Showdown In Chicago As Teachers Defy Mayor's Orders, Ignore Science; Strike Imminent Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has ordered teachers to return to classrooms for in-person instruction starting Monday, while the Chicago Teachers' Union (CTU) is set to call a strike after weekend negotiations to secure a deal failed over the weekend. On Sunday, Lightfoot announced that teachers who don't have an "approved accommodation" will be expected back in class, and those who don't will be locked out of their district accounts on Monday at end of business. If there are "mass lockouts," the CTU said in a Sunday bulletin that they will call a meeting of its House of Delegates in order to "set a date for a strike to begin," according to the Chicago Tribune. “Remote learning is failing too many of our kids," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says, urging the city's teachers to return to in-person learning. "We have to think about their present but also their future” https://t.co/haB4cyWrqx pic.twitter.com/eHufcnSxg0 — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 31, 2021 Schools had been slated to reopen for more than 60,000 kindergarten through eighth grade students Monday, joining about 6,500 preschool and special education students who started attending in-person on Jan. 11. But Chicago Public Schools pulled the plug late Sunday when it became increasingly clear teachers would continue to refuse to return en masse, despite the hard line Lightfoot and district CEO Janice Jackson have been toeing for weeks, threatening to lock educators out of their remote teaching platforms if they won’t show up in person. -Chicago Tribune. Let me be very clear: Our schools are safe. We’ve invested over $100 million dollars in ventilation, other safety protocols, making sure that we have masks, safety health screening, temperature checks — all the things that you would expect that the CDC guidance has told us that we know makes sense to mitigate any issues in schools. We’ve looked at and followed every study across the globe, including here in Chicago, by our local experts," Lightfoot told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "We’ve had three weeks of safely implementing our plan until the teachers union blew it up," Lightfoot added. To be clear, this wasn’t the promise made to just me. CPS CEO said any educator (without an accommodation) who refuses to go into the building tomorrow will be locked out. — Dwayne Reed (@TeachMrReed) February 1, 2021 Apparently there are consequences to spooking constitutents with ongoing lockdowns for the super deadly virus during the Trump administration, only to suddenly push for reopening under Biden. Apparently there are consequences to spooking constitutents with ongoing lockdowns for the super deadly virus during the Trump administration, only to suddenly push for reopening under Biden. Meanwhile, the teachers (some of whom are presumably teach science) aren't 'following the science,' after former CDC director Robert Redfield, said in November that "All schools should remain open," saying in a statement: "[T]here is extensive data that we have gathered over the last two to three months to confirm that k-12 schools can operate with face-to-face learning and they can do it safely and they can do it responsibly," adding "The infections we have identified in the schools, when they have been evaluating, were not acquired in schools. They were acquired in the community and the household." More recently, a study published last week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reportfound that just 3.7% of COVID-19 cases at 17 Wisconsin schools were tied to in-school transmission. Only 7 of the 191 cases (3.7%), all of them in students, were linked to in-school transmission. Five of the cases occurred at elementary schools (3 in a single class), and 2 were associated with secondary schools. No staff member infections were tied to in-school spread. -CIDRAP Officials have pushed back the resumption of Pre-K through eighth grade classes one day to Tuesday, however the Tribune isn't alone in doubting whether that will happen. The Union, meanwhile, accused the Mayor and Jackson of having "trouble telling the truth publicly," and urged teachers not to believe anything that doesn't come from the union, according to the report. The Union, meanwhile, accused the Mayor and Jackson of having "trouble telling the truth publicly," and urged teachers not to believe anything that doesn't come from the union, according to the report. "CPS never showed up at bargaining Sunday," the union said in a bulletin. "After hours of waiting, CTU leadership was told the CPS team would not come to bargaining unless we made massive concessions: on CDC health metrics; on vaccinations; on giving time for vaccination before reopening; and accommodations for over 2,000 members who have medically vulnerable people in their households." "That is not only unacceptable, that is outrageous. We don’t want a strike."
