real: given we already have a sub shortage, how many are going risk getting infected for $165 a day?

A better solution is for teachers to focus on developing their professional skills to teach remotely. I stand proudly with my elementary colleagues and hope you will, too.

Is it me or is it the case that Superintendent Austin is in over his head?

I scarce to think what would be happening if he didn’t have deputies to call on and do the grunt work that he seems incapable of doing. Ridiculousness has never been more apparent than his comments about the music and choir programs. It’s disappointing that this gentleman was the best we could do.

He is really obtuse.

@Covid-19 ready
Livestreaming into a classroom is NOT the same as being there and being there is not safe for teachers, their families or their students given the risk and current infection rates, the needs of young students and the impossibility of implementing all of the guidelines recommended by governing health agencies. Online/distance teaching requires specific and distinct tools from in person teaching and PAUSD teachers are finally receiving some specific training and support in this area.

I don’t understand this obsession with livestreaming from some parents. Have you ever volunteered in your child’s class? Does watching that class all day on a computer screen sound like an effective way to learn? I seriously hope you say no. BUT a no answer does not mean we should return to in person instruction when it is not safe for ALL participants.

While I would support pursuing the ability to offer outdoor small group instruction- I don’t know how teachers can do that while also teaching online. There are not enough hours in the day to offer ALL students some in person instruction while also teaching other students online.

Full distance learning while making use of quality online pedagogy and some synchronous instruction (because no one can just sit in Zoom meetings all day long) is the only way to ensure safety and quality learning.

Yes! @JohnEvans “clear, simple, and wrong” hits it right on the head and what we need now is a willingness to engage, revise, adapt. It’s futile to look for the perfect school opening and not futile to open as our letter suggests and adapting as we trudge through. We don’t need Dr Austin and admin teaching our most vulnerable and struggling students w PAUSD+, we need them to coach and support us as we create learning environments that engage and help kids learn – that’s a teacher’s job. We need admin, both site and district level, to be educational leaders. Get in our virtual classrooms and watch what’s happening, experience what teachers, parents and students experience, then offer advice and share best practices (and even insist on some common practices) that’s the admin’s job.
We’re all in the same boat; I’ll trim the sails and man the rigging (that keeps the ship moving), so I’ll need someone else to chart the course, avoid the rocks and keep the galley stocked.

The school board approves spending thousands of dollars hiring a “safety coordinator”, installing cameras and fences to keep our staff and children possibly safe from a potential nut case terrorist attack; Yet the Board has no problem sending children and staff back to a school site in the middle of a pandemic. Brilliant Thinking. One is even running for the County Board.

To the parent community,

A little known fact is that PAUSD teachers, as of June 30th, have no choice but to go into the classrooms. It is too late to retire or resign.

Why is that? The PAUSD district has informed instructors that if we did not tender our resignations by June 30th and we did not show up for work then the district then has the OPTION to report the instructor to the California Teacher Credential (CTC) Board. An instructor now faces the very real possibility of having his or her credential being suspended for a year or more. Any suspension would also be noted in any future teaching applications.

In any other profession, one can refuse to work due to unsafe working conditions. At the very least, employees can give a two week notice. Once more, they would not face future career damaging consequences for doing so. Not so for public school teachers.

In Santa Clara county, as of the early days of July, new cases of Covid have jumped from 20 per day to 100 (as referenced in the PAEA open letter to PAUSD). It stands to reason that these numbers will be even higher in the fall.

What are teachers, who are north of 40 years of age (quite a lot of us) with underlying health conditions to do? Go to a classroom and take our chances in not contracting this disease OR resign and face not only a lack of income but worse, a possible suspension of our CTC and face career damaging consequences?

Of course we miss the students, we would never have pursued this profession if we did not love working with young people. However, we do NOT want to risk our lives nor their lives, nor their families’ lives.

Please support virtual learning until it is safe for teachers and students to return to the classroom.

To add to what @PAUSD teacher posted:
The union asked for an extension of the June 30th date to make decision so teachers could make informed choices about their future because no place was in place and news about the pandemic was changing every day. Austin and the Board did not grant an extension. Oh, and they told us on June 30th that there was no extension being granted. *June 30th.* I am a district teacher, PA taxpayer, and voter and can’t wait to vote.

agree only distance learning after all Palo Alto is a hot spot of Covid, hold on let me check latest stats . oh yeah Palo Alto is a hot spot , sort of , not really, …..not at all.

Good luck to all of you in K-12 as our school teachers attempt to take the easy way out, online will be a disaster as it was in the spring for our son.

@PAUSD teacher. Yes. Good for the community to know that we are being forced back into the classroom. Shame on the school Board and the disgruntled parents for expecting us to put ourselves at risk despite our repeated rebuffed attempts to find safer compromises. Does the community know that we also forfeited our raise for the upcoming year due to the current financial crisis?

In return, PAUSD refused to listen when teachers said we don’t think this is safe. They refused to take our suggested actions that might have enabled us to provide better instruction in the fall. When some of us realized that all the planning for schools opening was centered mostly on parent demands, loosely on student safety, and not at all on teacher safety, some of us were willing to take an unpaid year off to protect ourselves. But PAUSD refused to allow it.
Since the deadline to take a leave of absence had passed before schools had even shut down in March, we asked that the deadline be extended. We were told no. We were told that if we didn’t feel safe returning to campus with the current (yet constantly open for revision) plan, our only option was to resign by June 30th. When we asked if we would be given additional sick days if we got COVID we were also told no. Believe me, if I could afford to resign I would have.

The disrespect we have been shown in PAUSD internal email communications, union negotiations, and on all of Palo Alto Online’s forums is shameful. When Don Austin was hired, he came in with a reputation for being a “bully” and that seems to be holding true. To be treated like indentured servants, ignored or dismissed each time we express concern or offer solutions, and then being blamed for the district’s many failings has been hard to watch. Sadly, I suppose that’s exactly how Don Austin and his supporters want it.

I hope they’re hiring 200 substitutes. They’re gonna need ’em.

This is to all the teachers who read this:
I am sorry parents are bashing on you and claiming that you don’t want to go into the classroom because its easier for you to teach remotely. I know this is entirely false. I know that every or almost every teacher in our school district – as well as in others – did not become a teacher for the salary or the benefits or any such things; I know that teaching children is your calling and thats why you do it. I know how hard it was for teachers to teach the children remotely because I have seen how dedicated everyone was to trying to do the best by our kids. I also know how horribly frustrating it was for the parents because it was not very well executed – not the fault of teachers. Its the fault of our district’s administration.
I know that your reasons for not going into the classroom is to protect your students – and their parents who are bashing at you right now. I am so sorry about this.
I am not alone. We are a lot of reasonable parents out there who understand this and appreciate you very much. We are grateful for all you do for our children especially during this horrible time.
Anger at teachers is misplaced. Being angry at the administration and the board is very much justified, but not the teachers.
I hope you read this. Thank you for your amazing work. I, for one, will bake and hand deliver boxes of cookies (once it is safe of course) to all the teachers my child had last year and all he will have this year.
I would also encourage everyone who thinks they have something to bring to the table to consider running for the school board. Board we have now is not willing – or not able – to keep administration accountable. Well, lets replace them with one that will.

@ Got the whole story. Stop laying the pandemic at teachers feet.

Stop saying we’re lazy because we don’t want to be part of a grand social experiment to see how many teachers/ students contract the virus if we open up schools even in a hybrid model.

Your comments are rude and really, pretty asinine .

@Educator: Ditto. I worked 10-12 hour days while taking care of my elderly at risk parents and my kids, while sitting in on pointless Zoom meetings and reading 50+ emails a day. I could not the coaching I needed from the district, only from fellow teachers. It was so hard.

