I can not believe that they are letting the schools open again when this virus is NOT contained. My son drives to Georgia every 2 weeks to bring my grandson back for a visit + he is starting kindergarten in 2 weeks. I asked my son about them opening schools. He said, "Hell, they opened everything." Get real folks! Social distancing in small children? A wake-up call needed! I spoke with a buddy last night (retired school teacher) + he told me that in Comal county they are doing the 1st week of teacher indoctrination that brings all the teachers in before classes start. Mandatory testing showed 260 teachers tested positive, but the school must go on, right? Of course, education + hopefully intelligence must prevail but my concern is that the "Powers That Be" are not showing any.

Georgia is messed up. Let's see, they allowed overnight camps and, of 600 kids, 200 got the virus and they closed the camp! That's 600 Ga state residents, not everyone. They did not count out of state campers!
Then they opened the schools. A couple of kids posted photos of crowded hallways and most kids not wearing masks, and the kids who posted the photos get suspended!
Glad my governor has a little more sense!
I have no problem with opening the schools for face to face learning, as long as appropriate precautions are taken. Face to face learning is MUCH more effective than "remote" or "virtual" learning.
Peter.

We have effectively conceded defeat, hoping that the hospitals are not overwhelmed between now and Election Day.

We have lots of empty space where businesses have collapsed, and guess what? Nobody else has the rent either and there's still the mortgage to pay.

Landlords are getting ready to evict their unemployed tenants, not realizing that nobody else has any money either.

Banks still want the landlords to pay their mortgages, not realizing that the ensuing real estate crash will be worse than 2008.

Small children are disease vectors, much like white-footed mice with Lyme Disease. Darwin wins another round...

And you don't think the Chinese in charge isn't gloating over what they've done?

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
And you don't think the Chinese in charge isn't gloating over what they've done?

There is still no certain answer as to how the virus got to Wuhan.

It has done more for the balance of trade than all of the tariffs put together.

There is probably more where that came from...

Blaming the Chinese doesn't serve any purpose except to divert attention from how we handled the virus after it hit our shores.

My daughter is a teacher in the Buda area. People won't do something as simple as wearing a mask. Pathetic!

Teachers have to buy most of their own materials to teach YOUR kids and grandkids. Now that material also includes scrubs, shields, masks, and gloves, in addition to the normal material, plus any material required to teach from home in the first few weeks.

They still have to listen to ignorant parents bitch. I don't know why anyone goes into the teaching profession. Like nurses, they are saints.

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
And you don't think the Chinese in charge isn't gloating over what they've done?

There you have it, World Politik. Anything is to be exploited for national aims.

Grizz

From what I've seen, the politicos who want to open the schools say kids are'nt likely to have serious consequences from the virus. But they bring it home and those folks may be a lot more vulnerable.

That's true, not only bringing it home but how about at the school? R/e teachers, lunch personnel, office staff, etc.?

quote:

Teachers have to buy most of their own materials to teach YOUR kids and grandkids. Now that material also includes scrubs, shields, masks, and gloves, in addition to the normal material, plus any material required to teach from home in the first few weeks.

They still have to listen to ignorant parents bitch. I don't know why anyone goes into the teaching profession. Like nurses, they are saints.

AMEN, AMEN AND AMEN.
I know this is somewhat off the exact topic, but yes to all of that. My wife and my oldest son are both teachers. In addition, my wife and the rest of the teachers at their elementary school just had an interesting experience with their administration. Tell me what you all think. Before they returned, the administration went through all of their rooms and took what they needed to prepare a 2020-2021 bag for each child. The teachers were not notified of this until after it happened. Both items belonging to the school district, as well as personally purchased items of the teachers were taken to fill out these learning bags for the school year. The teachers were not allowed to be a part of their room's search. The administration even unlocked all locked cabinets in their room searches. When confronted about it, they were told by the administration that they right to do that. What think ye? For me, her retirement can't get here fast enough.

We treat our teachers like they are indentured servants. No respect. It is a sad situation, and, I wish my daughter was NOT a teacher.

My kids are all grown now but when they were in school, there was a mandatory list of items that we as parents were required to buy for the classroom. These were not for our own kids but divided up communist fashion so that the indigent (illegals) kids would have the same school supplies as everyone else. I could go on + on about the school systems. Primarily about the outrageous taxes + the way that the money is spent.

quote:

I could go on + on about the school systems

And nearly every other subject posted on this site. Including jokes.

So it is really hard to have sympathy when I see entire families piling into walmart and the local convenience stores with no concerns.

So Kensco, how would you have handled the CV19 pandemic if you were president? Take us from day 1 when you would have been informed of the existence of the virus through the next two months as cases increased. Please use the same medical advice that was given by the experts Fauci and Birks. Pretend you don't know what is going to happen. Can't use hindsight.

Bob, that's a pretty loaded question with answers being graded along the same lines of walking on water. Even FDR, with a bit of foreknowledge, could not prevent Pearl. I don't know how I would react either; as you say hindsight is 20/20. If you can find fault, I would welcome your opinion on how YOU would have dealt with it correctly, REALLY!

