Remote learning has been a failure per CMS

[Davidson Deac II]

2 hours ago, Whatev said:

Wife is volunteering to give vaccine shots today at a church location in an underserved community.  All Cooper has to do is make teachers a priority and he can make it happen.  In fact, that could be done by Biden as well.  Kid suicide rates are skyrocketing.  Crime among the same demo is too.  Large numbers of kids have NEVER signed into a single zoom class.  
 

They should be leaders and get prioritization to teachers as front line health care workers were/are.

Nice thing for your wife to do.

But moving teachers doesn't solve the basic problem of supply and demand.  I do think the issue will start to get better over the coming months though. My wife is a health care worker, and due to supply and some other issues, will not get her first shot until next week.  Second will be in March.    

[Davidson Deac II]

1 hour ago, Khyber53 said:

You're right, and there's the crux of the problem... sheer numbers. There are about 350 million of us in need of the vaccine. That is an astronomically huge number, especially when it comes to manufacturing something (not just the vaccines, but the syringes, vials, boxes, alcohol swabs, etc...  all while maintaining our regular supply streams of those things for normal medical uses).

It's just an incredibly daunting task that we have to do just to get our country squared away, not to mention assist the rest of the folks on this planet. 

And on to school personnel... we often forget how big our education system is, particularly when you figure in all of the personnel beyond classroom teachers. In NC, the largest single employer is our education system. There are 98,590 classroom teachers alone, and probably one to two more support/administration people per teacher. That's big.

But it could be done, going back into the original question, it's just a matter of will. And, I think, if we want to get the kids back to school and keep the environment safe for everyone involved, the state and counties need to do this. 

I saw an article last month that one of the issues shipping the Pfizer vaccine is a severe shortage of dry ice.  Since the thing has to be kept super cold, dry ice is the most efficient way to ship, yet they can't get enough of it right now. 

[CarolinaNCSU]

2 hours ago, Whatev said:

Wife is volunteering to give vaccine shots today at a church location in an underserved community.  All Cooper has to do is make teachers a priority and he can make it happen.  In fact, that could be done by Biden as well.  Kid suicide rates are skyrocketing.  Crime among the same demo is too.  Large numbers of kids have NEVER signed into a single zoom class.  
 

They should be leaders and get prioritization to teachers as front line health care workers were/are.

This isn't a disagreement with your post, but the mental health argument continues to get made by people who aren't in the building and who aren't seeing the same impact, flipped.  We've had multiple kids come back in person this year, get depressed at what school looks like now (no socializing essentially, stay in your bubble, masks, no group work or projects, no true recess, etc.), and they leave.  Kids who can be successful with online learning have left us because the in-person instruction isn't school.  It's remote learning daycare, which frankly is what most "concerned" parents want. 

With Senate Bill 37, we're also about to overcrowd classrooms based on spacing, block fire exits and doors, have kids sitting at the board where they literally can't even see the board, or friends, and cause another cluster fug.  One of the biggest problems continues to be made at county leadership and government levels, with people NOT in classrooms making every decision without actually talking to people living the life. 

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

3 hours ago, Davidson Deac II said:

I saw an article last month that one of the issues shipping the Pfizer vaccine is a severe shortage of dry ice.  Since the thing has to be kept super cold, dry ice is the most efficient way to ship, yet they can't get enough of it right now. 

One possible piece of good news there is that Pfizer announced on Friday that it was submitting data to the FDA to get approval for storing its vaccine in normal pharmaceutical freezers.  They're claiming the vaccine maintains its efficacy and stability even at higher temperatures.

[Davidson Deac II]

3 hours ago, The NFL Shield At Midfield said:

One possible piece of good news there is that Pfizer announced on Friday that it was submitting data to the FDA to get approval for storing its vaccine in normal pharmaceutical freezers.  They're claiming the vaccine maintains its efficacy and stability even at higher temperatures.

Haven't heard that, but it is good news.  Johnson and Johnson now has a vaccine, so that will help as well.