I wonder if the community knows the myriad things we had going against us – all the things we wanted to do that we were told we were NOT ALLOWED to do:
– establish a Zoom schedule
– require students to attend live online Zoom sessions
– record Zoom sessions for those who couldn’t attend
– require students to do anything (for the first 2+ weeks)
– deliver books to students
– ask parents to buy books for students
– require students to open any additional online accounts or download any apps
– return to campus to pick up teaching materials, notes, document cameras, books or make photocopies to send to students

So, basically, to do a quality job last spring was near impossible. I’m not surprised that some teachers “gave up” and dialed it in. However, moving forward, I would like to remind the entire community that:

1. This is a public school — we cannot possibly deliver the same quality of online learning that your friend’s kid in private school is getting. We have financial and legal constraints that private schools do not. We have class sizes twice the size of private schools. We cannot require students to purchase books. We do not have iPads with Pencils that allow us to write in real time on a virtual whiteboard. We do not have an education technology specialist to create a 60 page teachers manual for us to follow when creating online classes and converting our curriculum. If you demand these things, you need to apply to private schools immediately.

2. PAUSD has a large number of students with IEPs and 504s, which adds to the challenges of teaching remotely and following rules for equity and access. (Again, private schools don’t have the same restrictions).

3. Unless every single student in the district has Internet and a Chromebook or computer, we can’t require students to do as much, if anything, in a remote model. Again, aside from the obvious issues of ethics and fairness, there are actual laws around equity and access that we must follow. So please start donating to PIE or reach out to the PTA and make sure every single student is equipped to participate in online education. This should have been addressed years ago and constantly monitored.

4. Please VOTE YES to bonds and parcel taxes geared toward renovation and replacement of HVAC systems on all school campuses. Ventilation is KEY to reopening safely. Our facilities have been neglected for far too long, and teachers’ and administrators’ concerns about campus safety (fires, shootings, and now airborne(?) pathogens) have long been ignored or minimized by the district.

One problem that I see is that the -virus- discriminates. COVID-19 risk goes up quickly over age 50, and, there are a lot of teachers over age 50. I think it is -fair- to have different job requirements right now for younger teachers vs older teachers. I’m not sure how I think it should work, but, it makes sense to me that young teachers could be in the classroom with young students, and, older teachers might be better assigned to remote learning. Just a thought.

Only secondary level questioning here: I’m so confused. Before the signed letter it had switched from hybrid model to online. Around the month mark we reassess. Regardless of negotiations we go back to empty classrooms right? That’s where we are recording our synchronous sessions? I’ve seen four different models now and I have so many questions…..

@got all the story?
PAUSD serves children from Palo Alto and East Palo Alto (and other cities) and has employees from all over the bay area. Conveniently forgetting that reflects a certain level of privilege. Are you aware of the infection rates for all of the cities our PAUSD community members live in? How about just Palo Alto and East Palo Alto? Since you are incredibly unaware I doubt you realize that the infection rate in EPA is just over 6x what it is in PA. Are you saying that because Palo Alto isn’t a hot spot there is no risk to the teachers and students?

@Science Only: The AAP retracted its recommendation, I believe. https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/10/889848834/nations-pediatricians-walk-back-support-for-in-person-school

Many healthcare experts now believe that kids aged 13 and over transmit COVID to each other and to the adults around them at a rate similar to adult-adult transmission. Either way, “there’s no scientific consensus on the infectiousness of children — and that has many health officials urging caution.” https://www.vox.com/2020/5/2/21241636/coronavirus-children-kids-spread-transmit-switzerland

@Teacher Supporter: Thank you. I honestly never thought about the difference in infection rates in East Palo Alto. It is because I only obsess over the Santa Clara Covid Dashboard, and of course that doesn’t show EPA.

The numbers, as of now: Palo Alto has had 19.2 cases per 10k population. East Palo Alto has had 111.0 cases per 10k population.

Given the number of VTP students in our schools (and I would expect those students to choose the hybrid option at a higher rate), that difference in infection rates is important.

@Another Teacher, Palo Alto High School:
The AAP did not “retract its recommendation” of sending children back to school this fall. It just clarified some of its points to ensure a safe return. Read their actual statement, not NPR’s spin on it.

https://services.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2020/pediatricians-educators-and-superintendents-urge-a-safe-return-to-school-this-fall/

@What’s good for the goose:

Everything you are upset about is based on your misunderstanding of the facts:

1. We ARE being forced back into the classroom, to stream lessons from our classrooms for no good reason other than to pacify parents like you who blame us for everything.

2. PAEA has, unfortunately, had to spend all summer trying to negotiate compromises with little success. Preparing for school to open is not PAEAs job. Training teachers to teach online is not PAEAs job. Negotiating for teacher safety and compensation is. PAEA has succeeded in getting all teachers to agree to forfeit the raise we were going to receive for this upcoming year. They have also succeeded in getting the district to agree to offer teacher training, but are still trying to convince the district that we should be compensated $684 doing that training over our summer “vacation” when we are not contracted or paid to work at all.

3. You are correct — streaming does not have to happen from the classroom. HOWEVER — it is the district that is requiring it. Please speak to the Board and Don Austin because THEY are the ones telling us we will be required to stream from our classrooms. PAEA has spend countless hours trying to convince the district that we should be allowed to teach from home. Requiring us to report to campus exposes us to some risk even though students are not present — there are safety concerns with shared bathrooms, old and broken HVAC systems, and poor ventilation in classrooms.

This requirement also ignores the very real challenges for working parents whose kids will be at home because their schools are closed, and parents with small children who now have very limited childcare or carpooling options available during this time. Don Austin said we should all just put our kids in childcare for essential workers. Even if this were available, that would expose our children and therefore our entire families, to more risk.

I think it is outrageous that we are being forced to expose our selves and our families to additional risk for ZERO benefit to students.

4. ALL of us are required to complete the online training that the district just last week began to offer. However, as I said above, the district is still bickering with PAEA as to if and how we will be paid for doing so.

Please direct your concerns and criticisms at the Board and Don Austin. They are the inflexible ones here, not PAEA. Thank you.

@Josh.

As Josh stated a few comments ago why did only 500 or so teachers sign?! Oh well I dont know I mean because employers have never not once been known to retaliate? How obtuse do you have to be? Come on buddy you’re making Josh’s all over sound bad.

Also now that I have your attention you should know that teachers do not get paid for the time they don’t spend in the classroom during the summer. They only get paid for the school year. However, there’s this wonderful thing we’re teachers can divert some of their pay so that they can get a check during the summer, cause you know, just because it’s summer vacation that doesn’t mean bills stop, but you wouldn’t know anything about that because you choose to believe a fairy tar that you’ve carried from your days in grade school.

To everyone claiming teachers just want to work less, yeah you don’t know how much teachers work so your opinion means nothing in this conversation.

The Science and Data is constantly evolving:

https://www.wesh.com/article/florida-children-coronavirus/33324606

Protect the children.

@Josh
Teachers aren’t given 3 months paid vacation. They earn a 10 month salary. Many take other jobs during the summer to make ends meet. When I was a teacher in another district (that actually paid better than PAUSD) I had to teach summer school every year. I’m glad @Another Teacher dropped some knowledge on you. You are uninformed and cruel to suggest that teachers don’t want to go back. Teaching online is much more challenging than teaching in person and I know teachers will work hard and do their best because I used to be one (btw I make way more money in the private sector with far less stress) and I NEVER met a single teacher who didn’t care about providing the best possible experience for their students. (I’m not suggesting every teacher is perfect and I’m aware I’m using my availability heuristic but its ridiculous to think people become teachers because they like having summers off or try to make kids miserable. Teachers on the whole are caring, passionate, intelligent people who want to make a positive difference in the lives of children.)

Teachers don’t want to teach, fine with me.

