Here is an interesting article that I found interesting, and I think many of you will as well. https://www.yahoo.com/news/back-school-1-5-teachers-144208119.html Thoughts?
I think they are reacting to returning in August or September as opposed to later, say January. Pretty sure they aren't talking about leaving teaching all together. Same for parents - pretty sure 6 out of 10 not coming in the fall is a reaction to possible exposure to COVID, not conversion to loving home-schooling.
I dunno. It seemed to be pretty clear in the first paragraph that 20% of teachers polled would resign and not return to classrooms even if buildings opened back up again. To me that percentage seems like it could even be a little low. For anyone who is at risk or has an at-risk family member, returning to work in person may be an impossibility. A lot of teachers I know are older and/or have some serious health concerns. They may not be able to work while this is ongoing, and without protections and assistance, it might mean that resignation is their only option.
I believe that many people truly believe that there will by a vaccine by the beginning of the new year. Whether there is, or not, remains to be seen, but it has been covered extensively in the news, and I think it is a timeline people are counting on. I think the number or vaccine hopefuls in human trials is already ten or more, and so far there have been no glaring glitches, or at least none they are willing to share. I think a vaccine will be the game-changer, but I don't know if the timeline currently touted is valid, but hey, that's just my own doubts about what people expect versus what science can produce. An effective vaccine takes many concerns off the table for teachers and parents.
Yes, people are excited about a vaccine including me. They are saying the earliest possible date for that is December and that is really optimistic. I haven't heard anyone thinking there will be one available by August. I do think there is a lot of hope for one before the end of the school year. That is why I think there is a good chance 2020-21 will be very unique, but 2021-22 could be a lot more closer to normal with students and teachers getting the vaccine long before the school year begins.
I do believe that December is really optimistic, but they have thrown a boat load of money into this research to try to make it happen. I think that some of the ways they are constructing these vaccine hopefuls are exciting and very innovative, maybe the right try with the right virus. Only time will tell, however, which hopeful will make it to the finish line, and what that date may end up being. Fingers are crossed, prayers are said. A vaccine could very much change the way a second or third wave of this disease impacts 186 world countries.
We have an extremely low turn over rate at our school and in our district. Most of our teachers are older too. In our school, most have 2-5 years until they can get their retirement checks. The school will look very different in 4 years with maybe 1 of the staff we have now, I think. The people I know best are highly motivated by pensions and would not want to quit. Some have been counting down the years for awhile now. It is weird too because most have plenty of $$, nice homes and rigs paid for, spouses with good retirement or incomes. It comes down to how much $$ do you think you'll need. I really think districts need to offer to buy out older teachers contracts if teachers agree. If they hired young teachers, they'd make their money back quickly. All it is going to take is 1 teacher or kid to die from this and lawsuits are going to fly. Plus, people will pull their kids from school permanently then. If I had not pretty much made up my mind before, I would not step foot in a class of kids next year. ( I am different than most here though.) I know parents who can't wait to get their kids back in school because kids are missing their friends, driving their moms insane, and others think this is a hoax. If there is no vaccine, I can see about 10-20% of the parents not sending their kids though. If teachers were not close to retirement benefits, or in financial need, I can see why many would not return. Most of us know the corners schools cut and the silent culture of dissenters. We have a couple of teachers that have stuffed so much that I don't want to be around when they blow! Also, I do not trust our school to take every precaution needed. I have seen how they handled SPED kids who threaten to kill others. If they can't be trusted with that, how can we trust them, really the custodians, to do something like keep it out of schools. That is too much to lay on a custodian anyways. This is probably the year though that new teachers will be able to get their foot in the door easily around the US.
