This piece of shit letter to the editor was posted in our daily newspaper today.

[Nevilledog]

This letter was not written by a resident, but from someone named Christine Flowers who is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County Daily Times, and can be reached at [e-mail]. Our paper publishing this is a huge slap in the face to our school district.

I can't link to the paper because it's paywalled, but we're in AZ and there is no Delaware County.
Be on the lookout for this abomination coming to your daily paper.


Teachers are now complaining about having to go back and do what they profess to love: Teach in a classroom.

While I have had some unfortunate experience with teachers unions in the past (as an observer, not a member) I was always convinced that the grievance from the professionals was based upon their desire to better the lives of and conditions for students. It really never occurred to me that someone who would enter one of the “service professions” would be hyper focused on their own needs to the exclusion of their kids.

Sadly, that’s what I see happening these days as some school districts announce they will reopen in the fall.

It is reasonable that some of these adults are wary of being exposed to a virus that has not yet been tamed by science, and which is still wreaking havoc in some parts of the country. I know that the uncertainties attached to this disease give one pause, and provide significant challenges to reopening the schools. And yes, I am fully aware that there is not enough money, time or even initiative at the local level to guarantee a fool-proof, completely sanitized, thoroughly germ-free environment.

But by the same token, the only ones I see engaging in finger pointing and “end-times” sort of rhetoric are teachers who do not want to return to the classroom, and their supporters. I have seen on social media that virtually anyone who wants their child to return to the classroom in September is not only considered tantamount to a child abuser, but also wants teachers to die. I do not need to reproduce the posts here, because they are legion and you can do your own research, but there is no question that those of us who think it is imperative that children get back to the business of normalcy, or at least near-normalcy, are considered anathema. Worse than that, we are selfish, dare I say it? Trump supporters.

And that is what angers me the most. When I was a french teacher, politics were irrelevant. That is likely because I taught in private schools, and my specialty wasn’t all that controversial. But now, everything must be squeezed into the “pro-Trump” or “never-Trump” categories, with those of us who simply want to recapture the evanescent beauty of childhood for our kids turned into beastly creatures with a death wish.

I understand that politicians would engage in that sort of gamesmanship. I even get that some parents would do the same, having had my own battles with the sort of person who says, “I am paying your salary, dammit, I get to tell you what and how to teach.”

But I would have never expected that from members of a profession I always loved, admired, cherished and held in the highest esteem. These men and women who are comparing a premature return to classrooms to a “death sentence” should speak to soldiers who have taken incoming fire on a foreign battlefield, EMT workers, emergency room doctors or the police officers who are on the front lines every day, including those when we are not dealing with a pandemic.

I don’t mean to dismiss the real concerns of teachers who might feel particularly vulnerable to infection, including those who are older, have pre-existing conditions or don’t want to expose vulnerable family members to what they perceive as a risk.

But that is not what we have been doing, because some people see this as just another opportunity to attack a president they despise, or advance some agenda that has absolutely nothing to do with their own health, or the welfare of children. The nuns who taught me would have told these fainthearted professionals to act like adults, study the facts and charts, and dispense with the hysterics. The children are watching.

Months ago I wrote about the toll being taken on high school seniors who were losing out on all of the important rites of passage, markers like graduation, parties, senior weeks and final farewells. Many of the emails I received in response were sympathetic, but also suggested that it was necessary to do everything possible to stop the spread of COVID.

Back then, I grudgingly agreed. Now, as I see teachers in particular (not all, but far too many) moving the chains and pushing back the goalposts, I am beginning to wonder if we even want to see the light at the end of this tunnel, or if it is in the best interest of some people to freeze us in a holding pattern indefinitely.

This cannot continue. Again, the children are watching us. Let’s be worthy of the trust they place in us, and bring them back into a world they recognize, and deserve, before they become used to sitting in their bedrooms with absolutely no human contact.

Christa McAuliffe once said, “I touch the future, I teach.” It’s time some of these educators stopped living, scared and anchored in the past.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. Fuck these people! I hope they're shamed into hiding. nt

[Nevilledog]

2. I hope karma takes them out.... In painful and creative ways.

[msongs]

3. newspaper is located in pennsylvania. how did an AZ paper come to print it? nt

[Nevilledog]

4. It was submitted to the paper here and they published it.

[msongs]

5. sounds like a coordinated effort to spread it around nt

[Nevilledog]

7. Yup. That's why I said keep your eyes open.

[hatrack]

6. Christine Flowers needs an editor . . .

.

[ok_cpu]

8. She does for sure.

Did her subconscious place the comma in the last sentence?

It’s time some of these educators stopped living, scared and anchored in the past.

[soothsayer]

9. Creepy

[Hoyt]

10. I'm not so sure this was written by some ignorant right winger. I think a lot of

teachers feel this way, at least I hope so.

This stuff has become too politicized, although I blame most of that on trumpsters. I think kids need some interaction, if it’s only two half days a week with reduced class sizes, or something similar.

I was surprised reading a special ed teacher saying she wasn’t going back, no matter what. If there are children that needs some attention/interaction, it’s these kids.

I do expect school boards to be reasonable and heavily consider public health experts. I expect them to adopt everything possible to reduce risks to students, teachers, families, and everyone else. But once they do that, it’s time to focus on education.

[teach1st]

13. The school board where I live

The school board where I live is considering health experts. But there's not enough funds. We couldn't get our rooms cleaned in normal times (I used to come in an hour early to clean my room thoroughly, using materials bought with my own funds.) There are no additions to the cleaning crew, and they are already burned out. Teachers in my district are online soliciting funds for PPE and ventilation enhancements. Some districts in my area have flat-out put in writing that teachers are responsible for providing their own PPE, as well as providing their own disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.

Yes, the ESE (special ed) kids do need face-to-face in order to thrive. My class had (I just retired; I was supposed to take the class to a new grade) an autistic child who can't wear a mask and who will have a hard time with a masked teacher because they won't be able to pick up full facial expressions. But, and here's the problem: that child's parents are against wearing masks and they do come in contact with many people each day in their work. So, interaction with this child will necessitate me not wearing a mask and the child not wearing a mask, even though there is little social distancing in their life and there are maskless encounters in their life. I'm not willing to take the risk. I have my family to think about.

I have (had) five other ESE students. These students need 1:1 and the teachers who provide that are entitled to protection and supplies from our district. The teachers are not getting that support.

I feel bad about retiring, because I love my kids. But I don't feel guilty. In my area, it's not time for face-to-face. There is too much case-growth and there are too many deaths.

[Hoyt]

14. I get it. I'd expect schools to provide PPE, every available risk reduction mechanism, etc.

The support you mention, should be a prerequisite. Parents who don’t want their kids to wear masks, etc., should be told they have to, or stay home.

Take care, and thanks for your reasoned response.

[notinkansas]

18. School systems don't have funds to be able to do this.

Not before the pandemic. Not now.

[Hoyt]

19. So, they need to get the funds. Increase taxes as far as I am concerned. Education is our future.

[notinkansas]

21. Hard to increase taxes on the unemployed.

[LakeArenal]

11. "Sitting on their bedrooms 'WITH ABSOLUTELY NO HUMAN CONTACT'"

🙄 Geez Looo Eeeezzzz

[dalton99a]

12. Crazy wingnut got fired by the Philadelphia Inquirer

Link to tweet

[Nevilledog]

15. Nice find! Thank you, dalton

[Beartracks]

17. So the point is just "angering progressives" and not finding real solutions to real problems.

Got it.

=========

[Wednesdays]

20. That's Tina Fay playing Sarah Palin.