How about we just blow up the system and furlough most of the PAUSD employees and give our kids a year off? Pick it back up fall of 2021. Keep free lunches running and offer day care on campuses in small not-intermingled groups for people who need it.

That would be preferable to me for my middle schoolers than the travesty that was distance learning last spring.

My kids have two full time working parents that do not have time to also be teachers.

How about everyone follows the law that the teachers’ union agreed to at the state level? AB77. It calls for ‘In person instruction to the greatest extent possible.’ Distance learning is permitted if there’s an order from the public health officer – and there is no such order in Santa Clara County.

1. Preschools have been open through the shelter and there has not been a surge. If preschools can be open, why can’t elementary schools?

2. Masks are extremely effective and we can mandate masks. Why does the CTA think that masks are not effective?

3. UV lights, open windows and doors, and air filtration can improve safety substantially. Why is district admin not all over capital safety improvements? We have capital funds from the bond measure.

4. Where are the students in all this?

I support the teachers. Let’s do what we can to minimize the spread of the virus this fall and keep our teachers and our families safe. Oh, and if you are calling our teachers lazy or selfish because they don’t want to get sick, or get their own families sick, you should look in the mirror. There’s something not right with you.

@ Covid-19 Ready:

Yes, please to: UV lights, open windows and doors, and air filtration can improve safety substantially. Why is district admin not all over capital safety improvements? We have capital funds from the bond measure.

These projects take time and money, and the time to get started is now while campuses are empty. What if the vaccine isn’t 100% effective? What if it takes two years? Herd immunity seems like a very distant dream. None of us want to be doing distance learning any longer than necessary, and addressing ventilation and filtration issues has been “on the list” for years but has never been more important than it is now.

@Teachers – sometimes I wish it were possible for everyone to organize something major or even take your classroom for one day, I think some of the attitudes would be very different.

I heard a young woman express her concerns about going back to school in person this way: She said, This feels like an experiment, and I don’t want me and my family experimented on.

And she’s right. We don’t know what will happen with Covid in the fall. We do know that online instruction can be just fine (Stanford Online HS is ranked among the best schools in the country now.)

We have 12,000 students. Let’s say they experience a 5% rate of infection, that’s 600 students. If just 1% of those infected die, that’s 6 kids dead. I don’t think that’s worth it, but of course, that’s a hypothetical that wouldn’t happen. What’s more likely to happen is that there is a cluster somewhere and a child or a teacher dies or is severely ill, and the reopening that we put so many resources into has to be disrupted and we’re no better off than in the fall.

We should just put everything we have into making sure this is the best fall of distance learning anyone can imagine, and that people for whom it absolutely cannot work are provided for (working with the county health department to ensure safety).

Good thoughts to all teachers and parents facing the difficult choices.

Thank you to all the people who support teachers. It’s really disheartening to read comments that accuse teachers of being lazy and not wanting to go back to work. We love the children and we are very passionate about teaching them.

In fact, many of us worked 10 to 12 hours a day teaching, planning, and preparing before this pandemic started. We also prepared on the weekends and many of us worked in the classroom on Sundays. The last 2 months of school, the teachers often worked 14 to 15 hours a day to give our students the best education we could considering many of us were not tech savvy. We didn’t have a spring break because we spent that entire week learning about Schoology to prepare for phase 3. The district did a pretty job at providing training for the asynchronous teaching under such short notice. The long days also included zooming with kids who struggled. The asynchronous teaching was not ideal, but during these unprecedented times, we did the best we could. I’m super proud of our work and the parents were supportive. I’d never worked so hard in my teaching career and many of my colleagues would say the same.

We want to be back in the classroom and teach our students, but we want to make sure that it’s safe to do so. Unfortunately, the data is not giving us peace of mind at this point. I also have a husband and my own children to go home to. In addition, if I get infected and survive, the studies are showing that my lungs might be permanently damaged. We don’t know enough about the virus to take these chances.

PAUSD is currently offering a course to help teachers be better prepared for distance learning and I’m enjoying it so far. I’m looking forward to learning more tips and strategies to improve our online teaching skills. Online learning will be different from the experience the kids got in April and May.

Again, to people like @Josh, it’s pretty rude to say that we’re trying to avoid work and that we get 3 months of paid vacation. Don’t post uninformed comments like that. Thanks @Another Teacher for schooling this guy. Teachers choose this profession because we love teaching children, interacting with them, and seeing them grow. We didn’t sign up to sit at home and teach them from a computer. That’s not fun for us, but that’s what we’ll do to keep our families and the greater community safe. That’s why we’re spending a chunk of our summer taking this course and collaborating to provide a solid online learning experience for the kiddos. We love them and miss them!

I am ok if teachers are not willing to return physically to campuses. PAUSD should then look into staff reductions, pay cut and reallocate resources to household so parents can take over teaching our children while earning a living at the same time. We should also expect our property tax be either reduced or any special tax parcels be defeated this November. Meanwhile our wonderful and dedicated teachers cannot have their cake and eat it too.

I encourage administrators to learn more about COVID and evidence-based mitigation from our healthcare experts. This is separate knowledge from state or county re opening plans. We are currently in a surge and do not have sufficient data and knowledge about spread and infections in children but do know that high school students spread much like adults. Opening schools for in person instruction would be irresponsible and dangerous for students, families, educators and staff and all those they come in contact with. Let education be a part of the solution by committing to teaching remotely until there is a vaccine or treatment.

If PAUSD board is only conducting meetings online.. it is hypocritical to suggest that teachers can risk their lives to teach. Online schooling is the only option.

I wish the governor/county/distrist/teacher union look at the cases by cities. Positive cases in Palo Alto is very low. Most people here wear masks when in indoor and outdoor(if hard to keep 6 ft distance). We could utilize the open space and nice weather for the hybrid format. It’s way better than online learning for hours everyday.

@SilverLinings,

“I believe 98% of teachers did the absolute best we could to fend for and educate ourselves.”

I don’t think I have ever encountered any group of humans where 98% did the “absolute best” that they could at anything.

We only have anecdotal information about how things went down last spring but the parents are not at all happy. So many stories have that “not even trying” feeling.

I support the teachers’ desire to have online this fall. I have grave doubts about whether many teachers will give it a real try or have much success.

One thing that bothers me is that teachers want to be paid to learn about OL. It seems to me that teachers should be clamoring to give up their vacation to improve their collective performance and show the community that they can do their jobs. People are watching like they seldom do.

I’d be more sympathetic to the teachers’ concerns if they had actually educated my HS student this spring, but instruction was an utter joke.

Maybe the school district should consider only having K-2 or K-3 in person. That would reduce risk even further from a public health perspective (fewer teachers and kids mixing), and that’s the age for whom distance instruction isn’t actually possible. They could then do some shuffling among elementary teachers to take high risk teachers out of that age group as an added precaution (though the rate in Palo Alto is so low that the risk is low right now — if that were to change then they should move everything to distance).

I also think that if they do in person they should mandate masks for kids, and just say that kids who cannot abide by that requirement will need to join in the distance learning option. Many kids will be able to wear masks the whole day — my 6-year-old can, and from what I’ve seen so can his friends.

No option is going to be perfect but given the low prevalence in Palo Alto and the fact that daycares and summer camps here haven’t caused big outbreaks (and daycares here have been full of the kids of essential workers for a while now), this seems like a reasonable option.

It is a false premise to say that we are choosing between “the science” and “emotions.” Neither is settled. Both are changing, as we gather more information, in this first stage of the pandemic. A quick internet search of “long term effects covid children” will turn up some terrifying unknowns from reputable sources. The virus is new, so long-term effects in children are unknown. The linked COVID infection targeting children primarily, MIS-C, seems to be causing scarring in the lungs of asymptomatic children. I would hate to expose my children to so many terrifying uncertainties. I would hate also to unwittingly spread the infection to the staff and teachers who will teach, protect, and support my children in school in the coming years. In this way, science and emotion come together to motivate me toward an abundance of caution when making this decision.

