Oh look, another study – same as the other studies – showing that COVID spreads far less in schools than other environments!
I don’t even get excited anymore. I know that a) we have piles of evidence showing this already, and…

b) Anyone who didn’t get this memo already – alternately known as Team Remote Learning and Team Motivated Reasoning – will find a reason to blow off this one, too.
“But this is pre-Omicron!”

“But long COVID”

“But the immunocompromised!”

“But their immunocompromised grandparents’ neighbors!”

“But future variants!”

And no one even meeds to have evidence for any of it! Just the virtue of A Concern.
So, for all of my equally-dismayed friends, watching an important profession discredit itself as vocal members refuse to embrace a growing pile of reassuring evidence, I offer you….
The funniest take on this thread, by far. 😂👏

Laughter, the only thing keeping me from crying.
Happy Saturday.

Pour one out for 2020-2021 Karen Vaites, who actually believed that these studies would change everything in the US school reopening debate.

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More from @karenvaites

Jan 18,
Did you know the @CDCgov changed the mask guidance a few months back, to call for cloth masks with clear panels for children learning to read, among other cases related to speech and language development + special needs?

See:
cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

I have feelings about this. Image
Looks like a September update.

Which is interesting timing; speech pathologists have been talking about the need for masks with clear panels since early in the pandemic.

I mean…

Image
Let’s talk about why none of us knew about the change.

The @CDCgov coming out to finally acknowledge that masks impede children’s reading & speech development would seem important, no?

You’d think @CDCDirector would broadcast. Or at least we’d see tweets.

Anyone heard a peep?
Read 7 tweets
Jan 17,
Every word of @jonathanchait's latest.

Progressives (in many regions) allowed / enabled the greatest domestic policy error of our lifetimes.

And very few are willing to publicly own that fact.

THAT's the source of the dismay and the eroding trust.

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
I won’t soon forget that in the Great Debate between @ClaraJeffery and @NateSilver538, Jeffery was basically erasing last year’s school closure history.

Fact check: 53% of schools were closed in 1st week of Jan ‘21, and 37% hadn’t yet been opened (source: @BurbioCalendar).
US children lost historic amounts of school & became a global outlier among wealthy nations.

Pundits on the left just want to talk about how most schools are open now.

Guess what? Your actions 21 months into pandemic aren't the ones you'll be judged on.

Read 7 tweets
Jan 15,
I talk a lot about the silencing effect of the toxic reopening discourse.

This has affected teacher voices, too.

The many excellent educators I know are silent on reopening / effect of closures. And y’all see what some of your colleagues say.

It’s affecting perceptions.
Perceptions of public education are changing… and not only because of the perceived lack of reliability / lack of child-centering due to closures.

The way the loud voices talk on here is a real problem.

And I’ll be honest, every day I log on and I have to consciously work…
… to think about the MANY educators I know personally, and how we talk/DM about kids and closures, to keep myself from getting cynical about some of the educators in my replies.

I have met thousands of Eds and seen great teaching. I count many Eds as friends and advisors.+
Read 8 tweets
Jan 11,
"We've seen a 364% patient increase in patient referrals of babies and toddlers from pediatricians and parents” for speech delays.

Don’t tell me that masks on children are a cost-free intervention.

wpbf.com/article/palm-b…
Also, if this is what a speech therapist is reporting in Florida… imagine the situation in New York, where masks are required in day care centers.
And to everyone who says I’m putting the emphasis on the wrong thing:

The article highlights the impact of adult masking on kids’ speech.

Kids in my state, where toddlers are masked, have two forms of risk, not just this one:
Read 6 tweets
Jan 11,
The trouble with @michelleinbklyn’s latest, and her last:

Parents (and behind the scenes, superintendents & pro-open schools teachers!) judge AFT and @rweingarten by actions.

Michelle is judging her by her PR efforts.

Big difference.

Some thoughts…

nytimes.com/2022/01/10/opi…
If @michelleinbklyn was going to link one of my recent tweets from her piece, I'd have suggested this.

It doesn't fit her narrative, tho... it's Randi using meaningless data to fear monger about school safety. (Read the whole thread.)

Which is my point.

Her Chicago tweet fits pattern from the last year, as parents saw it.

When Randi intervened, it was often fear-and-doubt sowing. Respectfully, I think parents watched this far more closely than @michelleinbklyn.

And then there is the locals.

I mean…

wwlp.com/news/health/co…
Read 16 tweets
Jan 10,
This is fantastic!

Where there is a will, there is a way.

I’m surprised we haven’t seen more districts taking this approach.
For the flip side, start here to see how parent volunteerism met resistance in some schools.
The resistance is usually connected to sensitivities RE the need to have only credentialed teachers teaching, related to union demands.

Reminder:

I’m officially an applicant to substitute in @NYCSchools. No one has ever called, prob BC I am not licensed by state. Same issue.
Read 4 tweets

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