As public schools go all virtual in fall, parents eye private schools that say they will open their campuses

Once again the Left harm those they purport to help. 

Leftist  governors and Leftist teachers' unions have been very reluctant to tell their teachers to go back to work.  The evidence shows that reopening the schools is very safe for all concerned so why?

It's another demonstration of their hatred of their own society.  Keeping the schools closed messes up a lot of people and they like that. They seem completely unembarrassed that they will hurt  the poor by it -- whom they pretend to side with.  It is the kids of the poor who rely on public schools.  So they will get a truncated education. 

Private schools, by contrast generally have a better relationship with their teachers so will open as soon as possible.  So middle class children who go to private schools will get an education while poor kids do not.

The whole episode shows how hollow is the Leftist pretence of compassion for the poor.  If they feel that way, they would be energetically re-opening their schools


Valerie Kindt wants to return to work full time. Kindt, the mother of a rising third-grade son, scaled back her hours to part time at an international nonprofit organization in April so she could guide her son through his daily four hours of remote-learning lessons at his D.C. public school. But she thinks this is a pivotal time in her career and fears what being a part-time employee will mean for her professionally.

So she is taking a gamble for the fall: She is pulling her son out of their beloved public elementary school and putting him in a private school that, for now, says its campus buildings will be open full time for in-person learning in September.

Kindt says she realizes that she’s making a bet and that she may end up in the same situation as she was at the public school: All virtual learning from home.

But she said she expects that private schools will eventually be able to switch to in-person learning quicker than public schools, making it a worthwhile gamble for her.

“If they do close I am back to square one,” Kindt said. “It again means I will not be able to go back to work.”

While most of the region’s public school districts say their campuses will remain closed for the start of the fall semester, many private schools — which can charge more than $45,000 a year in tuition and fees — are still planning to bring students into classrooms for at least part of the week. It’s a situation that could exacerbate existing inequalities, with wealthier students attending classes in person at private schools, and everyone else using public schools’ distance learning, which left many students behind in their academics.

In D.C. wards hit hardest by Covid, sending children back to school is a risk some families won’t take.

The fact that these private schools may offer some in-class instruction has fueled an uptick in enrollment inquiries from families who can afford to make the switch.

“As of July 22, pretty much across the board, schools are planning for some sort of in-person learning in the fall,” said Amy McNamer, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington, which supports 76 private schools in the region. “And I have to add this big caveat that that could change,” she said.

In online forums, parents are asking one another for advice about private schools, saying they fear that virtual learning at their public schools will be a disaster.

We are “looking at private options,” one Fairfax County Public Schools parent wrote on the online forum DC Urban Moms, seeking a private school with a strong virtual-learning program. “We had been considering it even before the pandemic but now it’s clear.”

McNamer said private schools are better equipped for in-person learning. Their campuses are typically bigger and class sizes were already smaller — sometimes just 12 students in a class — before the pandemic, allowing students to better keep their distance during the school day.

“Our schools are able to make decisions for one institution and one community only and that allows them to change course quickly,” McNamer said.

It’s unclear, however, how most teachers feel about returning. Unlike public schools — whose unions have pushed for schools to reopen virtually — the teachers at these private campuses are not unionized. Hundreds of private school teachers from across the country, including in the Washington region, have circulated online and anonymously signed a statement calling on schools to reopen virtually. Private school teachers and staff said in interviews that they think their schools are reopening because administrators do not want to lose tuition-paying parents who might withdraw from the school, and they fear they will have no protections if they are not ready to return.

For parents who can afford it, a solution for the fall: Bring teachers to them.

We “believe that it is our duty to share publicly that placing our students into classrooms this fall is an unsafe, pedagogically unsound, and ultimately unethical course of action,” the statement reads.

President Trump’s son Barron, 14, attends St. Andrew’s Episcopal — a private school with a sprawling campus in Maryland that serves 645 students from preschool to high school. Trump said during a briefing that he was comfortable with his son going back into the classroom. St. Andrew’s has told families in a letter posted on its website to expect either all distance learning in the fall or a hybrid model, where elementary school students could attend in-person classes every day and older students would switch between distance and in-person learning.

In Northwest Washington, the Sheridan School says it plans to bring its 226 elementary and middle school students back to classrooms five days a week. In Baltimore, the all-boys Gilman School says elementary school students can come to campus every day, while high schoolers can return three days a week.

The Archdiocese of Washington said in a letter to families it has set guidelines for the region’s Catholic schools for reopening, and schools are now working on their individual fall plans.

In the Washington region, many parochial schools have said they will open their doors.

Clyde Davis Jr. sends his son, a rising seventh-grader, to Holy Trinity: An Episcopal School in Prince George’s County. Davis was laid off from his job in the beverage industry and said he has been able to supervise his son during distance learning. He said his son is an independent student and has not fallen behind in academics.