@pleasestickwiththescience
I believe in science, but let’s be very clear…the science is continually evolving and we do not have absolute confirmation that elementary age students do not spread the virus. We do know a small percentage of younger students do suffer and have auto-immune reactions. We also do not know the long term effects of this virus both for adults and children. Will this cause lasting neurological damage, cardiovascular damage, lung damage? I think I would rather be cautious and protect all. A death of one teacher or student is unacceptable. We need MORE science before we proceed.

Really? Teacher’s union is suggesting I try to plug my kinder into a laptop everyday at home, try to get him logged into 15 separate websites and then watch some dance-math videos? Like we tried in the spring. Holy hell.

I am ok if teachers are not willing to return physically to campuses. PAUSD should then look into staff reductions, pay cut and reallocate resources to household so parents can take over teaching our children while earning a living at the same time. We should also expect our property tax be either reduced or any special tax parcels be defeated this November. Meanwhile our wonderful and dedicated teachers cannot have their cake and eat it too.
Taxes…. No. Things will not go your way. Teachers will not lose their jobs and they will be paid. We will be online for the foreseeable future. Please make the necessary adjustments and please work on being more supportive. Also, your taxes will likely increase. That has nothing to do with the teachers so stop playing the blame game.
We are still discussing this?
It’s so simple to resolve this: it’s mandatory that all district members move to school to do in person services.
No. No it’s not. You are not allowed to make mandates regarding people’s lives. This is life or death so stop it.
So, to use your numbers, if 600 kids in PAUSD get infected, we would be looking at 0.006 deaths. Even if ALL 12000 kids get infected, we would expect 0.12 deaths
Too much math here to try to prove a point. Children have been mostly shielded from the pandemic. There are too many unknowns.
I’d be more sympathetic to the teachers’ concerns if they had actually educated my HS student this spring, but instruction was an utter joke.
No one needs your sympathy. We will be back online for the foreseeable future. Get used to it and make the necessary adjustments.
Maybe the school district should consider only having K-2 or K-3 in person. That would reduce risk even further from a public health perspective (fewer teachers and kids mixing)
No it would not. Teachers would still mix in and be exposed to all of their contacts.
Any shift away from that is ignoring our best science. Teachers should be listened to on how to teach, but their cherry-picking of medical data isn’t science, and isn’t helpful. Ignoring science is why we are in a mess.
No it’s not. No one wants to risk their lives or the lives of their family members over your “science” that is currently evolving with a new disease. 3 months ago they were reporting that children were “immune” from COVID and we found out that wasn’t true at all. Please stop “citing the science” to try to get your way. We will be online for the foreseeable future.

Schools need to re-open. Our kids need it. If you are a teacher over the age of 50, or a teacher with a co-morbidity, you should opt to be the assigned “distance learning” teacher – and you should request that you “distance teach” from home. If you don’t fall under the above category, feel comfy with the fact that the American Pediatrics folks say it’s safe to be around kids as they are not “spreaders”, put on your mask, get some Lysol, and our kids look forward to seeing you – bright eyed and bushy tailed on August 17th.

Community,

1. Santa Clara County has said primary and secondary should reopen with precautions. See https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Documents/ReopeningofSantaClaraCountyK12Schools.pdf

2. There is no reason that classrooms cannot be open and students cannot attend at least 10% at a time. Starting with ZERO students in class teaches us nothing about the complexity or safety issues. It just stalls the decision until later in the year.

3. Teacher’s should be safe, but teacher safety does not equate to the current union position that schools should be closed. Everyone must show flexibility.

4. If the District cannot manage a flexible system that gets every kid back in the classroom at least 1 day every 10 days, then students should have the opportunity to opt out entirely and come back in their current grade next year.

5. Households are not equally equipped to home school. Dual working households and single households are at a clear disadvantage regardless of their ability to pay for tutors and classes. Low income households may have more workers who must leave the house to work vs. white collar workers who are working from home, but that doesn’t mean the stress on white collar families isn’t real or meaningful.

Please work to teach our students 100% of the curriculum and get them in class as much as is possible with safety precautions in place.

Thank you.

Like I have stated previously, parents like myself are prepared to both teach our kids and earn a living at the same time. I know I have the intellectual bandwidths to handle multiple tasks – it will be very tough but I will manage with all my best. What I am asking respectfully here is that we should reduce staffs, teachers and reallocate these resources to parents. Also proposed parcel tax for school funding in November should also be defeated since the rationale for passing is getting to be be absurd. This is a free country and no one should be forced to take on a job that they feel it’s dangerous. But to maintain this present status quo is like saying I want to have my cake and eat it too!

Remember when PAUSD said that of course they would not close schools, and less than 24 hours later the County overruled them?

I would put good money on something like that happening here.

1. Santa Clara County has said primary and secondary should reopen with precautions. See Web Link
So what? Teachers don’t feel comfortable or safe, and do not want to work under these dangerous conditions when they can work 100% safely from home. They are not frontline medical workers and so therefore their Union is advocating for health and safety.
2. There is no reason that classrooms cannot be open and students cannot attend at least 10% at a time. Starting with ZERO students in class teaches us nothing about the complexity or safety issues. It just stalls the decision until later in the year.
Teachers do not want to be guinea pigs for your grand experiment of “Will I become infected with an incurable disease that can kill me or my family members?”
3. Teacher’s should be safe, but teacher safety does not equate to the current union position that schools should be closed. Everyone must show flexibility.
Teachers do not need to be “flexible” for you in a life or death situation.
4. If the District cannot manage a flexible system that gets every kid back in the classroom at least 1 day every 10 days, then students should have the opportunity to opt out entirely and come back in their current grade next year.
No one is stopping you from opting out. Please do so if that is a possibility.
5. Households are not equally equipped to home school. Dual working households and single households are at a clear disadvantage regardless of their ability to pay for tutors and classes. Low income households may have more workers who must leave the house to work vs. white collar workers who are working from home, but that doesn’t mean the stress on white collar families isn’t real or meaningful.
Yes. Everyone will have stress. It is now up to you to figure out Child Care as schools will be closed. Good luck with that since this happened in Child Care Facilities and will obviously happen next at schools were they to open which you are advocating for.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/nearly-a-thousand-covid-19-cases-reported-in-california-daycares/2326813/

What I am asking respectfully here is that we should reduce staffs, teachers and reallocate these resources to parents. Also proposed parcel tax for school funding in November should also be defeated since the rationale for passing is getting to be be absurd.
So why do you get to make the decision or advocate for teachers either potentially losing their lives or their livelihoods? You are blaming the teachers and the teachers union for the parcel tax obsession you currently have. You own property and you pay taxes. Teachers will be providing an online education this year and doing their jobs safely. They will be providing the only education service they are required to do. They will be delivering instruction remotely for everyone’s safety including the safety of the community. Free Day Care, free meals, counseling, surrogate parenting, and other services will not take place this year along with the school being open for stability for families and economic purposes as we are currently going through the greatest public health crisis in over 100 years. You do not get to put teachers between Scylla and Charybides for choosing their lives or their livelihoods because of a potential raise in parcel taxes.

@Curious Parent,
>@Silver Linings, while I mostly agree with your conclusions, your math is way, way off. Kids do not have a 1% mortality rate.

Thanks for your thoughtful response. Just being precise here, my math was entirely correct, the numbers I chose were for the purposes of illustration and conservative.

The reality is that this thing is a new virus to humans and changing. Infections among young people are rising. Promoting the idea that you can rely on old numbers (or from other places) or it’s not serious among young people is fueling more exposures and cases in that age group along with collateral infections, and increasing the odds that it could become virulent in the younger/healthier population as happened in 1918.

