Sunday, March 14, 2021

So, September, Then?

I don’t understand these people who think public schools just need to “open” like you walk into a room and turn on the lights.

And while I agree “deep cleaning”=“hygiene theater,” there are a lot of parents out there who believe in the concept. Denying it at schools will not placate their fears.

Suddenly returning to everybody in the classroom this late in the semester would be worse than waiting until the fall. It would be chaos and no pedagogical benefit would ensue. Vaccinate teachers? Yes! But vaccinate everybody! By September, that can probably be done. 

I should say some schools districts (perhaps many?) have given parents the choice of attending on-line or in the classroom. So this isn’t a simple matter of teachers or teacher’s unions. There are several parties of interest.

Don’t underestimate the number of anxious parents out there. And vaccinations take weeks to be fully effective. This isn’t the final act of a disaster movie where all problems have disappeared as the credits roll.

1 comment:

  1. I'm wondering what's going to happen if there's a vaccine resistant strain of this virus that becomes prevalent. The more I read about that the more pessimistic I am that things are ever going to go back to normal. I was inadvertently exposed to a potential carrier yesterday, so I go back into self-quarantine for another two weeks. The person who exposed me certainly knew better than to do that.

    One of the problems in Maine has been the automated phone-tree system of registration which is a friggin' nightmare to try to navigate. They don't seem to have an online form to fill out. I suspect that kind of thing around the stupid federal system we've got is going to impeded vaccination. I remember the mass polio vaccination program where we all stood in line and got a needle in the arm or, for reasons I never did find, we stood to drink the little cup with the Sabine version of it, too. I don't understand why it's so complicated this time. We didn't even have dial phones here, back then, never mind texting and computers but it seemed more efficient. As I recall Eisenhower was still president - wish my mother was still around, I'll bet she could have filled in all of those questions I've got remembering those days. Why we got both versions of the vaccine, for one.

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