I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!

Wren, he could never remember his lines! I think he'll just have to retire in Russia, and tweet to his heart's content!

Decency, music to the ears -- and tossing in some empathy, kindness and a few other like things. It has been difficult being an American these last few yrs. It is hard to feel you are almost in a 'foreign' land. I'm longing for November like you can't believe.

Well, Illinois saw a spike in cases today: 980, the highest since early June. 36 deaths, same as yesterday. Rolling positivity rate went back up to 2.6 (yesterday it had dipped to 2.5). Doesn't take a genius to conclude it correlates to the city & state moving to Phase 4 of reopening (indoor dining & drinking at 25% in the city, 50% in the state, 50% capacity in entertainment venues & gyms, 50-person indoor worship, etc.). People have to pull up their big-boy/big-girl pants and be satisfied with outdoor--or at-home--dining & drinking, no gyms, and just home or distanced outdoor entertainment. And it's not just selfish hedonistic young people whooping it up in bars: when establishments reopen or increase capacity, more "essential" workers are needed--most of whom are minorities who have to take public transit and live in crowded dwelling units (sometimes multiple generations in one home) with more people than rooms. Also, despite the city's emergency order for people coming or returning from COVID-surge states to self-quarantine, it's unenforceable--how can the authorities ascertain compliance? Symptoms appear 2-14 days from exposure, and we just had a spate of people flying (on packed planes with passengers removing masks to eat & drink) and driving here from their holiday weekend destinations.

ruth,

I loved your teacher meme! My school district has been working closely with our union and many teachers served on small committees to come up with ways to allow students to move as smoothly as possible between classroom and remote learning as needed. This will probably be my last year and I can’t even imagine what it will be like but it won’t be boring

I may be done with subbing forever, which makes me very sad.

The wise man in the storm prays God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him, not the storm without.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

JCSLibrarian,

You ask some good questions. I am a public school teacher. I am my school site’s union rep and have spent part of this summer serving on a committee to deal with the possibility of going in and out of quarantine during the school year so I have intimate knowledge of the challenges presented as we deal with this.

Homeschooling does work for some committed families. However public schools are not set up for homeschooling, nor can we demand that parents put in the time necessary to successfully home school. There is also the issue of equity. In a homeschool model will all students have equal access to equipment, materials, services etc.? For students who have special services and/or accommodations, how will these be met?

In my professional opinion, a blended model, stable small cohorts with students attending in person some days and remote learning on others, could be a workable model. As for the teachers, although there is less discussion of our health than of student health, it is a major consideration in each school districts plans and teachers unions across the country are very much working toward protecting teacher health. I guess news stories about teachers worrying about their own health are not quite as sympathetic as stories about student health. I get that but our unions are looking out for us even without the publicity.

Ruth...good one and if we look back at the Renaissance, women in groups of threes did not wear clothes. I got that little piece of humor from Hannah Gatsby's comedy show "Douglas".

Biden is promising to replace DeVos: "First thing, as president of United States ― not a joke ― first thing I will do is make sure that the secretary of education is not Betsy DeVos, it is a teacher," he said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-betsy-devos_n_5f06a817c5b6480493cb417d

Caryn, what is your opinion and your co-workers' opinion on DeVos? I'd welcome the opinion of her from any other educator on this thread. Some teachers were pro-Trump last go-round, and I wonder if his DeVos appointment has damaged their faith in him and if it will lead them to vote Biden.

Thanks for your comments, Beaverntx. (*Ha, ha, sneaky staff knowing how to get in the way!)

In December, The Guardian described DeVos as "the billionaire Republican destroying public education."

DeVos, what can I say? A wholly unqualified individual without an iota of experience, neither personal nor professional, in the field of public education? What could go wrong? The choice of DeVos was ridiculous from the get go and remains so but now she has the power to propose things that essentially will dismantle public education. She will go down in history as an incompetent, self serving public servant who could care less about the public. So, what do we think of DeVos? 👎🏻👎🏻

As I’ve said before here, my DD is an elementary music teacher. She thinks DeVos is the 2nd worst in DC, next to liar in chief. Has done/can do so much damage across the country for public ed.

Love the sign and it is a shame it could not be printed on the front of a mask. It should be displayed at every store to protect the employees and the customers who do give a darn.