By the time we catch on, it’s too late. It’s simply not worth taking a risk (because we simply DON’T have all the knowns to work with), especially since we would be putting all of our efforts into creating in-person school that could be upset at any moment and set everyone back like in the spring.

There are communities around the globe where precautions have changed everything, resulting in very little disease spread or death overall, but that, unfortunately, is not happening within our national borders.

Additionally, some of the teachers have mentioned indoor air quality issues in their buildings, and in my experience, there are far more who notice than those willing to complain. Over the years, families who have complained have been rebuffed instead of our district adopting evidence-based mainstream frameworks for effect indoor air quality management. There’s a real we-suffer-physically-for-a-life-of-the-mind ethos in our district, and many parents really did not seem to care whether our district facilities were healthy or not. It’s sad, really, since improving indoor air quality just from putting good filtration in regular classrooms has been shown to result in sustained improvement in student performance equivalent to reducing class sizes by 1/3 or providing intensive tutoring. (It also reduces absenteeism.)

There is a way to collect data to establish what I’m saying if people need it, but it’s not necessary. Our school facilities are across the board not in a state where they would support the best infection control. Mainstream environmental health science tells us that many types of problems with indoor air quality that our district has, cause a higher level of infections going around, including upper respiratory, because they increase susceptibility. Our teachers (and students) do not need an added burden to their immune systems at this time. Instead, the time COULD (should) be used to implement an effective framework for indoor air quality management for when kids return.

This is not a choice between two bad options. We can 100% protect our teachers during this very uncertain time, AND we can deliver a good education to our kids online. Okay, so the sudden forced crisis schooling was not optimal. The district is working on changing that for the fall. What can the community to do both support that and ensure the district delivers? I think first the community has to understand what a good online education for their child would look like.

(If it were me, I’d wish for some on-site instruction, but with proper measures like masks, and only focused on improving community and interpersonal relationships. Learning can happen just fine through remote instruction, and in some ways, can be better. For this temporary hiatus, that would be my own preference.)

So basically you want a paycheck without having to work?
Hmmm… all concerned parents are seeing through all of this charade. Enough said. Sad!

@Tom thinks that remote work is not work. What does Tom do for a living? Does he bag groceries? Or does he distance work?

@Tom wants the parcel tax defeated and to take away more money from schools. Does @Tom know how school budgets work? Does @Tom know that schools need more money not less now?

I say let’s not listen to @Tom. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Plus, he’s sounds mean.

@Tom, nice try there. Of course, we all respect essential workers who can’t do their jobs remotely. Are you one of them? If so, thanks for all that you do! Or can you work remotely like teachers can?

Also, nice try at the class warfare thing. You have shown your true colors. You are obfuscating and conflating.

Gavin Newsom is having a press conference at noon tomorrow to address school opening state wide according to some news outlets. I will be he will side with Tony Thurmond and recommend distance learning for most of the state.

Given Newsom walked back most indoor business re-openings, it doesn’t make sense that it would be safe to open schools.

We do not have the infrastructure to go back safely right now. This may exist in the future…but right now the district doesn’t have an actual plan. We are wasting precious time pretending we have a plan when we could actively be putting resources into high quality distance learning.

@Tom The amount of time I worked the last 3 months of school was not worth the amount I was paid. 10-12 hours a day to be bashed by the Palo Alto Community and people like you. This community needs a reality check.

@The Voice of Palo Alto,

So what?

AB 77/ SB 98 So What. That same law that is preventing paycuts and layoffs for teachers actually mandates a return to in-person live teaching unless there is a County closure.

It’s the law. The district should abide by the law and not agree to the MOU. Teacher’s should be able to teach in person to the extent the County deems safe and that will change over the next 10 months. The MOU should reflect this flexibility.

“Nothing is more essential than education.”
Not even health, avoiding permanent disability or death? How selfish you are!

“Low income households may have more workers who must leave the house to work . . .”
Yes. High-density households are far more likely to expose themselves and others to contagion. Covid infections have gone up about 60% in the last week July 4 celebrations?) in EPA, Fair Oaks (MP & RC) and another area of Redwood City with lots of apartments with high-occupancy numbers with many adults (and kids) sharing close quarters, working at retirement homes, child care facilities, restaurant kitchens, etc. These are ‘hoods where the 1 or 2 parent + kid(s) isn’t the norm.

I am disgusted by people who insist that their kids absolutely must have in-classroom instruction. This is a national pandemic which is surging again, thanks to all the people ditching masks, eating out, celebrating in groups, etc. Palo Alto has minimal infection? Just wait until those LVNs, child care workers, kitchen help, etc. who work various gigs & have house mates share those pooled contributions to your incoming viral mix. Or do you think they all live in sterile Palo Alto?

Yesterday a gardener & his helper had a screaming fight outside a house 3 doors away from me. The helper was sick but refused to leave work & go home because he “needed the money.” The boss was a wuss who lost the argument. After going outside to see what the ruckus was about, I stayed inside. It was breezy & now we know that covid is not just droplet carried but air-borne.

The district needs to provide top-notch hardware, software & training for all teachers. There should be online training sessions for parents, showing them how to help their kids who aren’t so tech savvy. Even working single parents must be willing to watch a 30 minute training video & find an hour to help their kids when necessary.

If K-2 must be in front of a teacher once or twice a week for 2-3 hours, the teacher must be behind a plexiglass panel. Masked kids can approach the panel to show their work & get help. Again, if a kid can’t mask, s/he stays home. No exceptions.

There’d also be nothing wrong with delaying the start for a month so the district could better develop a plan which addresses the concerns of teachers & parents.

Let’s stop crabbing about whether some kids didn’t have an optimal spring experience. Teachers didn’t either. The district wasn’t ill-prepared & didn’t have systems or training in place. Maybe by mid-September, they can?

So what?
AB 77/ SB 98 So What. That same law that is preventing paycuts and layoffs for teachers actually mandates a return to in-person live teaching unless there is a County closure.
It’s the law. The district should abide by the law and not agree to the MOU. Teacher’s should be able to teach in person to the extent the County deems safe and that will change over the next 10 months. The MOU should reflect this flexibility.

It’s the law that no one cares about in this life or death situation during the pandemic. That is why the Union is advocating for the health and safety of their members during this unprecedented time. That is why I said “So what?” Teacher lay offs, pay cuts etc. don’t mean anything to a teacher once they are dead of the Coronavirus. If you keep advocating this position about “the law” to force teachers into danger, I hope the teacher’s union advocate for a strike to protect everybody’s safety. Health and safety is the priority here and no teacher wants to put their lives in danger on a daily basis when they can be teaching the material online. Even if the county says it’s safe to return, there are absolutely no guarantees of safety at this point. It’s just that parents here won’t accept the new normal and are demanding the old routine and in turn jeopardizing everyone’s health. It is not time to return this fall. Again, Newsom just shut down all indoor activities and you are advocating for teachers to be indoors in a small gathering on a daily basis? All other meetings are currently being conducted via ZOOM. Think about what you are actually saying please and stop robotically advocating “the law.” Maybe you can show some compassion also? I sent you the link to the day care outbreaks earlier, why don’t you think these same thing outbreaks will happen in PA classrooms if the doors open?
Here is the link again:

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/nearly-a-thousand-covid-19-cases-reported-in-california-daycares/2326813/

Teachers DO owe it to the children, and the parents. Once again… the inherent risks of everyday living. Hold class outside if you have to. We all have to earn our check. If minimum wage essential employees can do it during a pandemic, anyone can. If they want to, and they care about others.