I think answering that way in a survey and actually doing it are two different things, and it depends a lot on individual circumstance. I can see leaving making more sense if you're close to retirement anyway, but what about all of the teachers who aren't? What will they do instead? Without going back to school and getting a different degree, most aren't in a position to just go into another field and make anything close to what they're making right now. Maybe some have spouses with more lucrative jobs that can support them, but certainly not everyone. I do think there may be an uptick in homeschooling within higher SES communities, especially if schools do fully online or hybrid models anyway. Families who can afford to have a stay at home parent will likely feel that if they're going to stay at home with their children anyway, why not do homeschooling on their own terms or go to one of the established online schools rather than dealing with the district online learning. Many parents in my area have also been very upset by the CDC guidelines and don't want to send their child into that environment. In communities like the one I teach in, parents may have those feelings, but if school is open they're going to need to send kids for the childcare regardless of what it looks like. I think the next few months will be very interesting to see what happens. People can't quarantine forever and there are already a lot of people who have just given up on it. I was reading an article the other day that said the "social" end to the pandemic may come before the medical end- that would be defined as the point where people stop making drastic life changes even if the medical threat is still there. Thinking 3, 6, 9 months from now I could certainly see that happening more and more- people will just decide to take the risks. I personally will take a vaccine as soon as it's available to me, but I know A LOT of people who are already saying there is no way they will take a "rushed" vaccine. I think numbers who refuse it will be much bigger than those who refuse the flu shot, which is already a lot. IDK that a vaccine is going to make that much of a difference as far as overall numbers.
Teachers don’t really leave my district once they get in. I’ve seen zero people on the resignation list (I always look at the board meeting agendas/minutes). As far as my site is concerned, it’s status quo for 2020-2021: no changes to teaching assignments and no teacher transfers in/out.
Well, I was going to post about this. I wouldn’t resign. I’m up for whatever the district needs from me; though I prefer to be an in-person classroom teacher. However, the part that makes my blood freeze is 30% (!) figuring on homeschooling. I know some of you take me for a pessimist, but that would decimate ADA requirements, wouldn’t it? So...adios 30% of us? I really hate this virus.
I work in a Title 1 district in a school that’s juuuuust shy of 100% free/reduced lunch. My kids’ parents want them in school. We would never have 30% of our kids in homeschool. Heck, we wouldn’t even see 3% of them homeschooled. Just not gonna happen here. On the flip side, my nephews attend a very high performing district in Colorado. I could see a lot of those parents homeschool their children. My sister has tossed around the idea of keeping my nephews home next school year since she works from home. I really think she’d regret it, though. She always said teaching would be the last profession she’d ever choose.
If an effective vaccine becomes available, I truly believe that will negate the number who are thinking about home-schooling. All these parents are really saying is that they want their children to be safe and protected. No vaccine - a third are willing to keep them home to keep them safe until there is a vaccine. Having a vaccine changes everything.
I personally don't think we will have a "normal" school year until 2021-2022. The last I read, many experts were saying no vaccine until possibly spring of 2021. And just because we find a vaccine that works and goes through all necessary steps, it doesn't mean we can be back to normal the following day. I unfortunately forgot where I read it, so I don't have a link, but I think they were even thinking this would be possibly a two-shot vaccine and would take 6 weeks to get immunity after receiving it. So it would take time. I see no way we are back in classrooms normally come Aug/Sept. I think we will either be completely online again or some sort of hybrid for certain school districts who can figure it out and do it while abiding by the safety guidelines put out by the CDC and state health departments.
If parents get the chance to go back to work, and they accept, the children will go back to school because schools are the babysitters. Money is going to be so tight that parents will be looking for jobs, because many will find that the jobs they had no longer exist. Many of the parents will accept that the schools will be the safest place for their children since they have to go someplace. The truth is, schools may well be the safest place - admin will put great effort into meeting guidelines and monitoring conditions that will keep students safe. @YoungTeacherGuy may be able to share the concerns and the plans to bring students back to school, whether it be in September or later.
You are more optimistic than me...lol I do not trust our schools and see schools as germ factories. Even if I trusted that everyone did exactly what they were told ( including kids and parents), I still think kids would be safer from it at home.
Sorry, but I'm really having a hard time visualizing fall right now. I will be back for whatever form education takes. but I question whether we can go back to what things looked like pre-pandemic. Meanwhile, we are busy making duty schedules and class schedules that look as they have always looked. I was in my classroom by myself the other day, and I just stood and looked around for a minute because there is no way I can get 30+ that I normally have in that classroom while preserving any type of social distancing. The throw in bus and lunchroom issues, and i don't even know where to start. As to parents being anxious about returning their children to school in the fall, I can only speak to my own family. One sister has a child still in high school who will return. My other sister has a kindergartner, and I know they are making some inquiries on homeschooling her for the year. Both she and her husband have some underlying medical issues, and they currently do not go out at all.
