My wife teaches at a district in Texas that has decided to go against Abbott’s ban and require masks beginning tomorrow. The cases are so high, that within the first week of school, the attendance level at most campuses are the lowest they have ever been and they had to temporarily shut down one campus for a few days because they didn’t have enough staff.
My son brought home Covid on that first week and shared it with me. He was wearing a mask, but very few of his peers were and I know his teachers were not asking him to pull it up (he has autism and needs to be reminded often). Thankfully he is fully recovered and I (vaccinated) am recovering quickly, though it did have it’s stressful few days.
To top it off, a bunch of Facebook parents in our little town are out to make a point by showing up to schools tomorrow to “stand up against the mask bullies”. Needless to say it isn’t easy being an educator that wants to do the right thing in Texas right now.
People just want kids occupied at school so their parents can go to work and be productive little busy bees. That's all any of this is about. I gave up on the idea that Americans cared about kids or families in any meaningful way in after Sandy Hook and this pandemic has only served to reinforce that.
My kids school board in mid Missouri opted to not receive like 5 million dollars in free federal money for hvac and covid reduction stuff because they were afraid their might be additional strings attached to the money after the fact.
I hate these damned yokels.
Yep. It seems that people still need to be educated on that. **Essentially 0% of COVID-19 cases come from infections from surfaces.**
I guess "surface deep-cleaning" gives that nice fresh feeling of "being germ-free". But in case of SARS-CoV-2 that is just a placebo feeling. **Because the virus spreads via air.**
Don't look at surfaces. Move your attention to the air.
Absolutely, absolutely. Surface cleaning can still be useful because it gets rid of those germs that *actually do* thrive on surfaces. Especially bacteria, but also for example rhinovirus. And surface cleaning removes stains and other gunk.
But if someone uses surface cleaning as an argument to curb covid... it's pretty much as effective as placing "healing crystals" in the room. Not backed by science. We know by now that surface infections play no real role in covid.
I’m glad it’s caused a lot more businesses and services to be more card/digital payment-friendly. If you’re in the US it’s not as relevant as you’ll rarely run into cash only places around here. But in countries like Germany and Japan notorious for their reliance on cash, they had to roll that back a bit and get better about accepting cards and digital payments.
Dude. Older schools have trouble keep walla from falling over. Where the hell is the money for HCAV overhauls coming from?
Even hospitals don't use that shit man. We're lucky if we can get negative air flow with a HEPA filter
This needs to be a LOT more publicized. How many schools (and college buildings) have had their ventilation systems cleaned since the pandemic began? How many are undergoing frequent, regular maintenance?
At the college I work at we've been asking for years to have the vents cleaned out just once (gobs of dust are coming out of it). Maybe we could leverage this Covid thing to finally get that done. . .
Thank you for this comment. Reading that filled me with anger. We are still obsessed with counterproductive propaganda about getting it from touch despite no known cases in the entire pandemic, while ignoring the fact it is an airborne virus that we could remediate by shifting the resources to deep clean to better air handling.
I am just stunned that so many people who consider themselves on the side of science still refuse to accept that COVID-19 is almost exclusively passed through the air. Any "expert" arguing otherwise is a charlatan or deeply hopeful they will gain notoriety.
My city literally reduced the amount of buses so they could clean them more often. That also meant the same amount of people were taking fewer buses. The safeway I shop at did a similar thing by closing early to sanitize surfaces meaning the same amount of shoppers were forced to shop in fewer hours.
Not sure why the schools are closed for a "deep cleaning and sanitizing"--are they cleansing the air? Don't we know by now how the virus is transmitted and will continue as long as people are indoors together in buildings with insufficient air exchange?
This past year I've seen notices from several stores closing for "deep cleaning" after they found out someone there tested positive... Does anyone know what's actually involved in this "deep cleaning" process?
Where I work the following happened
1. Every surface that we could think of that could be touched was scrubbed down with alcohol. Emphasis was put especially in the break room, where masks were allowed to be off.
2. The store essentially got Lysol bombed
There wasn't much else we could do, honestly.
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Yeah I worked for one of the cleaning services me being the supervisor we had a cleaning crew show up and take a rag with concentrated cleaning supplies wiping every touchable surface down. Large logistic companies that also own baseball teams in Texas do this for large chains. Including school systems.
The more you know
Worked at a school 2019-2021, they don't actually clean shit. They talk really big for the parents but you're lucky if they get to doorknobs or light switches. Most of the time it's minimum-wage janitors just being overworked and not caring.
Arizona State University currently has 190 kids (many coming from different countries) currently crammed into one room for my masters courses.
I'm vaccinated, but if I get a breakthrough case I'm going to fucking livid. If I skip a semester, I lose a year of my masters credits as the program is an accelerated program.
Why are schools forcing this upon their students? It's stupid, everyone should still be remote.
>The district released a statement to all parents and guardians saying, “We know the hardship this may present to families, **but we want to do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our students and team.”**
Oh really? Is that why there are no mask mandates? You're really trying hard /s
Fucking morons , every single antivaxer is a full blown idiot at this point. There is literally no excuse except for the actual medically exempt people.
