But that isn't what was asked at all. You said this: In nearly all areas of the US where schools are reopening the R is above 1.0. That's what you said. And when I asked you for backup, you gave me the following site which has the following chart showing a whole bunch of states with under a 1.0. Again, this is using your source. Florida in your source shows a .97 (nevermind that it is lower today) and that is below 1 and we are reopening schools this month. I know because I live here and my kid is slated to go back to school. So what the hell are you talking about? Wonderful. This doesn't exactly show me states and R0 factors, but I can easily do that myself. There are states reopening that are below the 1.0. Quite a few, actually. This kind of stuff is why I never trust you at all when you make these "nearly all states" type claims (which you do often). Fact checking it shows you're just full of shit.
If there is any debate that the Teacher's Union is not about the children's education, this video should dispel that myth.
"It's official: Aug. 31 will be first day of public school in Palm Beach County, with online-only classes to start."
I have not found a source that contains both school re-opening dates and R rate. I provided links to resources where you can easily find the information for both. From this you can create your own correlation. Let me state once again, the R rate needs to be below 0.8 in a community to safely re-open schools. If it goes above 0.8 they need to close schools again. Being below a level of 1.0 for R rate is not an appropriate standard for re-opening schools - as noted in Europe. Since few U.S. states have done proper contact tracing the actual infection rate (R) is merely an estimate in the U.S. - we will need to use another standard in local communities to determine if it is safe to open schools. The best available standard is the percentage of positive tests staying below 5% in the local community for a period of 14 days. Is the percentage of positive tests in Florida currently below 5% over the past 14 days? How about in your local community of Tampa - is the percent of positive tests below 5% over the past 14 days?
Within 11 days of schools opening, dozens of students and teachers have gotten COVID-19: 'I truly wish we'd kept our children home' https://www.businessinsider.com/schools-reopen-coronavirus-spreads-already-2020-8 As US schools begin reopening, dozens of students and school employees are testing positive for COVID-19. Hundreds of students and some teachers have been ordered to quarantine. Recent research suggests that children may spread the coronavirus as efficiently as adults. Joel Barnes wanted schools to reopen in his Mississippi city. A retired teacher, Barnes knew that his own kids missed seeing their friends and learning in person. Their district in Corinth was taking precautions: 7th and 8th graders were to stay in a special wing of the high school, and there were virtual learning options, too. So Barnes and his wife Lindsay decided to send their four children back. "It's just one of those hard decisions," Barnes told Business Insider. "You're danged if you do, danged if you don't." The kids — his youngest is in 2nd grade while his oldest is a high-school freshman — started school on July 27. By the end of the first week, the district announced that a high-school student had tested positive. Two more were diagnosed the following week. Then two more. Then a student at the middle school. And then an elementary school employee. "I did not expect it to go up so quickly — within a week and a half of school starting," Barnes said. At least 115 students who had close contact with the sick people in the Corinth school district have been sent home to quarantine for 14 days, according to CNN. Barnes' 14-year-old son is one of them. "I'm so angry," Lindsay Barnes said on Thursday. "We tried to pull him yesterday and the school wouldn't let us." Corinth's experience does not stand alone. As schools across the US begin to reopen, several districts have already seen outbreaks of COVID-19. In Georgia's Cherokee school district, three students have tested positive and a kindergarten class was sent home after a teacher displayed symptoms. A handful of employees at Louisiana's Jefferson Parish school district tested positive two days into their school year, and at least six students in Kentucky tested positive after their first weeks back, too. Four school districts in Central Indiana, meanwhile, have identified at least seven cases since schools began reopening last week. Together, these small outbreaks highlight the risks of reopening schools while the US continues to report high daily case numbers. (The country's seven-day average still exceeds 50,000 new cases per day.) More than 80% of Americans live in a county where a school of 500 students or more would see at least one infection of COVID-19 within the first week of reopening, according to a recent New York Times analysis. Evidence suggests children can spread coronavirus like adults Although kids are less likely to get severe coronavirus cases, mounting evidence suggests they can spread the virus. Most children have the same amount of virus in their upper respiratory tracts as adults do, according to a research letter published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, and children under 5 may have between 10 and 100 times more virus than adults (though this doesn't necessarily mean they spread the virus more efficiently). A study published last week found that US school closures from March to May reduced the weekly rate of new cases in the US by 62%. According to a July survey, 60% of US parents — and 76% of parents of color — support schools' plans to delay reopening. Although Barnes was initially part of the other 40%, the recent spike in cases has rattled his family. His son reported that some of his high-school peers — and even his teachers — were wearing masks either improperly or not at all. Barnes said that lax approach to mask-wearing is reflected across Corinth. As of Thursday, his three younger children — all elementary-school-aged girls — were still going in. He doesn't blame the school district for the outbreak; he blames a lack of political leadership from officials in his state and the federal government. "With the way these cases have been handled at this point, I truly wish we'd kept our children home," Barnes said.