Teachers DO owe it to the children, and the parents. Once again… the inherent risks of everyday living. Hold class outside if you have to. We all have to earn our check. If minimum wage essential employees can do it during a pandemic, anyone can. If they want to, and they care about others
I have already explained to you in great detail why teachers don’t owe you or the parents anything. Please see my previous post to you and my other posts here about the dangers of being indoors in small gatherings, how teachers haven’t sworn a medical oath, how all other meetings are being held on Zoom and yet parents are expecting teachers to appear for in person instruction during a dangerous pandemic. Teachers can deliver instruction online and meet their only real job requirements. All other child care issues will now need to be solved by parents and your parental role must also expand with helping to deal with your child’s education. The fallacy is in your own thinking that anyone owes you anything in general, that it’s time to “return to the old normal,” or that the teachers should be putting their lives and the lives of their loved ones in danger to service your children in person. This isn’t the inherent risk of everyday living. This is a new disease that is completely deadly.
Here is more information for you to read about it’s lethality:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/api.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/amp/science/2020/07/coronavirus-deadlier-than-many-believed-infection-fatality-rate-cvd

Here is a snippet:
Using a more sophisticated calculation called the infection-fatality rate, paired with the past few months’ worth of data, the latest best estimates show that COVID-19 is around 50 to 100 times more lethal than the seasonal flu, on average.

Please rethink about what you are advocating for.
Thanks.

Articles in NY Times and SJ Mercury and editorial from WSJ this week all making cases for the opening of schools this fall:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/health/coronavirus-schools-reopening.html
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/07/10/coronavirus-why-kids-arent-the-germbags-and-grownups-are/
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-case-for-reopening-schools-11594681985?mod=rsswn

Once again — if minimum wage employees can get out their and earn their check during a pandemic, anyone can. The teachers I know (middle aged) can’t wait to get back to the classroom to teach children. They’re in the right profession.

Once again — if minimum wage employees can get out their and earn their check during a pandemic, anyone can. The teachers I know (middle aged) can’t wait to get back to the classroom to teach children. They’re in the right profession.
This will be my last post directed to you as you also seem to want to get the last word in. Most teaches do not feel comfortable being in an indoor gathering at this time. All meetings are being done on Zoom and Newsom just shut down indoor activities again. They will “get out there and earn their living” by teaching online to keep themselves and their family members safe.
I also explained in a previous post why comparing teachers to minimum wage workers is a false analogy. Please reconsider what you are advocating for during a dangerous pandemic and make the needed adjustments for a year of distance learning. Thanks.

I agree with Jennifer. If teachers are unable to teach then they should not get paid.

Barbers aren’t getting paid. Nail salon owners aren’t getting paid. Gym owners aren’t getting paid. And not only that but they still carry the burden of leases, mortgages, business loans on equipment. Teachers don’t carry those costs.

I have nothing but respect for teachers but reality is, if you’re not doing the job, you shouldn’t get paid. Period.

I understand this pandemic. I’m working from home (unfortunately) but my husband is an MD, and he works in a hospital. We’re the same age (middle aged) so I know what it’s like to be “exposed.” He could bring anything home, but we’re both in excellent health. I’m not someone who worries. I keep things in perspective, and maintain a healthy mindset.

Please understand you’re arguing with a few people, and then you’re making it look like we’re to blame. You are entitled to your opinions as well, but you don’t understand what “agreeing to disagree” means. I do wish you well, and I understand we’re all under a lot of stress.

Stay safe teachers!

I can’t wait to see how many of you that are bashing teachers sign up to to be a substitute teacher. Shame on you for thinking teachers are lazy and looking for the easy way out. I don’t know anyone working from home that is being shamed and raked over the coals like teachers are. I truly feel for the poor children that have role models like you.

Blah blah blah! Teachers union is the biggest! Don’t want charter schools! they make more money in Palo Alto then any other district! And a lot are just lousy! Read the facts on corvid it Palo Alto!

So either show up to work in order to get a pay check or leave and let others step in and do your job. Can’t have it both ways! Thank you
Your tax money will be paying for an online education this year and it’s called Distance Learning. Teachers will show up to work online. The teachers union will protect the healthy and safety of staff members while you continue to pay your taxes. Teachers will also not resign and will keep receiving their paychecks for delivering instruction remotely and safely in the comfort of their own homes while you continue to pay said taxes. All other “free” services such as child care that schools and teachers provide will not be taking place this year. Nice of you to try to demand teachers to risk their lives in an indoor setting in a small gathering on a daily basis when all other meetings are currently taking place on ZOOM, and also doing it a few days after Newsom shut all other indoor activities down That showed a lot of compassion and nuanced understanding of this situation. What makes you think schools will actually even be able to stay open when there are COVID outbreaks in the schools? The schools do not run in a vacuum. Even if you believe the whole “kids aren’t as effected by Covid,” adults are, and the adults are needed to run the school. What happens if 1 member of the staff exposes 10 staff members and 30 students to COVID? What’s your plan? It is outrageous for you to try to put teachers between Scylla and Charybdis for having to choose between resigning or literally putting their lives in danger every day over your property taxes. Finally, comparing the role of teachers to your USPS Mailman is another false analogy. Can’t have it both ways? You actually won’t get it your way.

Tony Thurmond said this today so go ahead and keep blaming the Union:
https://abc7news.com/newsom-schools-california-shut-down-closed-covid-19/6318430/

Thank you

5. A commitment that students will get hands on time for classes that are hands on in small enough groups to be safe.
Nothing in person right now but everything else you wrote looked pretty reasonable and should be done in the distance learning model.

I understand your frustration. You own property and pay taxes. I obviously can’t get you your property taxes back, but you can opt out of paying those taxes if you would like. Another option would be to move to an area with lower property taxes if the high tax payments bother you so much. Either way, the teachers and administrators will still cash their pay checks.
Just an FYI:
If you don’t pay your property taxes on time, the government can charge you interest and penalties, and gets a lien on your property. A property tax lien can result in the government taking your house and selling it.
It’s your call.

Everything in life carries a risk. The data clearly indicates that the overwhelming majority of kids will never get or spread Covid, especially if properly distanced and masked. The risk to teachers is literally infinitesimal, but everyone in our privileged town extrapolates that to “it’s not safe”.

Admit it: if Joe Biden (or anyone other than our President) were the one asking you to assume this risk, and to make a small sacrifice for the better of society, you would do it.

The point: the teachers’ position here is really not based on science or data. It is more of an emotional overreaction to a deeply unpopular and hated president. I get it.

@voiceofpaloalto – I glanced only a bit of your spewing and you are making all good, decent, and hard working teachers look really bad. So you are basically a “free loader” and an advocacy to steal money from the public?? What a disgrace you are indeed!

Dr. Don Austin, please root this bad apple out and get rid of her. This is not the person we want our kids to be taught by.

Thoughts:
1. While we argue about what the teachers want, I wonder if we will ever learn what % of elementary parents opted for distant learning in the survey. It is not black and white, teacher vs parent vs district admin. I would expect % of teachers not wanting to return to the classrooms and parents preferring distant learning to be similar; this is a litmus test of how people view the current environment.

2. I wonder if the district admin plans to have teachers sign waivers to protect the district from liability if a teacher contracts the virus.

3. This who claim kids do not catch or transmit the virus, please check the experience of other countries around the world, especially the ones that have similar societal habits and cultures.