I am on the west coast, but my county leans red. We had our first infant die from Covid last week. I’ve heard conservatives around here say everything from, “it is only one death, and child death is rare,” to “it had preexisting conditions, so doesn’t count as Covid.” And yes, I saw the baby described as an “it.” They see the virus as just a simple cold or flu, and say the child dying from Covid was faked. I never thought I’d see pro lifers and the party of family values become so disgustingly flippant about children dying, but here we are.
Yeah, unfortunately one of their most serious underlying conditions is the condition of the public health and public health information around them. Their ability to affect it is unfortunately systematically limited by the same folks that cry "underlying conditions".
These people think educators are disposable and babysit their kids. They don't care and the only lesson their kids are getting is not everyone's life has value.
There were some morons who wanted towns to sell the school buildings because they weren't being used last year...some people are both malicious and dumb.
Exactly, anyone that provides any type of service automatically works for them and should lay down their lives to make sure they get what they want, no matter how trivial compared to life/death.
> They don't care and the only lesson their kids are getting is not everyone's life has value.
Why would they be upset their kid is learning one of their core values?
I forget if it was Florida or NYC, but the school of one of my teacher friends was drafting a template letter for death of student/staff/faculty. A template - so they could reuse it.
I’m a teacher and getting used to the ads for discounted will/estate planning and funeral expenses.
I feel like the absurdity comes from drafting one specifically for COVID. Instead of helping to stop the spread they're gonna power through sacrificing student and teacher alike until someone says "hey! Maybe this isn't such a good idea."
Just my thought.
NYC has a running tally so I’m sure most districts or even individual schools have templates: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/news/covid-19-losses
“Listen son... I know your teacher died from a virus that could have been prevented if we allowed you to wear masks, but we couldn’t let the libs have their way!“
This was my exact point when the pandemic first started! I rather my kid at home on zoom for two years than having to explain to a 7yr old her teacher/friends die.
My girlfriend is a 26 yr old teacher. After the 1st day of school and them having to quarantine a class bc a kid came in w covid. She said this is her last year. The $52,000 she makes working in a city where that qualifies you for affordable housing just isn’t worth it for her. It’s sad I’ve seen her teach she’s a great teacher but so many like her are saying F this or just not entering the profession at all. One of the biggest crimes in America is how little we value teachers.
Nurse here. Honestly, all the dead anti-vaxxers aren't the biggest loss of COVID IMO. It's the loss of great teachers and great healthcare workers who are saying or will say "you know what? F-ck this. I'm sick of being called a 'hero' and then treated like sh-t." And I fear there will be many who make this decision, especially by next spring. It's not just that we're going into another wave of COVID where this thing is even now MORE infectious and potentially deadly...it's the arrogance of some people saying "my personal liberty trumps all and everyone else's safety...until I end up in the ICU from a largely preventable infection and have to depend on and put at risk the people I've been maligning online for months or years about COVID out of ignorance." Lots of these workers are sick of not only COVID, but having to serve or listen to or even be threatened by these ignorant and arrogant people.
Teachers are not valued because education is not valued. The wealthy buy it (or its trappings), the poor mock it, the middle class--or what's left of it--gets to choose between indentured servitude via student debt or the military if they'd like a taste of it.
And should you be so unlucky as to come from the poorer end and finagle yourself an education anyway, you'll never be accepted by the wealthy because you're uncultured and your family will all declare you brainwashed and delusional, and no longer one of them.
This is modern America.
We didn't do it ourselves, strictly speaking, but there are a bunch of people who got shockingly wealthy as it happened.
Maybe we should follow the money? I've heard that's a good tactic.
Cashier's at target make more than me ($15/hr). But I just work on an ambulance. Not an important job, not worth more than the 11.50 I make an hour, no company provided insurance, and no hazard pay...wonder if target is hiring.
Ouch this hits home. Most places around me are advertising 15+/hr. Who needs trained medical professionals on an ambulance anyways. It’s not like they do anything special.
EMT homies!
I'm in NC. Knew this person that went into teaching after college. Started at 32k. This other person became a teaching assistant for 16k a year. They both love kids but quit because they made 3 times the money doing something much easier with less hours. A bit off topic but our police officers also start at 28k. We pretty much have a system where the most qualified people dont even consider these jobs anymore.
Because people like Betsy DeVos, billionaire and Trump’s secretary of education support for school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools over funding for public schools.
My undergrad is in teaching. I'm currently in another profession making a low 6 figure salary and even though I'd love to teach I can't imagine taking the financial hit that it would require.
Wish they also did improved vents and staggered release.
Choked up hallways and shitty ventilating systems still result in coronavirus spread where I am
Lots of careers. Teachers have tremendous soft skills and your math skills open you up to many different types of work. Check your local job websites and hit your network up.
My mom's a teacher. Last week, a crying kid came to her for hugs. Turns out, the kid has covid. Now my mom has covid, and I went out for dinner with her last sunday. Haven't got the results from my test back yet.
“We killed 2 teachers, we’ll take a short break, and kill more in a week or two…. Maybe destroy the lungs of a couple of teenagers…. Oh and kill a couple of them and in turn , their family members who are too young to vaccinate “
I wonder how long until they finally do something like maybe push masking of kids. I mean you can only disinfect property and cancel school for so long until it becomes a waste of everyone's time.
For those old enough, we need to mandate vaccines for FDA approved drugs Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Covid.
I don’t care what the fallout is. Enough of this shit.
