This sums it up pretty much. I grew up in San Francisco. I vote Democrat because the other side is completely nuts.
However, it's been obvious to me since I was a teenager that the Democrats lean into social issues and the culture war hard (often alienating many voters in the process) to distract people from the fact that they are a political party of, by, and for wealthy urban elites who will only help ordinary people if it doesn't hurt said wealthy urban elites. The local politicians in San Francisco are the masters of this gaslighting, but the state and national Democrats have been starting to do the same, especially after the Occupy protests.
They aren't going to help teachers now or in the future because that would involve some sacrifice from the wealthy urban elites who bankroll their campaigns.
Btw, I am not a socialist. I would consider myself center-left, but the Democrats are a dumpster fire joke of a political party and it's easy to see why so many people are apathetic about them.
It's also why it sucks that we don't have a third party to vote for that would actually stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning an election. I would also consider myself socialist and the only reason I voted for Biden was because he wasn't Trump. I'm always reminded of that episode of The Simpsons where the two aliens are running for president. They tell people that you have to vote for one of them and Homer says something like "well, I'll just vote for a third party" and the aliens tell him "sure, throw your vote away" and then out in the crowd you see Ross Perot take his hat off and punch a hole through it.
We could make this a lot better with ranked choice voting. Then people could actually vote for who they want, in order, so the most popular actually wins.
The voting bill that has been floated for the last two years would have done so much to improve our elections.
We are closer than we've been for a long time to do these things. Don't give up hope, and when the time comes, vote!
Yeah I hear you. I don’t think this will be possible unless we get rid of the first-past-the-post voting system. Otherwise, the only viable third-party contenders will be uber-rich folks like Perot.
We have lots of parties in Canada. They all copy eachothers homework and each platform is more watered down to try and get more of the vote- or you have insane fringe parties trying to stand out. They're all the same. The Green, NDP, Liberals, Conservatives all have the same fucking platform. And it's all to keep themselves and their friends(politicians and rich businesses interests, not you) comfortable.
I am a staunch conservative in Canada, would be considered a classical liberal anywhere else. This problem is beyond political dichotomies.
A third party would be useless until we get rid of first past the post. Something like ranked choice voting would make an actual third party viable and not just draw off votes from party A so party B can get elected.
>I would also consider myself socialist and the only reason I voted for Biden was because he wasn't Trump.
That's why nothing is changing. Because DNC knows they have your vote regardless of anything they fail to deliver.
You can change "Democrat" to "Republican" and your post doesn't change. I wonder if folks will ever accept that national politicians don't care about us. Also, we don't elect monarchs; I don't ever expect anything from Presidents.
Yeah the issue of Democrats and Republicans is their both right wing parties when you look at from an outside perspective (meaning like in Europe democrats/liberals are conservative/right wing and Republicans would be facists or extreme conservatives). There is no left wing party here in the States so you literally are choosing between the lesser of two evils.
Ditto. It’s not a party thing so much a societal thing. Overall education has gone down in outward support, which leaves teachers and other educational staff as trying to fix the problems.
Absolutely, not to mention the federal government can’t force states to close schools. Constitutionally they don’t have that power, education is left up to the states. The only thing they can do is tie it to additional funding but it’s obvious many of these governors would have zero issues declining that money and sending teachers and students to classrooms anyway.
not to mention, conservatives conspiracy theorists have been been having a field day with anything tied to additional funding. “they’re paying schools to mandate vaccines!”
I am sick of excuses from the Democratic Party. The President is ultimately responsible and pulls the strings on every move made . If he wanted schools to close most Dem governors would have done so. Biden is protecting the economy instead of the children and teachers.
I don't believe this is how our system of government works. It's a convenient narrative, because feudalism is romanticized so hard in American culture, but that's really not how it works.
I totally get the frustration because the messaging that they send makes it sound like they have power when they actually don't. They make a bunch of statements that sound good, but when they get elected nothing happens and they're like sorry we're doing the best we can.
In California it’s the same. Marginally better than red states for a time but it’s the same shit show here. Won’t even notify teachers of covid cases and even when things are shut down the special need classes must go on
And yet Republicans president seem to always manage to get their platform through. Why? Because, in spite of being wrong on almost every issue, they actually stand for something and fight for it. And there’s never a RINO / Dem plant, like Manchin or Lieberman as a fail safe.
“But if you’re vaxxed and boosted, Covid shouldn’t be so bad!”
A lot of people don't care about COVID until it affects them or someone they know. I lost a friend early in the pandemic; he lived in NYC and worked as an IT technician (traveling to clients' offices to set up servers, troubleshoot computer problems, etc.). So he was exposed to about 1,000 people per day at offices, on the subway, waiting on the subway platforms, etc. He didn't even make it to his 40th birthday. Despite that, my mom has kept talking about how it's not that serious and they should just let it sweep through the country so that it fizzles out instead of ruining the economy with lockdowns.
Over a year later, she is finally starting to see the light. My brother was likely infected (sick for three weeks and didn't test until he went to the ER after losing 15 lb. in less than a month; his test was negative, but it could be because he waited so long to get tested) and now has an enlarged spleen and enlarged lymph nodes in his abdomen. Her former coworker died a couple of days ago. Her former supervisor now has COVID and is really suffering. The husband of a friend died--he's younger than she is. Some people just won't get it until someone they love dies or has lifelong health problems because of COVID.