@voiceofpaloalto – I glanced only a bit of your spewing and you are making all good, decent, and hard working teachers look really bad. So you are basically a “free loader” and an advocacy to steal money from the public??
No one here advocated stealing money from the public. You will receive the services for your tax dollars via distance learning this school year. The teachers and the teachers union are absolutely correct to fight for the health and safety of their members. Teachers are not medical professionals that need to put their lives on the line when they can deliver instruction over the internet safely no matter how many parents demand in person instruction because of their property taxes. Next time instead of arrogantly stating you “glanced at my spew” and name calling, and then in turn making needless assumptions about my gender and vocation, read my whole posts through and then respond. Thanks.
The point: the teachers’ position here is really not based on science or data. It is more of an emotional overreaction to a deeply unpopular and hated president. I get it.
This is not a political issue. It is a health and safety issue. If you say it is because of Trump, Trump has been incredibly wrong about the pandemic. He advocated opening back up quickly for economic purposes, undercutting the advice of his own health experts, and the states that listened to him like Florida, Arizona, Texas are currently experiencing massive outbreaks. At one point, as we all know he even advocated drinking disinfectant to fight the Coronavirus. So if Trump says to OPEN THE SCHOOLS!!! it is very likely a better idea to keep them closed.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/608647/
That aside, the science and data you are citing is evolving. More kids are getting infected. It is becoming more and more apparent the kids were initially shielded from the pandemic due to the initial school closures. Now that they are socializing again, more kids are getting infected.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-07-16/childhood-covid-19-infections-mount-with-schools-eyeing-openings
So, it turns out we are running a high risk test already in Palo Alto with the Special Needs program as reported in this paper. And, in this test, teachers are not following social distance protocol, as they could in a typical secondary classroom.
That’s great news that it’s working and no one has gotten infected. That sounds like a small amount of students so it is a bit of a different scenario. But what happens when say 1000 district students from PA/EPA and 100s of staff members drive in from different counties and start mixing together again? What happened all across California when bars, gyms, restaurants opened up? We closed again because numbers exploded. Yes. Our county might be a “best case scenario” as you described but If you were a teacher would you risk getting infected yourself or getting infected and then also infecting your family members? Maybe you would, but I would assume the teachers union has surveyed their members and most don’t feel comfortable doing so and now they are advocating for distance learning.
What are the legalities of identifying a known risk and then an employer forcing workers to take a known risk when there are other options available? Any lawyers out there?
3. This who claim kids do not catch or transmit the virus, please check the experience of other countries around the world, especially the ones that have similar societal habits and cultures.
Exactly. Thank you to both of you.

I suggest that we get on with getting our teachers more prepared for OL instruction.

The teachers can do their part and take it seriously and not expect to get more money for doing what they should have been doing anyway.

Now I know for sure that distance-learning-only is a big mistake – Newsolini just ordered it for most of the state, including SCC. I’m sure all the teachers union people are thrilled. And our children will pay for it.

Now I know for sure that distance-learning-only is a big mistake – Newsolini just ordered it for most of the state, including SCC. I’m sure all the teachers union people are thrilled. And our children will pay for it.
1. I am sure “Newsolini” (sigh) is wrong because he told you “No.” He is taking the best advice from renowned pediatrician and public health expert Mark Ghaly. I thought everyone cited the pediatricians recommendation when it said to “reopen schools?” Which is it? Listen to the pediatricians or don’t listen to the pediatricians?
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/03/06/public-health-expert-to-lead-health-and-human-services-agency/
2. Yes. Teachers and the teachers union are thrilled that no staff members(or their family members) will get sick or possibly die this school year of Coronavirus. What a victory.
3. Santa Clara County is currently on our state’s Coronavirus watch list.
We will be in distance learning for the foreseeable future due to the pandemic. Thanks.

I hate this idea. HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT. Have 2 school age children and full time jobs, no flexibility to assist with guiding distance learning, specially with the 6 year old… Was looking forward to the hybrid model where kids would go to school 2-3 days a week. BUT, in all likelihood, this model is almost certain to run into forced quarantine situations quite often, and turn into quite a mess. Lets get some perspective and face the Fall with a sense of resilience, we will get through this, we will just have to suck it up, wear our masks and exercise tons of peer pressure at all levels such the folks were their masks, and let’s hope for those numbers to change direction.

@The voice of Palo Alto – You should limit your posts to 1 Paragraph each- your messages would read more efficiently. Using more words does not equal intelligence.
***
@ResidentDTN – Totally with you, it’s a mess and you are right…we have to be reslient for our kids….I like your attitude!
****
But let’s be real here….Parents support teachers who “show up”….and in my personal experience, last spring, my daughter’s elementary school teacher did not show up. So, it’s a bit of an open wound…with salt poured aaaallll in it….

After reading @ResidentDTN’s post, I am going to turn my frown upside down and make it work…and yes @voice of Palo Alto……I already have my bottle of Lysol…..and here is a great CNN article (which I am sure you will appreciate me citing CNN – the best and most honest media outlet to have ever touched this earth) whereby they indicate that the EPA has approved two Lysol products that kills the corona virus on surfaces.
****
See you “virtually” on the 17th….Bright eyed and bushy tailed.

@Sighs,

“Just wish I put my kid in private school instead of staying in public. At least the online learning work in private schools, teachers really taught in last quarter per my friends who have kids in Casti, St. Francis and Nueva.”

Yes.

My granddaughter goes to Casti and they were online on Monday March 15 (the first day!) and did a great job. I had to eat humble pie because I had been saying that there was no reason to go to private school.

Seriously, there is no reason that PAUSD cannot do a good job. They had a very poor attitude, which I think the board and administration fostered by making negative remarks about online instruction.

What we can do to avoid total shut down back in March? Where do people need masks? Where we can donate? I want to do something instead of sitting at home watching all the bad news!!

Are ALL the teachers in the PAUSD on board with this? Not all teachers signed the letter. If not, why not let those who want to do safe in person teaching return to the classroom and resume the hybrid model.

This is devastating for the children; not sure what they mean by “on line learning works”. Maybe kids are perky for the 1h a day zoom meeting, and they may even learn some things, but they are paying dearly in emotional well being.

And man, if we cannot open schools in Santa Clara, with a positivity rate of less than 4%, we are seriously doomed.

@rsmithjr,

The administration and Board simply had to demand instruction, but they did not.

Why? Other public districts made it happen.

Who knows why? Maybe Don Austin didn’t want another claim made against him by the unions like in his last district. He earns well over $300K, not including his housing stipend, and he hasn’t offered up an admin pay cut. It’s hard to imagine that he has the best interest of all of PAUSD students at heart.

And, what about our School Board? Where is their directive for instruction of a quality and challenge substantially equivalent to in-person live instruction? Where is their leadership in setting up every Palo Alto school for live-streaming this summer? Where is their leadership in demanding that every site and classroom be evaluated for safe Covid-19 social distance learning and then transparently sharing that with the community.

@PAmom- It’s called universal basic income. This is our new reality get used to it….

@SilverLinings,

I actually don’t care very much if they are paid for the time or not. Given that the district has paid them throughout this mess, it would have been a nice concession to not ask for money for the training time, and both the teachers and their union are missing a chance to look good.

Speaking of chances to look good, my guess is that a number of parents watched the online teaching of some of their students’ teachers. The teachers should try to move beyond the poor attitude and performance exhibited by many last spring and look good for the parents and taxpayers this fall. This is much more important than the small issue of the money, both for the students and also for the impression that the teachers give.

@Family-
I’m ready to do that. Because it is these PRIMA DONA ASSHATS (AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) who made the rest of us look lazy. While the rest of worked hard, answered and made countless emails, gave responses to endless discussion posts, showed up to countless Zoom meetings that had no purpose, counseled one on one our special eds, attended impromptu pd, YOU SAT BACK AND DID NOTHING.(BUT, you PROBABLY had time to TWEET.) THIS, THIS is why we look like idiots. Root these dial it inners out. AND, maybe show up to a meeting once inawhile. For real!

Isreal had roepend their schools under strict standards of safety, probably stricter than would ever be applied in Palo Alto, and they had a sharp spike in covid infections, 47 percent of which is attributed to the school opening. They had to re close the schools. We are also finding now that children over a certain age actually transmit the virus faster than adults.