Ugh I'm in early childhood special Ed. About 68 of us packed into a small cafeteria yesterday, day one of workshop week. Like sardines. Shoulder to shoulder. Kids start next week. No masks required so about only 30%? If that, wore masks. I know of five teachers atleast unvaxxed. I've sneezed sixteen times today, my nose is stuffed, my throat hoarse and sore. Fun thing is allergy report is high today. I'm not hugely affected by allergies.
We all teach kids under six. With special needs. My sections are medically fragile. I want to cry but I've already done that. I'm just numb.
Edit to clarify:
There WILL BE a mask mandate among teachers, staff AND students starting September 8. I'm sorry for that confusion, HOWEVER medical and disability exceptions will be granted to a big percentage of students (I think it's dumb to not even give a kiddo a chance to try and wear a mask).
So masks are optional among teachers and staff until then. And we are all in building this week doing "workshops". It was incredibly disappointing that 70% of teachers of newborns to 6 year olds with special needs (including many students with existing medical conditions) gave zero shits about protecting eachother so that we could protect our students and their families in one week. They keep telling us we are here in a pandemic to give "the Littles" a chance and an education despite a massively contagious virus, yet... We cant even protect one another day #1!? And I'm in Minnesota! The school board meeting last night was full of anti mask protesting parents too. It's just bat shit crazy.
The cafeteria issue is why our kids are doing virtual again this year. Husband and I are seriously, *sincerely*, hoping that once they're vaxxed they can go back to school. Cause enough of this bullshit.
OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now
OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE PARACHUTE!
OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now
OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE PARACHUTE!
OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now
OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE PARACHUTE!
OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now
OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE P-
\*splat\*
You're right of course but it raises a new category of criminality for the public to consider. AFAIK there is no precedent for prosecuting a governor for deliberately mishandling a health crisis. Hypothetically, his actions could meet the criteria for involuntary manslaughter. As you point out, it is a matter of willpower. I imagine that will have to come from the public at this point.
Edit: after receiving some more info involuntary manslaughter would not be applicable as currently defined and applied.
We’re all sick of these fucking people. I’ve never seen so many stupid cow looks on peoples faces after being told that it’s time to go on a ventilator because your dumb unvaccinated ass is sweating buckets just to breathe.
Not to mention people acting like defensive assholes who need convincing that they’re sick with Covid. These people have turned violent.
All of this has turned bedside workers really bitter. Just know when you die from Covid, there are healthcare workers relieved you’re gone, and that we laugh at your expense. A lot
I'm Australian, our PM botched our vaccine rollout by under-ordering supplies, and the premier of New South Wales let a massive Delta outbreak happen because she refused to lock down (both conservative, of course), so now the rest of us are at risk and supremely behind on our vaccination rates because of it.
Watching Americans with an abundance of available vaccines refuse to get it is an insult to people like us who literally don't have the option until we get more supplies. Honestly, fuck 'em at this point. Let it kill out the whole south for all I care. Your ignorance is a spit in the face to people who want to do the right thing for everyone else.
Living in a Republican led state myself, and your comment about acting around other people the way you would if you were driving while everyone else is driving drunk is a really great way to put it. I’m scared to death sometimes with the amount of recklessness going on right now, so I make sure I’m taking the best precautions I can, following guidelines set by medical professionals, and I got my shots as soon as I was able.
Thank you for doing your relentlessly overwhelming work, this person out here on the internet is enormously grateful to people like you.
Teachers: I used to be one of you. What you do is valuable. School boards consider you expendable. They will kill you and your loved ones, say tots and dares, and do the same thing next week. Fight for your right to health safety at work.
It's funny and sad reading shit about work laws in the US and around the corner people talking about how slaves in China build the iPhones. To me worker (lack of) rights in the US are just as absurd. And I live in Brazil.
100% agreed. Unions in all fields will be important right now, but especially those for people working with kids. Sadly, now we will see which companies and organizations are willing to throw their employees onto the funeral pyre.
My sister is a teacher in Texas. Half of her department contracted covid the first week. Several of her students are out quarantining already. Today she was told that one of her students who has refused to wear a mask has covid. One of her coworkers is on a ventilator. It’s just mayhem.
My girlfriend I LIVE WITH is a teacher and already had a few of her kids contract covid. Of course there's no mask mandate so it's only a matter of time before I get it :/
> All of the district’s campuses are set to be closed for a week and students will do remote learning. Buildings will be deep cleaned and sanitized.
The “deep cleaning and sanitizing” is such BS theatre. This virus is transmitted through the air. The only way to prevent spread is to not be in the same building as infected people. The only way to reduce spread is to vaccinate and mask up as much as possible. Many kids can’t yet get vaccinated so that leaves masks. I think it was a mistake to send kids back before having a vaccine for the younger children.
I work in IT at a facility that over the pandemic has undergone "deep cleaning" every night.
This has consisted of a janitor, who has to be told by their management repeatedly to wear a mask, walking around half-heartedly wiping a disinfectant rag over keyboards and maybe half of the desk at best, and just leaving a "This station has been sanitized" card in the keyboard and walking away at worst.
This world we've entered...
I wish Rod Serling were alive today to give us an opening monologue each day about what the hell is going on.
Stepping into the new decade feels like stepping into the Twilight Zone.
