'Does Not Make Sense': Chicago Principals Fume After District Leaves Them Out of School Reopening Plan

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sounded downright confident that the city's plan to reopen schools was foolproof. She believes that thousands of students can still safely return to their classrooms Monday as planned. If only the teachers would comply. Educators were supposed to return to the schools on Wednesday to prepare for next week's reopening. But as we reported, the Chicago Teachers Union balked and told members to continue working remotely. In short, it's sort of a mess.

Troy LaRaviere, the President of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, identified a few other issues. For one, the staffing has been "unstable and unpredictable," he explained in a press call with reporters on Wednesday. Second, there aren't enough doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for all school staff. And thirdly, the schools have little expertise to lean on.

“We salute the district’s goals,” said LaRaviere. “However, their plans are not realistic or safe for most of our schools. Accordingly, we developed a more grounded and practical approach to resuming in-person learning.”

The CPAA is proposing a phase-in pilot program, “Returning to an In-person Teaching Environment,” or R.I.T.E., which includes input from 377 school leaders, and "fine-tuning" from more than 30 CPS principals and assistant principals, the group explains in a press release. LaRaviere simplified the program into three steps.

1. Open a small group of 50 to100 schools and in-person pilot make Covid vaccinations a priority for those pilot staff and teachers.

2. Focus the district's human and material resources for ensuring success.

3. If successful, expand the pilot every few weeks as schools demonstrate preparedness and readiness for in-person learning.

Success can be achieved by the above process because instead of sending all students back to school, the district can focus on a smaller sample size and work from there. LaRaviere shared the principals' frustration that the district has not involved them in their planning.

"Something does not make sense about that," he said, making a few comparisons.

"If you're making a product, you get the people who are supposed to use the product," he reasoned. "It's the same thing for developing a process...Even the NBA had enough sense to bring the players' union to the successful resumption of their season."

They're the ones the district hands the plans off to but "for some inexplicable reason" the district did not consult them. He adds that they had a few conversations with the union, but "there wasn't a lot of follow up on that."

"CPS typically does not respond until you pressure them to do the right thing," LaRaviere said. Sometimes, when they're really not getting through, they "have to result to embarrassing them."

LaRaviere sympathizes with parents who worry that schools aren't safe right now, but he's trying to solve the problem.

"In-person learning can work," he insisted. "Can the district itself execute a plan to make it happen?"

President Biden recently sided with the CTU this week and agreed that teachers should only return to work when it's safe to do so, suggesting that there's still a lot of work to be done.

Chicago Public Schools says that the extended at-home education has had a detrimental effect on students in more ways than one.

“We’ve seen grades, attendance, and enrollment drop significantly for many of our students in recent months, and the impact has been felt most by our Black and Latinx students,” the district said.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2021/01/28/chicago-school-principals-present-rite-plan-for-reopening-schools-n2583788

Teachers Unions Are Hurting Our Kids

Despite overwhelming evidence that teachers are safe from COVID, unions are keeping kids out of the classroom.

On the campaign trail, Joe Biden pledged to open up America’s schools within 100 days. Just days into his presidency, however, we’re learning that teachers unions are calling the shots in this country. Despite increasing evidence about the safety of in-person instruction, the unions are keeping classrooms closed and harming our kids.

A study shows that transmission of COVID-19 in the classroom is quite rare. Likewise, a recent report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association encourages American schools to reopen.

But that’s not enough to convince those in power that it’s time to get teachers back to the job of teaching in person.

Cindy Marten, Biden’s pick for deputy education secretary and superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, refuses to open public schools despite the fact that the majority of independent schools in the area have opened their doors for in-person teaching and learning.

As Matthew Foldi writes at The Washington Free Beacon, “Marten’s refusal to set a timeline for schools to reopen is in direct contradiction with Biden, who has vowed to have schools reopen within the first hundred days of his presidency. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, has said the government’s ‘default position’ should be to get kids back in the classroom.”

The real issue here is the impact on our children.

We’ve documented how virtual learning has been an abject failure. Kids are increasingly suffering from emotional and psychological problems due to a lack of social interaction and being forced to sit in front of computer screens all day. And now the very people who should be looking out for our kids are telling them they don’t matter.

Power Line’s John Hinderaker writes, “The sinister role that teachers’ unions play in our society has come clearly into focus, as our children’s lives have been devastated by needless school closures across the country. These closures — still in effect in most places, despite all scientific evidence that they are both unnecessary and harmful — largely reflect the power of the teachers’ unions.”

Meanwhile, millions of people have returned to work in department stores, restaurants, and even colleges and universities. So why can’t teachers go back to work?