Well, Im not wearing a mask 100 percent of the time. How can I be heard clearly wearing a mask?? I don't want the kids eating their lunches in My Clasroom during My Lunch - that's my only private time to make calls, surf my phone, or nap. Ive already given them an online assignment: How dangerous is Covid to children? Decide! And I told them if I get a bunch of opinons without evidence, it's going in the shredder. I purposely have the shredder going during my lessons, just to show them I have ZERO TOLERANCE for crap.
My school's population is like YTG's. We won't have many, if any, parents who can choose to home school. However, I live in a different town than I teach in and we have a very active FB group. There are lots of discussions there and many, many parents are saying they love the schools but they won't send their child back. It seems to be 90% about not wanting to subject them to all of the new guidelines (wearing masks all day long, socially distancing throughout the day, having to sit at their desk all day/not being able to play or move around, etc.) rather than being afraid of the virus since children aren't greatly impacted. Every once in awhile a parent will say they don't feel safe, but that's not the overarching discussion at all. Parents who have options just don't want to send their kids into that environment and they're worried about lasting social/emotional issues, which honestly I don't think is unfounded. There are also people who don't feel it's worth it to figure out a hybrid style week- if they have to find childcare anyway (for the 2-3 days per week their child wouldn't be attending school), those that have the means to do so would rather just have the same consistent schedule. I don't see those guidelines going away until there is a vaccine, so we are stuck. And I wonder, what happens if there is no vaccine? I know there are many, many people hard at work on it and that some early trials have gone well, so hopefully that continues....but the speed they're trying to do this has never come close to being done before. All districts are looking at having a fully remote option for families who can't or won't go back next year. We were asked to let our admin know if we were interested in a fully remote schedule so that they can try to match up numbers as far as teachers who want to stay home and students who want to stay home. I hope those who choose to "home school" stay connected to the district via the remote platform so that districts don't lose out on that per pupil funding.
I think that some of it is always just talk, like you said. But I do think that more than a few teachers will leave the profession if they don’t have an option to work remotely or with appropriate safeguards. People may not necessarily be worried about contracting the virus themselves, but they may want to protect their loved ones. If I had an at-risk family member at home, there’s no way I’d go to school and be around 1,500 kids and 100 other grownups every single day.
The funding thing scares me. I also constantly worry that too many people think that living like Howard Hughes is going to socially distance this thing out of existence. If there are are that many teachers who want to leave, fine. I'm not going anywhere; I'll pick up the slack. There's just no all safe, all protecting bubble to retreat to anyway.
I do need the paycheck. I also have almost a whole school year's worth of sick days saved up, and can get a doctor's note for a medical leave, which is what I will do if I don't feel that the school and district are keeping teachers and students actually safe in the fall. Hopefully, the district will let us continue remotely. That way I can get paid for working instead of getting paid for sitting at home using sick leave.
They are definitely cutting corners to speed this up - the companies producing the vaccines and the FDA.
I agree living like Howard Hughes isn't a positive thing. Let's go with that thought a second though. What would happen if everyone completely shut themselves up in their homes-24 hours a day and didn't come out for 3 months? Two things: One, yes COVID-19 would nearly disappear as it is passed person to person. Those who already have COVID-19 would die in their homes. Two, the rest of us would die of starvation. There is a point here. We know enough about the virus to know it is passed mainly person to person. Being around people less does help. The more people can do this the better to decrease the COVID-19 numbers. There are countries in the world and a few cities and states in our country who have dramatically decreased their infection and death rates somehow. Opening schools can lead to consequences. Over 90 staff members including many teachers lost their lives in NYC from COVID-19 in March. Possibly this was not from closing schools early enough. What to do? We need to be smart, just like when we drive a car. 1. If greatly unsafe don't drive--If roads are really icy with "black ice", it might be best to not drive or take a different route.) If we see that COVID levels are really high, it isn't the time to open up schools. 2. If okay to drive (most of the time)--drive smartly. Don't drive 100 miles an hour or drive drunk. There are so many people who would never drive drunk as it increases accidents 11x. If someone doesn't social distance, but gets within 3 feet of someone there chances of getting or giving COVID-19 increases an estimated 30x according to some studies. Do we really want to increase the chances of teachers and students getting COVID-19 by 30x? 3. Protect the people we care about in our cars, protect our loved ones in our homes. The saddest thing I saw was someone on internet who made fun of COVID-19 and then got it. He then gave it to his wife who is not suppose to live. He is having difficulty forgiving himself. He said if he had to do it over again, he'd wear a mask and social distance. Not bad advice.