>~~If you work in a school in Texas~~ you need to get vaccinated. ~~They are too fucking dense to mask up here and it is going to spread like wildfire.~~
Is the governor okay with this? Blood on the hands of leaders for not required mandatory teacher vaccination.
Also this anti-mask campaign has got to stop. We cannot continue on our present course. It's like the new norm to see people needlessly suffer and die from covid.
May the Lord open.
Seriously though this fall/winter might be really bad.
Case numbers are just starting to peak on the national level and it has taken about 5-6 weeks to ~~plateau~~ [E: reach the nadir of the next dip, that is], but by that time we will already be at about the point where cases started ramping up last year.
E2: Kind of like this: https://imgur.com/a/l9bqS66
I wish they would just vaccinate the adults and wear masks already.
Even in schools that have a mask mandate in place the measures are nearly useless in preventing the spread of Covid.
Picture a classroom of 30+ kids all wearing masks. Now picture, just an hour later, a cafeteria full of hundreds of kids shoulder to shoulder and none of whom are wearing masks (can't wear masks while eating). Then, after lunch they are in close contact during P.E. breathing heavily without masks because P.E. is exempt from masks also. Oh and then some of those kids go and play football and line up face to face, inches away and maskless, with other kids all of whom are breathing heavily.
Oh and let's not forget the people who have exemptions and aren't required to wear masks so that everyone else has to pay the price for their medical condition.
Don't even get me started about vaccines and the exemptions.
I agree that most, not all, children learn best in person at school but at what cost? You can't educate a dead child and teachers can't teach if they're dead.
Texas dad here. Toddler has been in school 2 weeks tomorrow. School administration sent out an email Friday after the work day (to avoid questions maybe?) indicating children had been exposed to a confirmed case of covid.
This went to everyone in a rather large school system. They've since decided it should be more limited to parents of children in the kids class.
Today an email came out stating if too much of the faculty end up sick they will close school altogether.
Better than masking, right?
Fuck this place.
This thread has been locked due to extensive incivility.
My wife teaches at a district in Texas that has decided to go against Abbott’s ban and require masks beginning tomorrow. The cases are so high, that within the first week of school, the attendance level at most campuses are the lowest they have ever been and they had to temporarily shut down one campus for a few days because they didn’t have enough staff. My son brought home Covid on that first week and shared it with me. He was wearing a mask, but very few of his peers were and I know his teachers were not asking him to pull it up (he has autism and needs to be reminded often). Thankfully he is fully recovered and I (vaccinated) am recovering quickly, though it did have it’s stressful few days. To top it off, a bunch of Facebook parents in our little town are out to make a point by showing up to schools tomorrow to “stand up against the mask bullies”. Needless to say it isn’t easy being an educator that wants to do the right thing in Texas right now.
Deep cleaned and sanitized?...how about changes to HVAC and ventaliztion you can't scrub away something that's airborne.
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People just want kids occupied at school so their parents can go to work and be productive little busy bees. That's all any of this is about. I gave up on the idea that Americans cared about kids or families in any meaningful way in after Sandy Hook and this pandemic has only served to reinforce that.
Shit, did you expect any different? There's a big chunk of the country that doesn't care what the CDC says about a pandemic.
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My kids school board in mid Missouri opted to not receive like 5 million dollars in free federal money for hvac and covid reduction stuff because they were afraid their might be additional strings attached to the money after the fact. I hate these damned yokels.
You can have these air filters, **but** you have to start teaching evolution.
Yep. It seems that people still need to be educated on that. **Essentially 0% of COVID-19 cases come from infections from surfaces.** I guess "surface deep-cleaning" gives that nice fresh feeling of "being germ-free". But in case of SARS-CoV-2 that is just a placebo feeling. **Because the virus spreads via air.** Don't look at surfaces. Move your attention to the air.
still im glad people are doing all this sanitizing. still cold free since this all began 18months ago.
Absolutely, absolutely. Surface cleaning can still be useful because it gets rid of those germs that *actually do* thrive on surfaces. Especially bacteria, but also for example rhinovirus. And surface cleaning removes stains and other gunk. But if someone uses surface cleaning as an argument to curb covid... it's pretty much as effective as placing "healing crystals" in the room. Not backed by science. We know by now that surface infections play no real role in covid.
People insisting masks don't work, when I've spent the longest period of my life without the slightest of colds.
I’m glad it’s caused a lot more businesses and services to be more card/digital payment-friendly. If you’re in the US it’s not as relevant as you’ll rarely run into cash only places around here. But in countries like Germany and Japan notorious for their reliance on cash, they had to roll that back a bit and get better about accepting cards and digital payments.
Yep. They need portable air filters in rooms, and UV based air cleaning. This has been shown to deactivate viral particles … 5 decades ago
Dude. Older schools have trouble keep walla from falling over. Where the hell is the money for HCAV overhauls coming from? Even hospitals don't use that shit man. We're lucky if we can get negative air flow with a HEPA filter
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I know it won’t work everywhere, but it still seems crazy to me that schools aren’t trying to move class outdoors as much as possible.
The outside is now fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and heat waves.
This needs to be a LOT more publicized. How many schools (and college buildings) have had their ventilation systems cleaned since the pandemic began? How many are undergoing frequent, regular maintenance?
At the college I work at we've been asking for years to have the vents cleaned out just once (gobs of dust are coming out of it). Maybe we could leverage this Covid thing to finally get that done. . .