Hinderaker asks, “Are they seriously unaware that many millions of people have kept working right through the Wuhan epidemic? And that many millions more have returned to work in recent months? Maybe so. I am not sure they understand that most people work in the Summer.”

Recently, the Chicago Teachers Union voted overwhelmingly to prevent the nation’s third-largest school district from moving forward with its reopening plan. Teachers were scheduled to go back to work in early February, but now they’ll continue to teach remotely, nearly a year after schools were shut down.

Sadly, it’s no surprise that President Biden publicly supports the CTU.

“Unresolved disputes between the district and teachers include coronavirus vaccine availability for teachers, public health metrics determining when schools should reopen or close, and accommodations for teachers and staff who live with a relative at higher risk for complications from COVID-19,” writes National Review’s Zachary Evans.

Seems like the teachers unions are once again holding our kids hostage until their demands are met.

For nearly a year, we’ve been told to “trust the science.” Well, the science is telling us that it’s time for America’s teachers to ring those school bells and get back to teaching the three Rs in person.

Schools are one of the safest places to work for the vast majority of teachers and students. Everyone knows this, and the science supports it. Now we just need the teachers unions to stop playing politics and start caring about our kids.

https://patriotpost.us/articles/77360-teachers-unions-are-hurting-our-kids-2021-01-29

Australia: Violent parents, power-drunk principals, out-of-control students – a veteran Brisbane teacher has revealed the horrors of teaching in today’s State primary schools

Violent parents, classrooms full of students medicated for disorders, and principals who are “horrific bullies” are all in a day’s work for exhausted Queensland educators.

Children as young as six are trying to set classrooms on fire, stabbing teachers with scissors and calling them c--ts.

Many kids arrive hungry, filthy and have spent the night “cowering under their beds” as parents attack each other in drug and alcohol-fuelled rages.

Learning is further compromised by a content-heavy curriculum that kills creativity, while stressed-out teachers “live in fear” of poor NAPLAN results and power-drunk principals.

Add reduced government funding to the mix and children are falling through the cracks and turning to crime.

This scathing education report card comes from a passionate teacher of 30 years who has “seen and heard it all” in state and private primary schools across Brisbane and beyond. The married mother of two teenagers, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her career, is speaking out because she wants to see change.

At the top of her list is improved mental health and social support in schools to help “damaged, broken little people”.

She wants education to get back to basics, and greater support and respect for the role of teachers.

“You go into teaching to make a difference but sometimes everything you do is still not enough,” she says.

“Shocking stuff goes on, it’s heartbreaking, and classrooms can be warzones.”

Her candid revelations come as Education Queensland data shows attacks on teachers have soared in the past five years. The number of suspensions for assaults with objects has increased by 29 per cent while attacks without objects are up by 50 per cent.

The pressure on teachers to meet unrealistic expectations has also been identified in recent studies as a major reason people quit the profession, particularly in the first few years.

While this veteran educator is in it for the long haul, she wants to expose the truth about teaching in today’s primary schools.

Not all state schools are created equal. What goes on in affluent inner city schools cannot be compared to what happens in outer disadvantaged areas.

In one of my grade 3 classes, half of the students were on medication for behavioural disorders or mental health problems – and six boys were so hard core, every single day.

One would lock himself in the storeroom and I’d finally coerce him into the classroom and get him into his desk and he’d reach out and punch the kid sitting beside him in the head.

I’ve had a student try to set the classroom on fire and two boys who really enjoyed getting on the roof and putting sticks in the TV antenna. There is constant noncompliance and disrespect.

These kids come from such dysfunctional families and are in constant fight or flight mode.

If you ever do meet the parents, mum’s got no teeth because the latest boyfriend’s knocked them out.

Kids are either up all night cowering under their beds, hiding from violent adults who are boozing and drugging, or their stepdad is chasing them down the road with a knife.

They come to school damaged and broken, so I try to create a positive family environment within the classroom and I tell them we need to make sure everyone is feeling welcome and safe.

We celebrate the smallest of wins, like someone going from 3/10 for spelling one week to 5/10 the next, because it’s about instilling self-confidence.

Mental health is an increasing problem.

I’ve face-timed a nine-year-old girl in a psychiatric hospital to let her know I am there for her any hour of the day or night. We need to be wrapping around our kids a lot more – there are not enough services within schools, yet kids are crying out for help and unless we deal with that first and help them with whatever is going on, we can’t make any difference to their learning.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/veteran-brisbane-school-teacher-issues-scathing-report-card-on-state-of-queensland-schools/news-story/34ff54f6d09506345a40decd1a04eaa1

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