Davis, a D.C. resident, said the school plans to offer at least some in-person learning during the fall, but he plans to keep his son at home. He may allow his son to return for the first days to reunite with friends, but with coronavirus case numbers rising, he is not ready to send the boy back to the school building just yet, fearing for the safety of students and teachers.

“There was a part of me that thought if they go virtual, I might as well send him to public school,” Davis said. But he is sticking with the private school.

The current situation for many of the region’s elite private schools is a far cry from the doomsday scenario that some anticipated at the beginning of the pandemic. Sidwell Friends received a $5.2 million Paycheck Protection Program loan and told The Washington Post in May that it anticipated declining enrollment for the 2020-2021 academic year and other revenue streams to dry up. In a recent email, a Sidwell spokesman wrote that “we are grateful that interest and enrollment remain steady.” Sidwell has not yet announced plans for the fall.

Owen Daly, director of secondary school admissions at Gilman, said the school has received more inquiries about enrollment since the surrounding Maryland public school districts have announced an all-virtual start to the academic year.

 “For Gilman, and a lot of the schools, the challenge is that our school is fully enrolled so it’s not like we can accept a lot of these families even though we would like to help them,” Daly said.

Because of donations from alumni, the school is able to hire more teaching assistants and staff, allowing students to remain in small, socially distanced cohorts on campus and maximizing in-person class time, Daly said. Parents may select an all-virtual option and the school is still figuring out which staff members would be willing to return to in-person classes.

“It’s a lot of money to invest in elementary school education and we want to make sure that we are providing the best education possible — safely,” Daly said.

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CDC releases updated guidelines in favor of reopening schools

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) late Thursday released new guidelines with a heavy focus on reopening schools in the fall, saying children are less likely to experience severe symptoms or spread the virus in schools.

Under the new guidelines, the CDC recommends that schools follow a certain level of precautions based on the amount of community transmission in their area. The CDC advises that unless there is substantial, uncontrolled community transmission in an area, schools should reopen to some extent.

“It is critically important for our public health to open schools this fall,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement announcing the guidelines. “School closures have disrupted normal ways of life for children and parents, and they have had negative health consequences on our youth. CDC is prepared to work with K-12 schools to safely reopen while protecting the most vulnerable.”

Redfield has previously said that he would “absolutely” send his grandchildren back to school.

The CDC’s recommendations include socially distancing school children through cohorting or pods as well as a number of other measures to limit possible transmission of the coronavirus.

“Schools should be prepared for COVID-19 cases and exposure to occur in their facilities,” the guidelines read, adding that schools should be prepared to coordinate with their local health departments.

According to the CDC, there are few reports of children being the driving force of transmission within families. It said that as of July 17, children and adolescents account for under 7 percent of COVID-19 cases and less than 0.1 percent of COVID-19-related deaths.

"The best available evidence indicates that COVID-19 poses relatively low risks to school-aged children," the guidelines read.

The guidelines recommend against screening all students for coronavirus symptoms because children experiencing COVID-19 symptoms may be sick with something else and should not be in school if they are experiencing symptoms at all.

"Parents or caregivers should be strongly encouraged to monitor their children for signs of infectious illness every day," the guidelines read. "Students who are sick should not attend school in-person."

Poll: Large majority say schools should reopen either all or...
The guidance comes as top Trump administration officials have signaled they see the resumption of in-person classes as a top priority. President Trump previously threatened to defund schools that did not reopen for fall classes.

"Reopening our schools is also critical to ensuring that parents can go to work and provide for their families," Trump said during a press conference Thursday. "It's a tremendous problem. It's a tremendous problem. Schools have to open safely."

Lawmakers are currently mulling a stimulus bill that could potentially include funds for schools to implement social distancing measures.

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Perdue Campaign Slaps Ossoff With Fact-Check on False Claim About SCHOOL Act

Georgia Senate hopeful Jon Ossoff got caught peddling another lie about GOP incumbent Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) on Monday. Sen. Perdue introduced legislation last week that creates grant programs for schools to reopen safely by encouraging education systems to work in conjunction with health experts and the CDC guidelines to develop safe reopening strategies. The Georgia Republican’s SCHOOL Act legislates funding for schools to be equipped with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sanitation supplies, and gives local schools the autonomy to reopen as they see fit.

Ossoff appears to have not read Sen. Perdue’s legislation. He falsely claimed that the SCHOOL Act would hold funding hostage from schools that do not open immediately, which is simply untrue. Sen. Perdue’s legislation lacks a federal mandate for reopening, and instead gives schools the jurisdiction to move forward as they feel is appropriate; the funds that would be legislated by the SCHOOLS Act incentivize schools to hopefully reopen safely, and connects systems with the counsel of health experts, but in no way demands that schools reopen outright. Ossoff said that all schools should receive federal funding to boost reopening efforts, without pressure to fully reopen, but that is exactly what Sen. Perdue’s legislation does:

“Sen. Perdue should go back to the drawing board. And put forward a proposal that equips those school districts that can’t yet reopen or have to defer physical reopening the equipment and technology they need so that kids can still learn from home,” he says.