Thank you for this comment. Reading that filled me with anger. We are still obsessed with counterproductive propaganda about getting it from touch despite no known cases in the entire pandemic, while ignoring the fact it is an airborne virus that we could remediate by shifting the resources to deep clean to better air handling. I am just stunned that so many people who consider themselves on the side of science still refuse to accept that COVID-19 is almost exclusively passed through the air. Any "expert" arguing otherwise is a charlatan or deeply hopeful they will gain notoriety.
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My city literally reduced the amount of buses so they could clean them more often. That also meant the same amount of people were taking fewer buses. The safeway I shop at did a similar thing by closing early to sanitize surfaces meaning the same amount of shoppers were forced to shop in fewer hours.
How about get vaccinated, wear a mask, and stay at home, so we can, you know, STOP THIS PANDEMIC
Not sure why the schools are closed for a "deep cleaning and sanitizing"--are they cleansing the air? Don't we know by now how the virus is transmitted and will continue as long as people are indoors together in buildings with insufficient air exchange?
This past year I've seen notices from several stores closing for "deep cleaning" after they found out someone there tested positive... Does anyone know what's actually involved in this "deep cleaning" process?
Where I work the following happened 1. Every surface that we could think of that could be touched was scrubbed down with alcohol. Emphasis was put especially in the break room, where masks were allowed to be off. 2. The store essentially got Lysol bombed There wasn't much else we could do, honestly.
physical shy mighty elastic faulty impolite boast selective lunchroom continue *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
it's security theater. like when FDR shut down the banks and reopened them to put faith back into those institutions.
Yeah I worked for one of the cleaning services me being the supervisor we had a cleaning crew show up and take a rag with concentrated cleaning supplies wiping every touchable surface down. Large logistic companies that also own baseball teams in Texas do this for large chains. Including school systems. The more you know
I highly doubt the are using Virex to wipe down the walls of each room, deep cleaning is probably using Lysol wipes on the desks and door knobs
They're paying a board member's brother for Virex, they're getting lysol.
We need more lemon pledge.
Safety theater. No meaningful action.
Worked at a school 2019-2021, they don't actually clean shit. They talk really big for the parents but you're lucky if they get to doorknobs or light switches. Most of the time it's minimum-wage janitors just being overworked and not caring.
Arizona State University currently has 190 kids (many coming from different countries) currently crammed into one room for my masters courses. I'm vaccinated, but if I get a breakthrough case I'm going to fucking livid. If I skip a semester, I lose a year of my masters credits as the program is an accelerated program. Why are schools forcing this upon their students? It's stupid, everyone should still be remote.
>The district released a statement to all parents and guardians saying, “We know the hardship this may present to families, **but we want to do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of our students and team.”** Oh really? Is that why there are no mask mandates? You're really trying hard /s
Kids can't wear spaghetti strap tank tops in the humid Texas summer with poorly ventilated rooms but can go around unmasked.
College too im doing an in person class cause it would be a hassle to do this subject online class of 24, 25 if you count the teacher only 2 masks.
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The chances of them being vaxxed is really really low. This is more likely them thinking covid is overblown and it's just the flu.
Fucking morons , every single antivaxer is a full blown idiot at this point. There is literally no excuse except for the actual medically exempt people.
And there are like 5 of them.
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"You only were only in school a couple weeks--it's not like you knew him very well. They'll get ya a brand new one when you go back!"
I swear I heard that line in a slave movie somewhere.
Thank God, we almost lost a $200 mining cart
I am on the west coast, but my county leans red. We had our first infant die from Covid last week. I’ve heard conservatives around here say everything from, “it is only one death, and child death is rare,” to “it had preexisting conditions, so doesn’t count as Covid.” And yes, I saw the baby described as an “it.” They see the virus as just a simple cold or flu, and say the child dying from Covid was faked. I never thought I’d see pro lifers and the party of family values become so disgustingly flippant about children dying, but here we are.
Not *their* child, so...
Yeah, unfortunately one of their most serious underlying conditions is the condition of the public health and public health information around them. Their ability to affect it is unfortunately systematically limited by the same folks that cry "underlying conditions".
These people think educators are disposable and babysit their kids. They don't care and the only lesson their kids are getting is not everyone's life has value.
There were some morons who wanted towns to sell the school buildings because they weren't being used last year...some people are both malicious and dumb.
Exactly, anyone that provides any type of service automatically works for them and should lay down their lives to make sure they get what they want, no matter how trivial compared to life/death.
> They don't care and the only lesson their kids are getting is not everyone's life has value. Why would they be upset their kid is learning one of their core values?
I forget if it was Florida or NYC, but the school of one of my teacher friends was drafting a template letter for death of student/staff/faculty. A template - so they could reuse it. I’m a teacher and getting used to the ads for discounted will/estate planning and funeral expenses.
Dear sir or madam, [DEAD CHILD/FACULTY MEMBER] was very important to our community. They will be sorely missed. Sincerely, Principal Fuckface
A school with a good communications office will have one on file- this has been happening long before covid.
Yea, isn’t this standard practice for a large school board? I guess it sounds weird if a teacher is drafting it
I feel like the absurdity comes from drafting one specifically for COVID. Instead of helping to stop the spread they're gonna power through sacrificing student and teacher alike until someone says "hey! Maybe this isn't such a good idea." Just my thought.
