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Bullying Teachers Is a Mask-Off Moment for the Ruling Class

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Bullying Teachers Is a Mask-Off Moment for the Ruling Class

Coddling billionaires and calling teachers lazy is abhorrent.

Peter Daou
Jan 12, 2022
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Bullying Teachers Is a Mask-Off Moment for the Ruling Class

www.directleft.com
Photo by Scott Heins via Getty Images

I have a child in public school who is now temporarily being home-schooled because gutless Democratic officials in my state refuse to authorize a remote learning option in a vicious pandemic. Many parents don’t have that option and are being penalized by government officials.

Twitter avatar for @Vanessid
El Norte Recuerda @Vanessid
Just got a letter informing me my son is officially a truant. A first grader. More unexcused absences will result in a fine. For staying home in a surging pandemic. Cool policy
Twitter avatar for @m1khaela
Mikhaela Reid 🏳️‍🌈 (she/her) @m1khaela
Just got urgent call from my daughter's school - because we've kept her home 10 days for her safety we're about to be investigated by NYC school's ACS for "educational neglect". If we don't bring her in today to be marked present. Guess we'll put on best N95s and go in briefly.
7:53 AM ∙ Jan 15, 2022
877Likes183Retweets

I can’t begin to describe my gratitude and respect for those who provide our kids an education: teachers, administrators, nurses, mental health professionals, guidance counselors, maintenance staff, cafeteria workers. And I can barely contain my loathing for those who bash them. School staffers deserve better than being bullied for wanting to stay safe and protect their loved ones.

Setting aside the pros and cons of virtual learning, it is absolutely repugnant that corporate media figures like MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld are denigrating teachers for simply wanting a remote option in the face of the monster Omicron wave.

Twitter avatar for @therecount
The Recount @therecount
"If you don't want to teach, don't teach. Quit. Just stay at home and stop teaching children, okay? ... You are either ignorant when it come to science or you just don't want to be in classes." — @JoeNBC on Chicago teachers voting for switch to remote learning amid Omicron surge
12:08 PM ∙ Jan 5, 2022
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We’re at the point in the pandemic where the system needs its workers, so anyone who stands in the way is expendable. It is abusive, authoritarian behavior that harms the most vulnerable in our society. To enrich the billionaire class, political leaders of both ruling parties are denying parents, students, and teachers the opportunity to protect themselves from the potential ravages of a virus that can have debilitating long-term effects.

Yes, in-person learning is better for most children. Yes, there are people whose jobs depend on their kids being in school. Yes, public schools provide meals and other basic necessities for low-income families. But this is a global health emergency. What’s the point of America’s wealth if it can’t provide free mental health support, food, childcare, and a monthly stipend to take care of teachers and students as we ride out the massive spike in infections? At the very least, why not provide an option to those who can take it, so as to reduce the spread of the virus?

Twitter avatar for @williamhboney1
martinmcmahon @williamhboney1
When the wealthy feared that covid might kill them as easily as it kills the poor, it was "All in this together", the instant the wealthy discovered that covid killed the poor most, it was "We have to learn to live with it".
7:03 PM ∙ Jan 11, 2022
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When billionaires are raking in pandemic money while teachers are getting attacked as “lazy,” something is profoundly wrong with our society. As I wrote recently, no words can capture the callousness of current US government policy, which amounts to “let them work and go to school, get sick, contract long COVID, and in some cases, die.” In more ways than one, this pandemic has truly been a mask-off moment for America‘s ruling class.

Kudos and solidarity with students and teachers who are taking matters into their own hands.

Twitter avatar for @ljmontello
Waiting on Biden's Harm Reduction @ljmontello
Good for these Brooklyn Tech students for demonstrating when all the adults around them are failing to act in their interest.
Twitter avatar for @Jill_Jorgensen
Jillian Jorgensen @Jill_Jorgensen
Hundreds of kids walked out of Brooklyn Tech today to protest the continuation of in person school during the Omicron wave and to call for a remote option https://t.co/0HMVAFM2YC
8:19 PM ∙ Jan 11, 2022
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Twitter avatar for @bodega_gyro_ao
aléxandros! @bodega_gyro_ao
Kids are walking out and asking for a temporary remote option. It's about 16°F/-8.8°C. I'm pretty sure they mean it.
Twitter avatar for @willdenze
William Denselow @willdenze
At noon dozens of students seen here at Brooklyn Technical High School participating in a student walkout. They are asking for a remote learning option amid rising #COVID19 cases in NYC. https://t.co/yAZV8fOL2R
5:39 PM ∙ Jan 11, 2022
38,765Likes6,815Retweets
Twitter avatar for @nataliyabrgnsky
Nataliya Braginsky @nataliyabrgnsky
Listen to Oakland students: “We must go back to distance learning until the cases go down again. In order to ensure a safe learning environment, we demand you give us KN95/N95 masks and weekly PCR testing. If these demands are not met we will be striking by not attending school.”
1:31 AM ∙ Jan 10, 2022
25,490Likes4,663Retweets
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Bullying Teachers Is a Mask-Off Moment for the Ruling Class

www.directleft.com
3 Comments
Rick
Jan 12, 2022Liked by Peter Daou

My daughter teaches in a less affluent high school. Today she had a student who is obviously quite ill but is behind in credits and wants to stay in class. He refuses to get tested so he won't have to quarantine. She has multiple students testing positive most days. The district superintendent has vowed to stay in person despite other nearby districts returning to online learning.

It's difficult to see her risking her life like this. Her husband is living separately temporarily due to his health issues and concerns about becoming infected. The students are terribly stressed - not from being denied in person school but from anxiety due to being forced to be in person as this district has no option for remote schooling.

What kind of country have we become?

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1 reply by Peter Daou
Walter Hackett
Writes Big Dub’s Newsletter
Jan 12, 2022

One of the few benefits of being a consumer attorney is having to fight large organizations on a regular basis. That said, I will personally bring an action against the local school district unless they convince me that it is the state of California that is refusing to fund remote learning and providing adequate protection to kids in which case I'm in federal Court suing the state. 3 of my grandkids are in the district and God help the neolib administrator who threatens them directly or otherwise. Enough is enough.

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