Sen. Perdue’s campaign slapped the Democratic nominee with a blistering fact-check on his false claims about the SCHOOL Act:

“It’s puzzling that Jon Ossoff would be against a good faith proposal that gives our schools, teachers and parents the tools they need to reopen safely now and in the coming weeks.” said Perdue for Senate Senior Spokeswoman Casey Black. “The SCHOOL ACT uses guidelines recommended by the CDC, pediatric healthcare experts, and local school officials and provides the resources to reopen with confidence. Politics shouldn’t get in the way of protecting our kids and teachers. It’s shocking that we even need to have this debate, but apparently Jon Ossoff doesn’t get it, or even worse, doesn’t care.”

The safe reopening of schools should be a bipartisan agreement. Sen. Perdue’s legislation allows schools to reopen on their own timetable, in consultation with expert advice and with no-strings funding from the government to help with safe reopening. The SCHOOL Act does just what Ossoff says is necessary, but yet again, the Georgia Democrat chooses partisanship over the best interests of those he hopes to represent in the Senate.

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Florida State Student Government Ousts Student for Catholic Beliefs

In June, the Florida State University Student Senate voted to remove then-president Jack Denton for the indefensible crime of sharing his Catholic beliefs. Now, Alliance Defending Freedom has sent a letter to school administrators appealing the student senate’s decision to oust him.

In a private GroupMe text conversation with fellow Catholic students, Denton suggested that BlackLivesMatter.com, Reclaim the Block, and the ACLU advocate for causes opposed to Catholic teaching and that Catholic students may wish to avoid supporting them financially. When asked by a member what specifically he was referring to, Denton replied that “BlackLivesMatter.com fosters ‘a queer-affirming network’ and defends transgenderism.” The ACLU, he continued, “defends laws protecting abortion facilities and sued states that restrict access to abortion.” Reclaim the Block, he stated, “claims less police will make our communities safer and advocates for cutting PD’s budgets. This is a little less explicit, but I think it’s contrary to the Church’s teaching on the common good.”

Denton was not operating in his official capacity as student senator in the forum, reported Catholic News Agency. But that didn’t stop one student in the group chat from taking screenshots of the messages and sharing them publicly on social media without Denton’s permission. The condemnation was swift. Students mocked and misrepresented his comments. One penned an op-ed in the school newspaper claiming that Denton’s sentiments “show that he holds values which are antithetical to FSU’s anti-discrimination policy and could make our school’s most marginalized students feel unwelcome and unsafe” and that his leadership position sent “a clear message” of bigotry. Another began an online petition asserting that Denton made “transphobic and racist remarks” and called for his removal because such behavior “will not be tolerated in any form at any level at FSU.”

The petition garnered more than 7,600 comments. The Student Senate held a vote of no-confidence on Friday, June 3 over Zoom in which the governing body ousted Denton from office with 86 percent of the vote. Denton had served in the FSU Student Government Association for three years, including serving as president.

“No student should fear retaliation for peacefully sharing his personal convictions,” said Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, in a press release. “Public universities should be fostering real diversity of thought, not discriminating against individuals based on their religious convictions or political beliefs. Under the guise of creating a ‘safe space,’ FSU students banded together to cancel Jack’s First Amendment freedoms and silence Jack because of his religion, in violation of the school’s SGA Ethics Code and the Student Body Constitution.”

To compound the situation, Denton has been unable to bring his case to the Student Supreme Court because the Student Senate will not confirm the nominees for temporary justices. According to a letter sent by ADF to the vice president for student affairs, the Student Senate has stalled the confirmation process “for the purpose of derailing Mr. Denton’s complaint.” Furthermore, the letter asserts that student senators vetted a potential nominee with Denton’s case in mind, asking the nominee how she would have ruled as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in the cases of Obergefell v. Hodges and Bostock v. Clayton County, and expressing concern and frustration over her “limited knowledge” of the LGBTQ+ community since there was “such a sensitive case on the docket.” ADF requested that the university schedule a hearing for Denton’s appeal by July 29.

Ironically, students have called for Denton’s replacement, Ahmad Daraldik, to be ousted as well after anti-Semitic Instagram posts surfaced immediately upon his appointment. The comments, which included “F--k Israel,” “Stupid Jews,” and compared the Israeli government to Nazi Germany’s genocide against the Jews, made international headlines including the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post. A petition calling for his removal has received more than 10,400 signatures but, so far, Daraldik remains president. 

Conservative and religious students are increasingly coming under fire for their beliefs. Just this week, Townhall reported that Austin Tong, a student at Fordham University, was placed on disciplinary probation for the remainder of his college career and prohibited from setting foot on campus after he posted a picture of slain police officer David Dorn and expressed support for the Second Amendment. Tong is now suing Fordham. Perhaps Denton will do the same. 

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