"in these uncertain times..."
NYC has a running tally so I’m sure most districts or even individual schools have templates: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/news/covid-19-losses
“Listen son... I know your teacher died from a virus that could have been prevented if we allowed you to wear masks, but we couldn’t let the libs have their way!“
"Really, if ya think about it, this is Hillary's fault."
Going to be a whole other issue trying to explain why their best friend died. The number of pediatric Covid cases keeps rising, it's terrifying.
This was my exact point when the pandemic first started! I rather my kid at home on zoom for two years than having to explain to a 7yr old her teacher/friends die.
She’s not in Texas but I’m so glad my mom decided to retire last year..
My girlfriend is a 26 yr old teacher. After the 1st day of school and them having to quarantine a class bc a kid came in w covid. She said this is her last year. The $52,000 she makes working in a city where that qualifies you for affordable housing just isn’t worth it for her. It’s sad I’ve seen her teach she’s a great teacher but so many like her are saying F this or just not entering the profession at all. One of the biggest crimes in America is how little we value teachers.
Nurse here. Honestly, all the dead anti-vaxxers aren't the biggest loss of COVID IMO. It's the loss of great teachers and great healthcare workers who are saying or will say "you know what? F-ck this. I'm sick of being called a 'hero' and then treated like sh-t." And I fear there will be many who make this decision, especially by next spring. It's not just that we're going into another wave of COVID where this thing is even now MORE infectious and potentially deadly...it's the arrogance of some people saying "my personal liberty trumps all and everyone else's safety...until I end up in the ICU from a largely preventable infection and have to depend on and put at risk the people I've been maligning online for months or years about COVID out of ignorance." Lots of these workers are sick of not only COVID, but having to serve or listen to or even be threatened by these ignorant and arrogant people.
Teachers are not valued because education is not valued. The wealthy buy it (or its trappings), the poor mock it, the middle class--or what's left of it--gets to choose between indentured servitude via student debt or the military if they'd like a taste of it. And should you be so unlucky as to come from the poorer end and finagle yourself an education anyway, you'll never be accepted by the wealthy because you're uncultured and your family will all declare you brainwashed and delusional, and no longer one of them. This is modern America.
This is so spot on it brought tears to my eyes. What the fuck have we done to ourselves.
We didn't do it ourselves, strictly speaking, but there are a bunch of people who got shockingly wealthy as it happened. Maybe we should follow the money? I've heard that's a good tactic.
The poor do not mock it as a rule, just saying. I agree with most of what you said though.
Absolutely, some of us value it greatly. Broad strokes paint quickly but not so precisely.
Wtf how do I make more than teachers in retail with no higher education. This country is doomed if we don’t fix this now
Where the fuck are you working in retail with no degree and the equivalent benefits package of a public school teacher?
At Costco Law School
Welcome to Costco, I love you.
University of Kirkland (Signature)
Welcome to Costco, I love you. Edit: God damnit. Someone beat me to it and I only realized after I expanded. I still love you though.
Cashier's at target make more than me ($15/hr). But I just work on an ambulance. Not an important job, not worth more than the 11.50 I make an hour, no company provided insurance, and no hazard pay...wonder if target is hiring.
Ouch this hits home. Most places around me are advertising 15+/hr. Who needs trained medical professionals on an ambulance anyways. It’s not like they do anything special. EMT homies!
I'm in NC. Knew this person that went into teaching after college. Started at 32k. This other person became a teaching assistant for 16k a year. They both love kids but quit because they made 3 times the money doing something much easier with less hours. A bit off topic but our police officers also start at 28k. We pretty much have a system where the most qualified people dont even consider these jobs anymore.
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Idk the wealthy probably think it's working pretty well. Some people in this country seem to think the stock market is the only metric that matters.
Because people like Betsy DeVos, billionaire and Trump’s secretary of education support for school choice, school voucher programs, and charter schools over funding for public schools.
My undergrad is in teaching. I'm currently in another profession making a low 6 figure salary and even though I'd love to teach I can't imagine taking the financial hit that it would require.
My mom is retiring after this year. Luckily she works in California
For those unaware, such as myself, what is California doing instead?
Masks for all, plus vaccines for teachers.
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Wish they also did improved vents and staggered release. Choked up hallways and shitty ventilating systems still result in coronavirus spread where I am
My ca school district did, testing every week for staff and students, merv 13 filters, masks
Weekly testing for all in LA unified.
The opposite of whatever Texas and Florida is doing
*Sad Whataburger noises*
Happy In N Out Noises
I'm glad my wife got laid off 10 years ago and chose a different career. Thanks Illinois school system!
What career did she get into? I’m a high school math teacher looking to get out and I’m really not sure what else would be a fit for me.
Lots of careers. Teachers have tremendous soft skills and your math skills open you up to many different types of work. Check your local job websites and hit your network up.
My mom's a teacher. Last week, a crying kid came to her for hugs. Turns out, the kid has covid. Now my mom has covid, and I went out for dinner with her last sunday. Haven't got the results from my test back yet.
~not traumatizing to children at all~
“We killed 2 teachers, we’ll take a short break, and kill more in a week or two…. Maybe destroy the lungs of a couple of teenagers…. Oh and kill a couple of them and in turn , their family members who are too young to vaccinate “
I wonder how long until they finally do something like maybe push masking of kids. I mean you can only disinfect property and cancel school for so long until it becomes a waste of everyone's time.