This school year brings great new ways to get suspended... Two Students Say They Were Suspended From Their Georgia High School For Posting Photos Of Crowded Hallways The images of students packed together in hallways went viral on Twitter as the school faces scrutiny from staff and students. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...ng-high-school-suspensions-for-hallway-photos At least two students say they have been suspended at North Paulding High School in Georgia for posting photos of crowded hallways that went viral on Twitter. The photos show students packed into hallways between classes, not appearing to practice social distancing and with few masks visible, amid the coronavirus pandemic. They went viral after being shared by the account @Freeyourmindkid. One of the teens who posted photos, 15-year-old Hannah Watters, told BuzzFeed News she received a five-day, out-of-school suspension for posting one photo and one video on Twitter. She posted the above photo with the caption, "Day two at North Paulding High School. It is just as bad. We were stopped because it was jammed. We are close enough to the point where I got pushed multiple go to second block. This is not ok. Not to mention the 10% mask rate." Watters said she was pulled into the school's office around noon on Wednesday and was told she had violated the student code of conduct. "The policies I broke stated that I used my phone in the hallway without permission, used my phone for social media, and posting pictures of minors without consent," she said. Paulding County Schools has not responded to requests for comment on the alleged suspension. Another student, who did not want their name used, also told BuzzFeed News that they were suspended for posting photos on Twitter. It's unclear who took the first image that went viral and whether they have been punished by the school. On Wednesday, an intercom announcement at the school from principal Gabe Carmona said any student found criticizing the school on social media could face discipline. Watters said she took the photos to raise awareness of how her school "ignorantly opened back up." "Not only did they open, but they have not been safe," she said. "Many people are not following CDC guidelines because the county did not make these precautions mandatory." Students, teachers, and parents at North Paulding High School told BuzzFeed News they fear the school rushed its reopening. Despite reports of positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff, classes have resumed and students have been told they could face expulsion if they don't attend. One teacher resigned last month over concerns for their safety when classes resumed. The school district has also chosen not to enforce mask-wearing, calling it a "personal choice," even though the CDC now recommends their use. Watters took a tally of how many students were wearing masks in her classes and posted it on Twitter. In every class, fewer than half of the students wore them. Watters said she wore a mask all day, except for at lunch. "I think my punishment’s severity was excessive, but I do understand that I violated a code of conduct policy," she said, adding this was her first time being reprimanded by the school. "We have a progressive discipline system. When disciplining me and the other student, they skipped level one and went straight to two." Michael Tafelski, senior supervising attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s children’s rights project urged the school district to immediately reverse and remove the suspensions from the students’ records. “Children do not waive their constitutional rights in school, and the district abused its discretion in suspending these students," Tafelski added in a statement. "It could not have come at a worst time as families are struggling to cope with the social and economic pressures brought on by the pandemic, including the abrupt school closures in March that disrupted the education of thousands of students." Watters said her family plans to fight the suspension.