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dawgfan · 08-10-2020, 12:58 PM

The Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools has recommended online learning only for the fall and that proposal will be voted on by the board on Wednesday (I expect it will pass).

As one half of two full-time working parents of two grade school kids, this is frustrating. I completely sympathize with teachers being scared about this and feeling like they aren't in the same category as emergency medical professionals. On the other hand, there's this which I have a hard time disputing:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...-i-did/614902/

My wife and I are fortunate that we have been able to work from home since this hit, and so the kids finishing up their spring quarter at home was possible. But any parent of kids that age can imaging just how difficult that could be and how disruptive it is to the parent(s) nearby that are also expected to be doing their jobs. We're not teachers. We can both provide some guidance and help, but even in the best of situations (kids fully engaged with the topic and wanting to complete the assignment) it can be a real time sink to work with them. We were both counting the days until the school year was done so we could actually be closer to truly working full-time from home again and not splitting time trying to also be teachers.

This summer they have been attending the usual day-camp they do that is put on by the after-school care program at their school. The camp has been following social-distancing protocols, mask-wearing, screening each morning before entering, etc. and other than one false-positive scare with a counselor, has had no issues with COVID.

We are also fortunate that this after-school program at their school is preparing to offer part-day and full-day care including support for the kids doing their online learning. This will take place in the school buildings, same as their normal after-school care and the same as they've been doing this summer. Which raises the obvious question: if this program can have a certain number of kids in the school buildings, using school equipment to access their online learning and providing support for their online learning, why the fuck aren't they just doing this with their actual teachers?

It's a failure all around that something couldn't have been worked out here. Seattle Public Schools had initially suggested that for elementary school students they would try for a schedule of in-person learning 2 days a week and online learning the rest of the time as a means of limiting the number of students in the school each day to meet social distancing protocols. That's effectively what's going to happen now with this after-school care program, only the "teachers" will be minimum-wage college-aged counselors instead of highly-trained teachers.

Bigger picture, yes, schools are effectively day-care. Our society has gravitated to an economic model where, in most decent-sized cities, both parents need to work in order for a household to bring in the income necessary to achieve a middle-class lifestyle. And so for younger kids that can't be left home alone, schools provide the additional role of day-care. When there is a disruption to that routine such as this pandemic, we need to prioritize finding solutions to this issue. My wife and I are in a position to where we can work from home and keep an eye on the kids (though it's a severe hit to our work productivity), but I think about other families where they can't work from home, and those that are much closer to poverty level (which in Seattle doesn't take much given our insane real estate market) and how disruptive this has all been for them.

I think the other bigger-picture issue here is understanding different needs and approaches for students depending on their age. There's a different between a 2nd grader trying to learn online vs. a 7th grader vs. a 12th grader. While the structure and set-up of schools isn't the only way to teach kids, it's the way our society chooses to do it and a sudden disruption without a well-planned substitute is a recipe for real problems for these kids and their education. What long-term issues are we going to see from these significant curveballs these kids have had to endure in their academic careers? How many will be thrown-off in a way that has lasting damage?

So, yes, I'm sympathetic to teachers that say they didn't sign up to be front-line workers. Except, they actually did whether they were conscious of it or not. I'll avoid getting overtly political here, but I'll just say I don't think we had the leadership necessary (at many, many levels, not just the President) to adequately address this.

08-10-2020, 12:58 PM	#34
dawgfan Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Seattle	The Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools has recommended online learning only for the fall and that proposal will be voted on by the board on Wednesday (I expect it will pass). As one half of two full-time working parents of two grade school kids, this is frustrating. I completely sympathize with teachers being scared about this and feeling like they aren't in the same category as emergency medical professionals. On the other hand, there's this which I have a hard time disputing: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...-i-did/614902/ My wife and I are fortunate that we have been able to work from home since this hit, and so the kids finishing up their spring quarter at home was possible. But any parent of kids that age can imaging just how difficult that could be and how disruptive it is to the parent(s) nearby that are also expected to be doing their jobs. We're not teachers. We can both provide some guidance and help, but even in the best of situations (kids fully engaged with the topic and wanting to complete the assignment) it can be a real time sink to work with them. We were both counting the days until the school year was done so we could actually be closer to truly working full-time from home again and not splitting time trying to also be teachers. This summer they have been attending the usual day-camp they do that is put on by the after-school care program at their school. The camp has been following social-distancing protocols, mask-wearing, screening each morning before entering, etc. and other than one false-positive scare with a counselor, has had no issues with COVID. We are also fortunate that this after-school program at their school is preparing to offer part-day and full-day care including support for the kids doing their online learning. This will take place in the school buildings, same as their normal after-school care and the same as they've been doing this summer. Which raises the obvious question: if this program can have a certain number of kids in the school buildings, using school equipment to access their online learning and providing support for their online learning, why the fuck aren't they just doing this with their actual teachers? It's a failure all around that something couldn't have been worked out here. Seattle Public Schools had initially suggested that for elementary school students they would try for a schedule of in-person learning 2 days a week and online learning the rest of the time as a means of limiting the number of students in the school each day to meet social distancing protocols. That's effectively what's going to happen now with this after-school care program, only the "teachers" will be minimum-wage college-aged counselors instead of highly-trained teachers. Bigger picture, yes, schools are effectively day-care. Our society has gravitated to an economic model where, in most decent-sized cities, both parents need to work in order for a household to bring in the income necessary to achieve a middle-class lifestyle. And so for younger kids that can't be left home alone, schools provide the additional role of day-care. When there is a disruption to that routine such as this pandemic, we need to prioritize finding solutions to this issue. My wife and I are in a position to where we can work from home and keep an eye on the kids (though it's a severe hit to our work productivity), but I think about other families where they can't work from home, and those that are much closer to poverty level (which in Seattle doesn't take much given our insane real estate market) and how disruptive this has all been for them. I think the other bigger-picture issue here is understanding different needs and approaches for students depending on their age. There's a different between a 2nd grader trying to learn online vs. a 7th grader vs. a 12th grader. While the structure and set-up of schools isn't the only way to teach kids, it's the way our society chooses to do it and a sudden disruption without a well-planned substitute is a recipe for real problems for these kids and their education. What long-term issues are we going to see from these significant curveballs these kids have had to endure in their academic careers? How many will be thrown-off in a way that has lasting damage? So, yes, I'm sympathetic to teachers that say they didn't sign up to be front-line workers. Except, they actually did whether they were conscious of it or not. I'll avoid getting overtly political here, but I'll just say I don't think we had the leadership necessary (at many, many levels, not just the President) to adequately address this.