For months, but especially after the new CDC school recs came out, supporters of reopening all schools now have been peddling the idea that schools across the country have been open all year successfully. This argument is used to push for ALL schools to be opened now.
A long 🧵
(Thanks to @eduwonkette_jen @GeoRebekah and @saribethrose for the threads and forums that have helped me meet SO MANY teachers this year).
Here's the list:
▪️no safety protocols at all besides contact cleaning, in some districts
▪️some districts with no mask mandate
▪️classes in windowless rooms, some with full classes of 20-30
▪️no contact tracing or quarantining of close contacts at all
▪️teachers who have to pay for all masks and cleaning supplies for their classrooms because the school/district won't
▪️teachers who are threatened not to tell anyone about cases and spread
▪️teachers who have been asked to come back early from quarantine when sick with covid
▪️ventilation that was condemned decades ago
teachers who have been threatened with retaliation for asking for PPE, ventilation and/or physical distancing
▪️administrators shame mask-wearing staff for "fear-mongering"
▪️teachers who got covid at school & brought it home to vulnerable family
▪️teachers who were forced to quit because the school wouldn’t accommodate their medical conditions (including cancer and heart conditions)
▪️teachers who were told not to do anything to memorialize colleagues who died of covid bc it could upset families
School staff vaccinations might be the best answer.
And the fact is, we don't have many options.
https://t.co/99Vlxn8VOK
Vaccinating all teachers and safely reopening schools in April: @JReinerMD posted this tweet earlier in the day on the idea to use the first batch of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to vaccinate all teachers. Short thread on the numbers and science:https://t.co/o9NvDc4gxy pic.twitter.com/oCEg7vL80z
— Benjy Renton (@bhrenton) February 16, 2021
Teachers are regarded so poorly in this country.
Now we just need a real plan.
More from Education
In many ways, I don't blame folks who tweet things like this. The media coverage of the schools situation in Covid-19 rarely talks about the quiet, day-in-day-out work that schools have been doing these past 9 months. 1/

Instead, the coverage focused on the dramatic, last minute policy announcements by the government, or of dramatic stories of school closures, often accompanied by photos of socially distanced classrooms that those of us in schools this past term know are from a fantasy land. 2/

If that's all you see & hear, it's no wonder that you may not know what has actually been happening in schools to meet the challenges. So, if you'd like a glimpse behind the curtain, then read on. For this is something of what teachers & schools leaders have been up to. 3/
It started last March with trying to meet the challenges of lockdown, being thrown into the deep end, with only a few days' notice, to try to learn to teach remotely during the first lockdown. 4/
https://t.co/S39EWuap3b

In Lurgan College today we are using our timely staff training day to hone our skills in the use of Google Classroom as we prepare to educate our pupils at home in the event of school closure in the future. #beprepared pic.twitter.com/E0LQkYqvBD
— Lurgan College (@LurganCollege) March 16, 2020
I wrote a policy document for our staff the weekend before our training as we anticipated what was to come, a document I shared freely & widely as the education community across the land started to reach out to one another for ideas and support. 5/
https://t.co/m1QsxlPaV4

A #prodmgmt thread 👇
https://t.co/Yv854Sd3P3
Sum up Product Management in 4 words or less. \U0001f609
— Product School (@productschool) April 10, 2020
https://t.co/sXaMH1bZ9m
\u201cWithout data, you\u2019re just another person with an opinion.\u201d
— Product School (@productschool) July 22, 2020
-W. Edwards Deming
https://t.co/5X7bOTsS7m
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or MLP (Minimum Lovable Product)? \u2764\ufe0f
— Product School (@productschool) July 6, 2020
https://t.co/w1y6LTtPS2
UI/UX are not just add-ons for a product. They\u2019re critical elements that need care, research, and a Product Manager\u2019s full attention.
— Product School (@productschool) July 12, 2020