Posted on Jan 3, 2021
The Fight to Keep Schools Closed Has Proven Thomas Sowell Right About Teachers’ Unions | Jack...
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https://fee.org/articles/the-fight-to-keep-schools-closed-has-proven-thomas-sowell-right-about-teachers-unions/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020_FEEWeekly
Why have our elected officials chosen to shut down schools despite all the evidence?
Contrary to what you may think, it is not primarily because of scientific recommendations made by experts, but rather largely due to deals cut between politicians and teachers’ unions. This is evidenced by a working paper authored by two political science professors that looked at over 10,000 school districts across the country. It found that regardless of the virus’s actual prevalence in local communities, districts with stronger teachers’ unions were less likely to reopen schools for in-person learning.
Why have our elected officials chosen to shut down schools despite all the evidence?
Contrary to what you may think, it is not primarily because of scientific recommendations made by experts, but rather largely due to deals cut between politicians and teachers’ unions. This is evidenced by a working paper authored by two political science professors that looked at over 10,000 school districts across the country. It found that regardless of the virus’s actual prevalence in local communities, districts with stronger teachers’ unions were less likely to reopen schools for in-person learning.
Education
Schools
Teaching
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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Lt Col Charlie Brown the strength of education, human interaction, hands on study is being strongly attacked by our own government. I wonder if other countries are dumbing down their human population.
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PO3 Phyllis Maynard
Lt Col Charlie Brown of course not. I found the 1962?? publication of the book "The Naked Communist". Communism was deemed Communism Scare under McCarthy. But what that movement was warning in the 1950s has come back to America to take revenge.
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Isn't that just unions protecting their members? Despite what many believe the virus has now surpassed all other causes of death in the US.
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LTC Stephan Porter
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen I really happy that a highly leftist news agency got a doctor to write an opinion written in such a way that makes it sound really bad. There are other voices of trained and experienced people who come from a more circumspect approach of caution, but realism, not fear. You just don’t see/hear those because of the censoring of them by big tech and lack of reporting by the MSM.
The facts remain that...
The overwhelming majority of deaths are among those with other underlying medical condition. Ninety-four percent of Covid-19 deaths involve, on average, 2.6 additional conditions or causes of death.
Nationally, more one-third of Covid-19 deaths occur in nursing homes, or other long-term care facilities. In 14 states, the proportion of fatalities in these facilities amount to 50 percent or more of total Covid-19 deaths.
Nearly 80 percent of all Covid-19 deaths are among those over 65 years old.
Central to this post specifically:
In the U.S., the probability of being struck by lightning is higher than the chances of a school-age child (5-14) first getting and then dying of Covid-19.
Children rarely display serious symptoms from Covid-19 or infect others. Some scientists believe children are a “brake”on transmissions.
No consistent relationship exists between K-12 schools reopening and increased spread of the coronavirus.
The conversation shouldn’t be about the risks of children being at school, but the risk of them staying home...but also of protecting teachers for sure (many of these unions have demanded SJW outcomes unrelated to schooling).
The facts remain that...
The overwhelming majority of deaths are among those with other underlying medical condition. Ninety-four percent of Covid-19 deaths involve, on average, 2.6 additional conditions or causes of death.
Nationally, more one-third of Covid-19 deaths occur in nursing homes, or other long-term care facilities. In 14 states, the proportion of fatalities in these facilities amount to 50 percent or more of total Covid-19 deaths.
Nearly 80 percent of all Covid-19 deaths are among those over 65 years old.
Central to this post specifically:
In the U.S., the probability of being struck by lightning is higher than the chances of a school-age child (5-14) first getting and then dying of Covid-19.
Children rarely display serious symptoms from Covid-19 or infect others. Some scientists believe children are a “brake”on transmissions.
No consistent relationship exists between K-12 schools reopening and increased spread of the coronavirus.
The conversation shouldn’t be about the risks of children being at school, but the risk of them staying home...but also of protecting teachers for sure (many of these unions have demanded SJW outcomes unrelated to schooling).
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Lt Col Charlie Brown
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen it wasn't. Like a number of other stories, it was tagged by biased fact check on minor details.
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Lt Col Charlie Brown
More people died of drug overdoses in SF last year than of COVID-19 even with inflated numbers
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Our schools here in our area have been open and met the challenge. South Dakota started in August- Iowa has had some hybrid challenges and some cities have only been virtual in some bigger cities. Wonder how this generation will be affected in the long run?
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
I think most school systems in the country are "open", the how is very different from system to system but I think hybrid is the most common. There may be some, but I'm not aware of any schools here in Florida, including private and charter, that are exclusively in person learning. The controversy over impact will go on for years to come.
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Sgt Jim Belanus
It's really tough on kids, especially rural kids not being in school and enjoying contact with other kids
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SGT Tiffanie G.
It's rough. Hubby is a HS teacher. We are in a small school (Indian reservation), there are problems getting the kids into the schools to begin with without Covid. Most parents don't care about education in the public schools. Many folks here are genuinely terrified of disease. Many have co-morbidities that make the disease far more fatal for them. This tribe lost half their people to small pox back in the day, so it's very real to them. Hospitals are hours away, and most aren't equipped to deal with things like COVID-19.
He hates the distance learning, but it's better than no learning. Most of the teacher's union wants to go back to in-class learning, or hybrid learning, but the board is worried about the kids bringing back disease to their elders. Most of the parents are worried about the same thing and are likely to just not send the kids. Nearly everyone has lost a family member of some sort, since so many are inter-related. When we have had kids using the gym for internet (not everyone has access to internet), twice now it has sent all the teachers home, due to COVID contact (last quarter).
And yes, all of the problems mentioned above are still valid, depression, academics (which they are already far behind in), isolation, skipping school. Many of them spend most of their time taking care of their younger sibs and cousins, making it even harder for them to get their own work done. And while Unions in big cities might be doing things like that, smaller places have other issues to look at, and not every school is the same.
And if we lose many more students off the rolls, then the school will be shut down, and then there will be even fewer opportunities for the kids. Are there problems? Yes, is it the teacher's union? Not really.
He hates the distance learning, but it's better than no learning. Most of the teacher's union wants to go back to in-class learning, or hybrid learning, but the board is worried about the kids bringing back disease to their elders. Most of the parents are worried about the same thing and are likely to just not send the kids. Nearly everyone has lost a family member of some sort, since so many are inter-related. When we have had kids using the gym for internet (not everyone has access to internet), twice now it has sent all the teachers home, due to COVID contact (last quarter).
And yes, all of the problems mentioned above are still valid, depression, academics (which they are already far behind in), isolation, skipping school. Many of them spend most of their time taking care of their younger sibs and cousins, making it even harder for them to get their own work done. And while Unions in big cities might be doing things like that, smaller places have other issues to look at, and not every school is the same.
And if we lose many more students off the rolls, then the school will be shut down, and then there will be even fewer opportunities for the kids. Are there problems? Yes, is it the teacher's union? Not really.
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