So one CDC study taking place at 17 rural schools in an area of Wisconsin that had low COVID prevalence at the time --- should somehow represent a meaningful sample. Let's take a look at the the largest study of schools in the U.S. with statistics and data from more than 6000 school districts for the fall semester which came to the conclusion that schools should not be open. Should Schools Stay Open? Not So Fast. Data on coronavirus cases in U.S. schools suggests in-person classes contribute to the virus’ spread. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...why-schools-might-not-be-safe-during-covid-19 And let me add that once again you don't put the url of your article in clear text as per normal internet standards --- this is because you know it is a disreputable source. ZeroHedge is a Russian propaganda outlet.... basically you are pushing information from the Kremlin's mouthpiece.
Like I did when I posted an article from Politico? Like I do when I post every single article? You've cried about this before, little one. I link as I always do in the exact same manner. And ZH has some excellent articles. All you do is try to discredit the source every time. That's how we all know you're full of shit. When it doesn't match with the Party line, you have a problem with it.
Teachers unions are driving lockdowns that hurt students most by Nicole Russell | January 29, 2021 07:29 AM The Census Bureau’s pre-pandemic statistics suggest that over 53 million children were enrolled in public school and over 4 million in private school, ages K-12, nationally. No longer. When the pandemic began and officials closed schools, forcing students to learn virtually at first, it seemed like the right thing to do. At the same time, parents and children were assured the closures were temporary. Nearly a year later, research shows that lockdowns have had worse effects on students than most cases of COVID-19 in children. Unfortunately, no amount of evidence seems to persuade stubborn teachers unions to open schools. On Tuesday, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers wrote in the journal of the American Medical Association that there is "little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission." The CDC and other medical experts have been advocating for schools to reopen since mid-summer, echoing nearly the same information: COVID-19 spread seems minimal among children. This COVID tracker reports there have been approximately 505,000 COVID-19 cases among K-12 students. If that sounds like a lot, remember there are over 50 million children enrolled in public schools. Some states, like Texas, opened their doors in the fall. However, schools in many other states such as Virginia, New York, Kentucky, Oregon, California have remained shuttered or at least partially so. Forcing children to learn virtually has adversely affected their emotional and mental well-being. The CDC found that suicide and depression rates among children have skyrocketed. After an unusual uptick in suicide rates this last week, the Clark County School District — the nation’s fifth-largest school district that pulls students from Las Vegas, among other cities in Nevada — decided to reopen schools for in-person learning as soon as it could. There's another point to make here: Virtual learning doesn't work very well. NPR recently reported that 4 of 10 teenagers don’t even log on for virtual learning! Children at risk for abuse and neglect are even more so with their school buffers gone. Despite the evidence in favor of reopening schools now, teachers unions are offering de facto picket lines against children. In July, the United Teachers Los Angeles demanded a bevy of liberal policies be instituted, such as defunding the police and starting programs about systemic racism, in order for the district to reopen schools. Many unions cite safety concerns as an issue, despite evidence to the contrary. Just this week, members of the Chicago Teachers Union voted not to return to schools to teach students, defying the district's administrators' reopening plans. In an audacious tweet, the union posted a video of six teachers using "art form as a voice to express their desire to feel safe amidst CPS' teacher return policy." Rather than cite facts, the union tweets that "no one should have to choose between life and livelihood." It's simple fearmongering. It gets more absurd. Scott Wilson, president of the Pasco Association of Educators, a teachers union in Seattle, Washington, claimed that reopening schools for in-person learning is an example of "white supremacy" and unease about children committing suicide "white privilege." Teachers in Fairfax County, the largest school system in Virginia, demanded vaccinations before reopening schools to in-person learning. Many teachers received their first dose, yet the system still refuses to reopen. That has prompted some to question whether those teachers should have been bumped to the front of the line! For months now, teachers unions have been moving the goal posts, using students as bargaining chips, and inventing exaggerated safety concerns. We should come together to demand that they put children first. That is, after all, their job. Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
"Watching state leaders call for in-person learning on the state legislature’s virtual video meeting today sends a mixed and hypocritical message. We invite state leaders to step away from privileged podiums and try to understand the many concerns of our students, parents, and teachers," Shelby County Schools Superintendent Joris Ray said in a statement Tuesday. https://www.tennessean.com/story/ne...rs-fire-back-amid-pressure-reopen/4226186001/
No one gives a shit. Parents want their kids back in school. The momentum is building and unions will lose. You're on the wrong side of history. Again.