The highly regarded, media proclaimed “expert” and Director of the NIAID, Dr. Fauci, stated on May 12, 2020 at the Senate virtual hearing that schools could not open until there were multiple vaccines for COVID-19. At that time, Dr. Fauci also argued against opening schools stating that we do not know all the harmful effects that this virus may have on young children.
Fast forward to May 2021. We now have multiple vaccines. It is also now clear that children have not been adversely affected by the virus as Dr. Fauci prophesized. In a multi-country study, The Lancet reported that COVID-19 was rare and only accounted .48% of all causes of childhood death in a normal year. The scientific data is up to, and including, February of 2021. Yet many schools across the country still remain fully or partially closed.
Teachers have seen first-hand the horrible effects that remote learning has on students of all ages. Many students have no longer are attending the virtual lessons or submitting any schoolwork. Parents are reporting their kids are fearful, lonely, anxious, and many of them are simply not learning at all. Students say they miss their friends and feel isolated, and learning on-line is hard and they often are expected to teach themselves.
Administrators and teachers across the country have attempted to deliver virtual lessons, but the hard truth is that remote learning does not, and can never, replace the traditional classroom experience. Millions of children are suffering both socially, psychologically and academically based upon faulty science.
Another problem is children whose parents lack social capital are falling further and further behind. Some are left a home alone; others lack adequate technical devices needed for virtual learning. The achievement gap for lower income groups is not only growing, but growing exponentially. Many lower income families find their children falling a full year behind their counterparts.
Moreover, those students with special needs are at a huge risk of falling behind because they are not receiving the in-person accommodations and/or additional assistance needed to reach their academic potential.
The decision of school administrators and teachers to continue virtual learning and promptly promoting students to the next grade level as if there is nothing wrong, will only further exacerbate the problem. When a student enters middle and high school, they will lack the necessary skills and knowledge to perform at the expected grade level. A true recipe for educational disaster. Though we have seen this movie before, promote not educate.
So given these facts, why are some school districts not fully back in session? One can only speculate there is more to the school shutdowns than just the pandemic. Clearly, politicians and professional educators do not have the best interest of children at heart when enacting the lockdowns of schools. A generation of children are being sacrificed on the altar of an “abundance of caution” ostensibly to meet the political needs and wants of the adults who teach them.
Some teachers refuse to return to work altogether. Perhaps they conclude that not having to commute; working from home; sitting down all day and simply muting unruly students is much easier than actually standing up in front of a class of children and doing their job. And the job of a teacher is to interject human interaction. If it isn’t, let’s save tax payer money and get a bunch of computers with artificial intelligence teach them.
Teaching should be a noble profession, but like most everything these days, it seems to have been corrupted by radical ideologies and political forces. The irony here is that those in the education profession who claim to have the monopoly on the “best interests of the child” have done everything against their best interests.
It’s time to reclaim our schools and communities from these “so-called” experts who keep trying to convince you they have the best interests of your child in mind.
What can you do?
- Form a group of like-minded parents and write letters and emails demanding the schools fully open.
- Attend school board meetings in your community. Find out when public comments can be made and make your concerns known.
- Vote in local school board elections and assess candidates based on their ideology and adherence to traditional values.
- If all else fails, consider transferring to a parochial school or homeschooling your children.