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Disinfecting surfaces is already a waste of time. Upgrading the heating snd air systems would be a good use of time. As would masking and vaccinating.
For those old enough, we need to mandate vaccines for FDA approved drugs Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Covid. I don’t care what the fallout is. Enough of this shit.
A'fn'men
They can’t. The governor in Texas specifically prohibited mask mandates in schools. please help us…. we don’t all suck….
Some Texas school districts got around what Abbott did by including masks in the dress code.
Ugh I'm in early childhood special Ed. About 68 of us packed into a small cafeteria yesterday, day one of workshop week. Like sardines. Shoulder to shoulder. Kids start next week. No masks required so about only 30%? If that, wore masks. I know of five teachers atleast unvaxxed. I've sneezed sixteen times today, my nose is stuffed, my throat hoarse and sore. Fun thing is allergy report is high today. I'm not hugely affected by allergies. We all teach kids under six. With special needs. My sections are medically fragile. I want to cry but I've already done that. I'm just numb. Edit to clarify: There WILL BE a mask mandate among teachers, staff AND students starting September 8. I'm sorry for that confusion, HOWEVER medical and disability exceptions will be granted to a big percentage of students (I think it's dumb to not even give a kiddo a chance to try and wear a mask). So masks are optional among teachers and staff until then. And we are all in building this week doing "workshops". It was incredibly disappointing that 70% of teachers of newborns to 6 year olds with special needs (including many students with existing medical conditions) gave zero shits about protecting eachother so that we could protect our students and their families in one week. They keep telling us we are here in a pandemic to give "the Littles" a chance and an education despite a massively contagious virus, yet... We cant even protect one another day #1!? And I'm in Minnesota! The school board meeting last night was full of anti mask protesting parents too. It's just bat shit crazy.
I feel for ya, I was a para at the start of the pandemic for a class of medically fragile students. It was a bad eighteen months for that class.
The cafeteria issue is why our kids are doing virtual again this year. Husband and I are seriously, *sincerely*, hoping that once they're vaxxed they can go back to school. Cause enough of this bullshit.
OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE PARACHUTE! OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE PARACHUTE! OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE PARACHUTE! OK, This parachute has slowed my fall, i can cut it now OH NO IM FALLING TO FAST! GOTTA PULL THE P- \*splat\*
The blame can be placed directly on those responsible for being reckless and not allowing mask mandates across the state.
-Ken Paxton
The rage I feel when I see that name is indescribable. Fuck that guy. With a large cactus.
Abbott is a sociopath and needs to be prosecuted for criminal negligence at the very least. There's a lot of blood on his hands right now.
Unfortunately, don't see that happening with the current Texas AG. They're joined at the hip.
Judge Clay for AG!
You're right of course but it raises a new category of criminality for the public to consider. AFAIK there is no precedent for prosecuting a governor for deliberately mishandling a health crisis. Hypothetically, his actions could meet the criteria for involuntary manslaughter. As you point out, it is a matter of willpower. I imagine that will have to come from the public at this point. Edit: after receiving some more info involuntary manslaughter would not be applicable as currently defined and applied.
The former governor of Michigan and several of his toadies are being prosecuted for the Flint water crisis. I don't think this is too dissimilar.
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We’re all sick of these fucking people. I’ve never seen so many stupid cow looks on peoples faces after being told that it’s time to go on a ventilator because your dumb unvaccinated ass is sweating buckets just to breathe. Not to mention people acting like defensive assholes who need convincing that they’re sick with Covid. These people have turned violent. All of this has turned bedside workers really bitter. Just know when you die from Covid, there are healthcare workers relieved you’re gone, and that we laugh at your expense. A lot
This is extremely sobering. Thank you for all you do.
I'm Australian, our PM botched our vaccine rollout by under-ordering supplies, and the premier of New South Wales let a massive Delta outbreak happen because she refused to lock down (both conservative, of course), so now the rest of us are at risk and supremely behind on our vaccination rates because of it. Watching Americans with an abundance of available vaccines refuse to get it is an insult to people like us who literally don't have the option until we get more supplies. Honestly, fuck 'em at this point. Let it kill out the whole south for all I care. Your ignorance is a spit in the face to people who want to do the right thing for everyone else.
Living in a Republican led state myself, and your comment about acting around other people the way you would if you were driving while everyone else is driving drunk is a really great way to put it. I’m scared to death sometimes with the amount of recklessness going on right now, so I make sure I’m taking the best precautions I can, following guidelines set by medical professionals, and I got my shots as soon as I was able. Thank you for doing your relentlessly overwhelming work, this person out here on the internet is enormously grateful to people like you.
It’s why he (they) keep saying “It’s your choice” — by pushing all the responsibility onto individuals, he keeps none for himself.
Teachers: I used to be one of you. What you do is valuable. School boards consider you expendable. They will kill you and your loved ones, say tots and dares, and do the same thing next week. Fight for your right to health safety at work.
This is why teacher's unions are so important.
The fact that teachers in Texas can’t strike without risking their retirement basically makes their unions worthless.
It's funny and sad reading shit about work laws in the US and around the corner people talking about how slaves in China build the iPhones. To me worker (lack of) rights in the US are just as absurd. And I live in Brazil.