The only logical, unemotional way to evaluate this pandemic is against death rates, they aren't that exceptional compared to the flu. We've got to roll with the punches, lest it destroys our society.

Grizz

I agree as we have no other option other than the old Heinlein quote (when in danger or in doubt, run in circles scream + shout). That being said I have a friend whose wife is an RN in New Braunfels + alternates between that hospital + another in San Antonio. He told me they had 13 covide patients arrive in their E.R. 3 of them lived.

quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly Adams1:
The only logical, unemotional way to evaluate this pandemic is against death rates, they aren't that exceptional compared to the flu. We've got to roll with the punches, lest it destroys our society.

Grizz

Yep.

The cure can not be worse than the disease.

I do know for certain that I'm glad I wasn't the person in charge! And I'm man enough to admit it!

I guess I am fortunate as to where I teach.

We have a great administration that supports the staff. We have an excellent School Board who supports the staff and the students.

I rarely ever have any issues with parents. There has only been a couple of issues in the past 20 year.

The pay is not great but I knew that going in.

As far as the pandemic goes, we will deal with it as best we can. I believe that having students back will mostly have a positive impact on their mental well being.

My students will be in class on Monday and I am looking forward to it.

Glad there are still good teachers out there. I was just commenting to someone who asked about some self published books they wrote. I told him my 4th, 5th and 6th grade teachers would skin him alive for his horrible penmanship. I can picture each one of their faces to this day. They really made a good impression and taught us well back then.

Good for you Jason. I know I wouldn't have the job. I have a few friends that I went to college with that went into teaching careers + are retired now. The common thought is that they are glad that they got out when they did as today's administrative politics are too much to bear + as you said, the pays not great. That's a real shame that you, the front line troops who really do all the work have to survive on a pittance while the administration is making big bucks. That's just wrong. Thankfully there are still some of you left.

Thank you.

We had our last staff meeting (before our start of classes) and all I will say is that we are making a lot of effort to make sure the kids are safe. It will be interesting....

Please keep us updated; this is a national issue regardless of where your particular school is. I worry for my youngest grandson who has just started school in Atlanta where everything is wide open.

quote:

Originally posted by DocEd:

quote:

I could go on + on about the school systems

And nearly every other subject posted on this site. Including jokes.

LOL +1

quote:

Originally posted by NormanConquest:
Good for you Jason. I know I wouldn't have the job. I have a few friends that I went to college with that went into teaching careers + are retired now. The common thought is that they are glad that they got out when they did as today's administrative politics are too much to bear + as you said, the pays not great. That's a real shame that you, the front line troops who really do all the work have to survive on a pittance while the administration is making big bucks. That's just wrong. Thankfully there are still some of you left.

The pay was never great. The job is a labor of love, with good benefits. The unions couldn't leave it at that, had to jack the pay rates too.

Now the unfunded retirement benefits are a sticking point, and CALPERS needs a rate of return that's not in the cards.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
We treat our teachers like they are indentured servants. No respect. It is a sad situation, and, I wish my daughter was NOT a teacher.

Do you suppose the teachers union has any culpability here? I have a brother and sister that we’re teachers, both got out of the profession, because of the union BS.

The Union can be a double edged sword. I belonged to the United Steelworkers of America for years when I was working full time and going to the local University full time. I believe that they could have fired 40% of the steel mill workforce and got more work done, due to Union regs and ridiculous Union directives. My wife currently belongs to the teacher's Union and although she pays for the 'privilege', she feels protected and has a spokesman if things go south. We had a friend that taught that was accused of some things and was basically terminated. The Union attorneys went to bat for him, proved the school district to be wrong and the accusations false, and got all of our friend's back pay, and had his retirement benefits reinstated. So, as I said, it can be a two-edged sword. By the way, my wife doesn't tow the liberal Union political line when it comes to voting, and neither do a lot of her teaching associates. Some of her associates belong to the Union and some do not. It's not mandatory.

I have been anti-union for my working life as I am open shop; that being said, I am in the manufacturing shop business which is different from the schools. I admit that the original inception of the unions was a very good thing for the workers but it got out of hand. As to the politics, I have a friend who was an engineer for SUPAC R.R. + in their mandatory union in 1980 + when they were all assembled in union hall the shop steward TOLD them that they WILL vote for Carter + not Reagen.

quote:

when they were all assembled in union hall the shop steward TOLD them that they WILL vote for Carter + not Reagen.

Sounds like the Las Vegas Culinary Union. Back in the day, Harry Reid had buses running back and forth to the voting polls from the Casinos so the employees could vote for their favorite democrats.

Well, he have been at it for 3 days. So far, in my opinion, everything has been very successful. The kids have been great.

What I appreciate is that the students are doing very well with the mask mandates in the school. Plus, they seem genuinely glad to be back and interacting with their friends.

We are disinfecting often and taking extra time to clean the schools. I have all my students, each hour wipe down their work stations.

I stand by my support of returning. I also fully support the mask mandate inside the school.

I hope all of your children and grand children are safe and continue to be safe.

That's great to hear Jason. Do you check the students' temperatures each morning as well?

No, the administration decided not to do this.

More power to you Jason! Keep up the good work + stay healthy.