Joined: 05-03-2012 Posts: 6,786
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tailgater wrote:A lot of things in motion with this one.
Kids need to go back to school. Online can teach book stuff, but as homeschooling has taught us kids need the social interaction as much, if not more, than the book stuff. Maybe a university style hybrid style would allow for lower crowds: johnny in school M and W, Billy in school Tue and Thurs, with Friday as a floater to be used as seen fit.
But as far as the feds flexing their authority, it's 100% necessary. There are few school administrators with the intestinal fortitude to make this decision. Nobody wants to be the final "yes" when there is an obvious potential for sickness and death. A superintendent or a school committee aren't qualified to make decisions for the greater good. Hell, in our area they close school at the mere mention of snow. You think they'll send sally to school when the C-19 lurks in the shadows?
And then the bigger picture that nobody wants to address. Teachers. If courses go 100% online then it would be realistic to let some of the staff go. Lay them off. Because student teacher ratio becomes less of a concern when everything is electronic. The unions won't allow this, mind you. But if you want kids back in the building just bring it up at the next meeting. And while we're at it, may as well fire all the coaches now. Or eliminate the extra stipend they get for coaching. Or any other extracurricular activity that pads the weekly paycheck. And fire the janitors, since there's nothing to clean. And the lunch ladies, warts and all.
Or, let the lowest risk population against this virus go on doing what they should be doing.
Turn off the TV and cancel the newspaper. Read the statistics that show the under 20 crowd are more likely to die from pneumonia than from covid. Stop the fear mongering. Stop the bleeding heart approach that we can't peek outside until there is a vaccine.
One life is too many. When it's your own family you won't care about the numbers. But that's why we need to move to forward. because Me and You and nobody else is supposed to be forced to make these decisions. We should be thanking the feds for doing it for us.
So, blood and money to try and get back to the way things were or blood and money to change. It's not as simple as a light switch I know. But, before we do anything, we should decide which choice suits our new reality. Acting like nothing has changed has never gotten anyone very far. The broad strokes we paint now will decide the details down the road.
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