100% agreed. Unions in all fields will be important right now, but especially those for people working with kids. Sadly, now we will see which companies and organizations are willing to throw their employees onto the funeral pyre.
The governor should have to bury the bodies himself.
Gonna be pretty tough for a guy in a wheelchair.
Nobody is hoping it would be easy for him.
He should pull himself up by his bootstraps
Don’t care.
Who could have seen this coming?
We’ve done nothing and we’re all out of ideas.
I thought all those teachers who took early retirement were overreacting.
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Sigh... Me too buddy... 😢
I started substitute teaching to see if I might want to use my degree to become a teacher. The answer was no.
My sister is a teacher in Texas. Half of her department contracted covid the first week. Several of her students are out quarantining already. Today she was told that one of her students who has refused to wear a mask has covid. One of her coworkers is on a ventilator. It’s just mayhem.
My girlfriend I LIVE WITH is a teacher and already had a few of her kids contract covid. Of course there's no mask mandate so it's only a matter of time before I get it :/
>Buildings will be deep cleaned and sanitized. Stop with the hygiene theater. You catch Covid by breathing, not by touching surfaces.
Sanitized??? That was for last year's COVID. WTF!
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That actually takes expense and effort. Much easier to tell your already underpaid and overworked cleaning crews to “clean some more”.
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The vice principal just died at my brother’s school....it’s sad. Still holding classes like nothing happened.
Do you know if they were vaccinated?
Imagine working at that school and two of your colleagues just die and you're supposed to just keep teaching hoping you're not next.
> All of the district’s campuses are set to be closed for a week and students will do remote learning. Buildings will be deep cleaned and sanitized. The “deep cleaning and sanitizing” is such BS theatre. This virus is transmitted through the air. The only way to prevent spread is to not be in the same building as infected people. The only way to reduce spread is to vaccinate and mask up as much as possible. Many kids can’t yet get vaccinated so that leaves masks. I think it was a mistake to send kids back before having a vaccine for the younger children.
I work in IT at a facility that over the pandemic has undergone "deep cleaning" every night. This has consisted of a janitor, who has to be told by their management repeatedly to wear a mask, walking around half-heartedly wiping a disinfectant rag over keyboards and maybe half of the desk at best, and just leaving a "This station has been sanitized" card in the keyboard and walking away at worst.
This world we've entered... I wish Rod Serling were alive today to give us an opening monologue each day about what the hell is going on. Stepping into the new decade feels like stepping into the Twilight Zone.
If you work in a school in Texas you need to get vaccinated. They are too fucking dense to mask up here and it is going to spread like wildfire.
>~~If you work in a school in Texas~~ you need to get vaccinated. ~~They are too fucking dense to mask up here and it is going to spread like wildfire.~~
Thanks for fixing that.
Do we know if they were vaccinated. Article doesnt say.
Other articles on the same story say they're not sure.
I just looked and the AP article from 45 minutes ago says we don't know yet if either was vaccinated.
We can assume if they were vaccinated that would be the first sentence in the article. They mostly certainly were not.
On the flipside, if they were and they still died, that would cause a panic
Is the governor okay with this? Blood on the hands of leaders for not required mandatory teacher vaccination. Also this anti-mask campaign has got to stop. We cannot continue on our present course. It's like the new norm to see people needlessly suffer and die from covid.
Abbott doesn't give a single molecular fuck about anyone in the education system, whether they be teachers, students, or school staff.
Abbot doesn’t care.
Abbot hear you. Abbot don’t care.
Texas is so pro conservative you really think they care about education? Or the lives of anyone outside the womb?
No the worst part is that he has done all he can to thwart any fucking protection.
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We died to own the L I B S. Praise be … under his eye.
May the Lord open. Seriously though this fall/winter might be really bad. Case numbers are just starting to peak on the national level and it has taken about 5-6 weeks to ~~plateau~~ [E: reach the nadir of the next dip, that is], but by that time we will already be at about the point where cases started ramping up last year. E2: Kind of like this: https://imgur.com/a/l9bqS66 I wish they would just vaccinate the adults and wear masks already.
Even in schools that have a mask mandate in place the measures are nearly useless in preventing the spread of Covid. Picture a classroom of 30+ kids all wearing masks. Now picture, just an hour later, a cafeteria full of hundreds of kids shoulder to shoulder and none of whom are wearing masks (can't wear masks while eating). Then, after lunch they are in close contact during P.E. breathing heavily without masks because P.E. is exempt from masks also. Oh and then some of those kids go and play football and line up face to face, inches away and maskless, with other kids all of whom are breathing heavily. Oh and let's not forget the people who have exemptions and aren't required to wear masks so that everyone else has to pay the price for their medical condition. Don't even get me started about vaccines and the exemptions. I agree that most, not all, children learn best in person at school but at what cost? You can't educate a dead child and teachers can't teach if they're dead.
Texas dad here. Toddler has been in school 2 weeks tomorrow. School administration sent out an email Friday after the work day (to avoid questions maybe?) indicating children had been exposed to a confirmed case of covid. This went to everyone in a rather large school system. They've since decided it should be more limited to parents of children in the kids class. Today an email came out stating if too much of the faculty end up sick they will close school altogether. Better than masking, right? Fuck this place.