The great majority of people haven’t been tested yet, so we have definitely many more covid carrying people, including children, even in PA than we realized.

Opening the schools is foolish and nothing more than fool’s gold, it would end up in another catastrophe. Student CAN study online, and the socializing issue can be addressed through small, mask using groups.

Principals have little power in comparison to the Palo Alto Educators Association. Do you think the Palo Alto Management Association could dictate to Don Austin that their schools would not be opening? Of course not. The PAEA could, and did. PAEA runs PAUSD. But now what? When will PAEA allow our kids to go back to school?

@Covid 19 Ready-
As I read it there is a structured schedule with synchronous instruction. Austin stated that school sites themselves do not have to be closed. I have no problem going back to campus during distance learning. If I’m out grocery shopping why should I have a problem going to campus with colleagues who are only going to their classrooms? We are not LA Unified- kids will show up.

@Family-
One, I’m too busy, Two, they are so clueless they are bad and the unions would defend a banana sloth if the right teacher jargon came out of their mouth. Bad apples usually front their rot with something else that gives them topical accolades. Meanwhile they are too good to answer an email.

Fact: Teachers this spring wanted to do more. I happen to know that several 4th grade teachers had an ENTIRE synchronous all day online teaching plan ready to go in March. Instead of spreading this best practice to the rest of the schools, they were forced due to the equity card (which is so much easier to oversee, isn’t it Don?) to just do asynchronous minimalist teaching.
Fact: I happen to know that my son got the BEST music teaching he ever had for the first month of the lockdown due to the independent energy and efforts of our music teacher, again–completely shut down by administration. He then got basically nothing. I don’t blame the music teacher for this as I already saw what his efforts produced before he was forced to stop.

Folks in the community- parents or otherwise– You should ALL be the teachers’ advocate. I know I am. The admin IS the problem. I am furious to know that they were forced to do asynchronous mumbo jumbo and then get blamed for it. I am furious to know that they were told take it or leave it with respect to resignation deadlines and no extension.

I know from the responses I got from educated informed emails I sent to Don Austin as a scientist and as a physician that he is NOT a leader prepared to handle such a crisis. He is NOT someone whom I would trust to make a decision regarding my child’s or a teacher’s life. He is a stubborn, ‘my way or the highway’ person based on my interactions and he does not understand science and can’t really manage effectively in this type of scenario because he gets defensive instead of taking constructive advice from experts. He’s way over his head. He was one of the last holdouts in the spring to close schools and did not use the extra time to prepare a better plan.
The school board and Don Austin remind me of Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life” when he’s on the draft board– 1A, 1A, 1A, 1A. Easy for you to say, Potter– you’re not the one being asked to storm Normandy. This is a war- lives are at stake. The school board is far too pie in the sky theoretical and are missing the forest for the trees. I have first hand experience and I have corresponded with them and I have been an advocate for the teachers since the spring and will continue to be. As a physician, I see the big picture with all of this and it is life, it is health. Do you think in WWII everyone got a perfect education, that people didn’t get behind? We have the ability to fix it in this day and age if we focus on the right things. We live in the heart of Silicon Valley where there are tons of technology experts– let them help with the online issue and help bridge that gap everyone is worried about– be part of the solution not just whining about the problem. Creating the best learning plan should be the focus– stop wasting time. My multi-specialty medical group leadership worked their you-know-whats off in March and created a totally new infrastructure to manage COVID and segregate all respiratory care from other care and we’ve been tweaking it ever since–that is what the district should be doing. The admins stepped in and did that work because the front line docs were too busy. We put makeshift emergency rooms in parking structures. We created whole new departments and processes. Health care is our business and so yes, we put ourselves at risk. Teachers should not have to do so. Their administrators should work nights and weekends as we did in health care to create the best most safe situation for their employees (teachers) and their clients (kids). Yes, we all mourn for the old “normal” when we could shake hands, hug our teachers goodbye, wipe away tears of the kinder. The teachers more than anyone- that is what gives them strength and keeps them coming back day in and day out. But we can’t go back- we have to find a new way forward. My child is not doing well at home. I don’t blame the teachers for this– the situation is what sucks. If you’re going crazy with 1-4 kids at home, try the 20 something the teachers were used to managing every day. Just think about that, and know that they are not “lazy.” They deserve your thanks and your support.

Thanks for the last post

I wonder if admin ate mask wearing in public or on campus.

Why are sports practicing at paly!!!??

Greene Mama’s post was too long and it pandered to many by taking pot shots at Don Austin. I am embarrassed by my fellow anonymous colleague(s) who claim to WANT (their capitals not mine) to return to the classroom yet only when it is safe. The majority of Palo Alto teachers are white and I suspect it is their privilege which blinds them to the reality of Latinos in particular showing up to serve them at restaurants, grocery stores, and a number of other places. How about we acknowledge as a union that we are scared to return? It is certainly not safe to return, and I doubt it will be safe to do so in 2021. Then let’s acknowledge the courage of our Latino parents who I have seen at Safeway, Home Depot, et al for the bravery and selflessness that we lack?

I say Gov. Newson give each family $10,000 too teach your child at home, since PA. Parents and Teachers are so paranoid about corvid here! Since a child is worth a lot financially too each school. Have a blessed day!!

@ A Lot of us are teachers-
**See, that’s the problem with the climate right now. I’m not white (not that is it relevant OR any of your business.)I am Latino SO PLEASE DON’T SPEAK FOR ME.
Signed,
YOUR COLLEAGUE

Nice of Greene Momma to dictate to us what we “don’t need to read” but they should watch out for length and number of posts as I notice that PAO is now deleting posts for those reasons. I am also happy that they “feel safe.” However, feeling safe and being safe are two different things. A medical office is not safe. It can be made safer, but it is not safe.

Also nice of Secondary Teacher to write in capital letters to make a point and asking me not to speak for them. I will not be revealing my ethnicity online, and I never was speaking for Secondary Teacher. But I will continue my advocacy for Latino workers who are being disproportionately affected by Covid19 despite our friendly Parent ally from Adobe-Meadow’s assertion that Latinos are not working due to courage, but only because they financially need to. I respect their right to that opinion, just as I know they will respect mine that dismissing that kind of dedication and bravery reeks of privilege.

…and as far as Don Austin goes…it’s hard to believe that some us long for the says of Mary Frances Callan…what was it 14 years as Superintendent? At least she was attentive and professional…. Austin’s defensiveness is such a hindrance to good leadership. Geez…why does he feel that any criticism has to be taken personally? If he would simply admit that he seems to not understand science well, the community might be much better off. A quick look at his dissertation shows that when it comes to the science of education, his is not a nuanced understanding.

I don’t understand why parents are blaming PAEA and PAUSD for Newsom’s decision that schools in counties like Santa Clara County, which are on the CA COVID-19 watch list, must be held online.

Why doesn’t PAUSD apply for the elementary school waiver that I bet all the private schools will be definitely applying for?? Kids that age need the social contact, and teachers and parents could opt out of in person instruction.

Teaching professionals should be offering alternatives if they don’t want to be in the classroom. How will they deliver robust, effective learning experiences to students online? What’s their plan to do the job that they are paid for?

EVERYONE is struggling with the challenges of being productive while staying in place. This is really hard. Some teachers did a great job upping their game. Others failed miserably.

If you don’t want to come to school and you want to continue being paid, how will you deliver excellent learning experiences in this new environment? This is what everyone’s supervisor is asking us. “How will you be productive without being in the office?” It’s really hard, but it is the challenge we are faced with. If you won’t support kids going back to school (and I have to agree that is risky for everyone as we have seen in Israel and other countries), what will you do to help improve online learning? Last year was not good. Yes. It’s hard, but we can do better, and we must. This could go on for some time.