[Ja Rhule]

CMS is on the role 

 

CMS to temporarily close after-school programs resulting in 200+ job losses 

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/cms-temporarily-close-after-school-programs-resulting-200-job-losses/K34WIYY4L5BHVBWPB7E4RMLC3U/

 

[Whatev]

13 hours ago, Ja Rhule said:

CMS is on the role 

 

CMS to temporarily close after-school programs resulting in 200+ job losses 

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/cms-temporarily-close-after-school-programs-resulting-200-job-losses/K34WIYY4L5BHVBWPB7E4RMLC3U/

 

Taxes should go down right?  These are removed services.  

[CRA]

2 hours ago, Whatev said:

Taxes should go down right?  These are removed services.  

program was running a 4.3 million deficit this school year due to a lack of participants.   And only some sites are closing per the article. 

I think it is also largely funded by federal dollars, grants, and parent fees.  

[Whatev]

4 minutes ago, CRA said:

program was running a 4.3 million deficit this school year due to a lack of participants.   And only some sites are closing per the article. 

I think it is also largely funded by federal dollars, grants, and parent fees.  

Gotcha.  Good they shut it down.  Make it an a la carte function of schools and if it's an issue with cost, make those on F&RL not pay but charge those that can.  

[CRA]

4 minutes ago, Whatev said:

Gotcha.  Good they shut it down.  Make it an a la carte function of schools and if it's an issue with cost, make those on F&RL not pay but charge those that can.  

CMS to close before and after school programs, lay off staff | Charlotte Observer

I think this is a more informative article than the other about the situation.   I don't like the headline.  CMS is doing the right and only thing they can do probably. 

[Whatev]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/opinion/covid-school-closures-children.html?smid=tw-share

Quote

 

The blunt fact is that it is Democrats — including those who run the West Coast, from California through Oregon to Washington State — who have presided over one of the worst blows to the education of disadvantaged Americans in history. The result: more dropouts, less literacy and numeracy, widening race gaps, and long-term harm to some of our most marginalized youth.

The San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank this month estimated that educational disruptions during this pandemic may increase the number of high school dropouts over 10 years by 3.8 percent, while also reducing the number of college-educated workers in the labor force. This will shrink the incomes of Americans for 70 years, until the last of today’s students leave the work force, the bank said…

“We have to acknowledge that there is a large percentage of kids that have ‘disappeared’ — students who have never logged in, or logged in and never fully engaged,” said Melissa Connelly, chief executive of OneGoal, a nonprofit that does outstanding work with low-income high school students…

“The evidence on remote learning suggests that despite the best efforts of teachers it doesn’t work for a large share of kids,” said Emily Oster, a Brown University economist who has studied the issue. “I think we’ve deprioritized children in a way that will do long-term damage.”

 

I don't think it should be 100% be dumped onto the democrats, but the simple fact is most school boards, administrators, teachers' unions, etc are democrats.  We've moved beyond flatten the curve to something completely different.  There is no doubt the wealth gap will only widen by promoting these generations of grade school students.

[Ja Rhule]

Superintendent just received a 3% pay raise and new contract on his $300k salary.
 

No way I could accept that after firing 200+ of my employees.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Ja Rhule

[Goondal]

On 2/15/2021 at 8:55 PM, d-dave said:

God, that sucks!  I hope you and your wife are able to stay healthy.

People seem to think that teachers are disposable.  Like we are easily replaceable. When enough teachers quit, and there are no new ones in the pipelines (UNC system teacher ed programs are drying up); only then will the public have to realize what they have done to their kids.

Thanks man.  Two more weeks until we get a brief leave from our conscription. 

In FL they want teachers to quit, and have for awhile, this is definitely helping them.  They eliminated tenure a few years back and are now doing whatever they can to have those grandfathered in leave so they will have complete control.  This definitely sped up the process. 

[Whatev]

https://www.kqed.org/news/11862469/after-leading-school-closures-berkeley-teachers-union-president-spotted-dropping-daughter-off-at-in-person-preschool

One reason no one takes them seriously.