The author is a moron. I might except her premise more if she didn't pretend she knew how teachers in all blue areas felt. I get why she feels Cleveland is wrong and she should stick to that instead of acting like she knows better than all Democrats anywhere.
(for example teachers in
my Blue City would prefer to be in her style of hybrid which is why there is an unprecedented amount of job openings...and well we know how Chicago Teachers feel)
I never buy when anyone says "I was a Dem until..." just like I don't buy when people suddenly quit being Trumpers. If all it took was one thing to change your mind you never were one to begin with. If you admit you would have sat out the Virginia Gubernatorial Election despite the fact that the GOPer running was basically destroying education using race as a cause then you aren't a Democrat and honestly you aren't someone I want to associate with. Rationalize it all you want you are the problem not the solution. She is one of the "Dems" that likely chose
not to vote for Hillary because "both candidates sucked". I don't like people who don't understand the Law of Unintended Consequences.
Look none of us want kids to be stuck at home, school is important and all measures should have been taken to make schools safe. They weren't. Republicans blocked vaccine mandates and mask mandates basically making it a disease factory. The older the school (or more urban) the less likely they have the ventilation systems needed (or the money to upgrade them) to prevent spread. Class sizes were not lowered to allow for more social distancing because most buildings dont have the capacity to do that. (which is why often the hybrid model is the best to cut down on the amount of rooms needed per day) Why is it ok to let schools be The Wild West? Why do we have to protect the kids but not the teachers and support staff?
Better yet, why are people pretending this isn't leading to problems for kids and the disease. Oh and of course the inconvenient truth this teacher seems to ignore, that kids are asymptomatic carriers.
I think there is a lot wrong with how the disease is discussed, I think the media is making things a thousand times worse than it needs to be and I think the author is correct that trying to have a nuanced discussion usually is met with derision by the feeble minded. That doesn't make her arrogant assertions any better though. And in the absence of states, counties, cities and districts doing what they were supposed to do and make the schools safer for kids and teachers, logic dictates that you do what is best for everyone, not just her the kids. Otherwise all you are going to do is end up with schools filled with kids and no teachers to teach them...the GOP wet dream.
note: My gf runs a virtual academy in our district. The school is only supposed to be for a few students who opt out of mainstream education. Parents in our area have been pulling their kids out of the in person schools and putting them in her school in large waves. They don't want their kids getting sick and know the schools aren't set up to protect them. Teachers and administrators in the district are quitting or having breakdowns at surprising levels. A principal literally walked out. Our mayor (a fuckwit who I am contemplating running against because he uses God to define his politics) attacked the districts openly over a mandate that never happened or even really discussed. There is no money and everything is failing. So I fully admit I have a bias against everything that teacher is saying because all evidence I see says she is full of fucking horse[bleep].