BOE put teacher demands ahead of students
I fear the Board of Education has placed the demands of teachers ahead of the needs of students.
From the beginning of this pandemic, it has been understood that certain jobs are “essential” and people in those jobs need to take precautions to keep themselves as safe as possible, but they need to go to work. My wife is a nurse at Carroll Hospital. She and her employer worked hard to make sure the environment in which she works protects her from the virus to the extent possible. My wife is not in a position to tell her employer, sorry, I don’t want to come to work so I’m going to stay home. Just keep sending my paychecks and I’ll let you know when I’ll be back.
It seems, though, this is exactly what teachers have been able to pull off. They bullied the Board into doing their bidding at the expense of the kids. There is no question in-person instruction is best for students for a whole host of reasons which we all know by now. Barring that, a “hybrid model” which has kids in school for part of the week offers kids at least partial benefit. But the Board chose neither of those two options. Students will stay at home, no matter what home may be like, no matter how inadequate distance learning may be, and despite the emotional, social, and educational toll staying home will take on them.
The primary goal of public schools should be educating students, not catering to the whims of teachers. Here’s a suggestion, tell teachers those who report to work will receive their full pay. Those who choose to stay home will receive half their pay. After they scream about how unfair that would be, and that the world would end if they were forced to make such a decision, it would be interesting to see what teachers would do then.
At least they’d have the choice. My wife either goes to work or she doesn’t get paid. Imagine that.
Chris Roemer
Finksburg
Teachers should stay away from classrooms
Peter Pan is alive and well, thank goodness. As a fictional character, he cannot get sick, unlike real children. When I was a teacher, back in normal times, we laughingly called our charges “walking hotbeds of contagion,” and that was before this global pandemic that has sickened millions. Rest assured, if one kid came to school with a runny nose and fever, pretty soon most of the rest would get it, too. Then they would go home. A lot of parents and teachers got sick that way.
If I were still a teacher, I would not go near a classroom until this pandemic is over. I still give, or used to give, many presentations to groups every year, but my answer to requests is now, “Until there is a vaccine, I will not participate in any group gatherings.” Any smart teacher would say the same.
The current occupant of the White House must think he lives in never-never land where children never go home to their families. Of course, the Lost Boys, like Peter Pan, never went to school, either. The president and his minions are trying to force schools to open during a pandemic so that their parents can go to work, the unemployment rate will go down, and he can claim to be successful and be reelected.
Maybe he thinks he is Peter Pan, the boy who never follows the rules and always wins. Even Peter Pan has responsibilities to deal with problems and protect his people, which he has failed miserably to do. Unlike Peter Pan’s shadow, the COVID-19 virus will stick to the COW like glue. Where other countries took prompt and effective action to stop the contagion, our great country was caught flatfooted and has lost more people than in our last several wars, with the numbers increasing every day. More than 4 million sick and 157,000-plus dead is a trail of carnage like our nation has never seen. And it’s all his.
Steven McDaniel
Manchester
A choice between freedom and totalitarianism
Black shirts have been resurrected — storm troopers in Portland. We like to believe it won’t happen here. Portland also thought they were safe. Just remember. Trump has already designated other target cities that “need” his help — Seattle, Chicago, New York and Baltimore.
We have one last chance to change things. One last chance to end the worst presidency in our country’s history. In November we can vote for a free, powerful, respected nation that our founders envisioned, Or, we can vote for a fascist, dictatorship under Trump.
Which would you prefer to live in? Which world do you want your children to live in. freedom or totalitarianism?
Eileen M. Kowalski
Union Bridge