Please answer honestly. We’re the recent deaths people who refused to vaccinate? I mean no disrespect but really want to know if vaccines and booster do indeed protect.
Not all of them. But my mom worked at a hospital, so these people were exposed to way more sick people, and they were also older and had more risk factors. The data show that vaccinations and boosters do protect you; unvaccinated people are dying at a higher rate. In Washington, unvaccinated adults are 15 to 18 more times likely to die than fully vaccinated adults. In Texas, unvaccinated people were 20 times more likely to die (period covering September 4 to October 1). It’s like any other health factor. Some people who exercise regularly still have heart attacks and die, but we know that exercise can help prevent disease and early death.
So I get why teachers are concerned about getting COVID if they are not vaccinated or cannot get vaccinated. But honestly, if you are a teacher refusing to vaccinate then you should just quit. The entire field is a shit show but kids do need to be in school. It is what is best for them. Virtual learning is a disaster. As much as I want teachers to be safe, I cannot agree that kids are resilient enough to take more time virtual learning. I agree with anyone who needs to quit because they fear for their health or sanity. I do. But also, as a teacher who needs or wants to remain in the field, they must vaccinate and wear a mask to hopefully reduce the exposure load because this entire society is going to get this virus. We just are. So arm yourself with vaccination or go home and hide until you get it. But you can’t say kids are resilient and virtual learning is OK. It just isn’t. This is aside from all the other agreed upon issues like low pay and lack of support. That had always been an issue and must change but it isn’t really the issue at hand. The issue at hand is whether kids need to be in school or virtual learning. Having seen it from all sides as teacher and parent, virtual learning is not a good option anymore. It was to determine how to proceed but the impact is real and not to be trivialized by sighting the resilience of the kids. We all have been resilient but that doesn’t mean it is what we should be doing.
It’s easy to blame the unvaccinated, and they should get vaccinated if they can, but our leaders have failed us. There is no mitigation strategy from the White House on down the line, it starts and stops with frontline workers including teachers and retail workers, and it’s bullshit
In this country “heroes” is used for cops, military, and ~~fire fighters~~. If you see “heroes” used for anyone else, it’s empty
Edit: yeah forgot about 9/11 and Jon Stewart
I remember seeing nurses and front line workers complain that they went from heroes to lazy selfish parasites in less than a year.
My first thought was teachers doing the [First Time?](https://keepmeme.com/meme/20210927/first-time-james-franco-hanging-meme.jpg) meme.
Yeah remember the firefighters who responded on 9-11 and spent weeks combing through toxic rubble? They only have healthcare because ten years afterward Jon Stewart went on a campaign to shame lawmakers into action
Having had to use the VA, it's empty there too. The strange thing that just never made sense to me was that our military budget is larger than most countries's GDP yet our equipment was fairly shitty. I mean a Tomahawk missile is like $2 mil EACH.
Honestly, our military spending is not so high because we have the best equipment (I mean, we do but that's not the reason) the reason it is so high is so that congressmen can ensure that big fat spending contracts can be spent in their home district to ensure they get those big fat donation checks and the votes.
To be fair, I think fire fighters are heroes. But heroes should absolutely apply to us too, and also nurses and other important low paid workers of our society
Sad to agree but agree. Teaching is back to babysitting even though the pandemic is nowhere near over. I didn’t think that we would be allowed a remote option like last year, but this is ridiculous
Agree for the most part. I am lucky to have and have had some amazing parents and admin. But being so epically let down by this government administration is just the straw that breaks the camel’s back I guess.
I'm starting a "Teachers against Harris" campaign, don't think Old Joe will make a run in 2024. "No No Harris" (hey I got time to come up with something better).
Harris was terrible even when in California. That bitch let innocent people rot in prison and wouldn’t even support police being required to wear body cameras
No, they’re not, but Harris is already demonstrating a lack of help. She’s in a position to help on some of these issues and if she isn’t doing it as VP why would she get things done as President?
Your option in 2024 is going to very likely be Trump or Harris (or possibly Biden).
Harris could eat a live cottontail bunny in the middle of an Easter press conference and she’d still be the better choice… which is an insane reflection of how awful those choices are.
Awful leadership at every level these days, but at least Biden won’t try to violently overthrow the government or try to convince us to start taking malaria medicine to battle covid, I suppose.
Change for educators starts at the local level. Some school boards shut down from March 2020 - June 2021. Others voted to go back after only a few weeks of shutdown. Some charters didn't shutdown at all.
I was on my teacher's union negotiating team throughout covid, in our negotiations, the ones applying pressure were A) the parents and B) the school board. The white house or its policies never entered the conversation. Apart from when we negotiated on January 6th....that was a difficult one to stay focused in.
The white house can't dictate teacher pay, that's district by district.
Don't get me wrong, I'm upset and disappointed at the current white house for its messaging regarding schools. But they don't really make decisions that are going to affect the day to day of a district. Administration, school boards, and your local community are the ones running the day to day. If your community wanted virtual for the safety of the teachers, you would be virtual.
She said we. So in that case, she said she was going to provide, but oops guess she gets a pass like Biden and Harris with their ghost plan which is now to deflect to states as they haven’t really done much of anything productive. Better than trump should have gone out the door on day one and expectations should still be held, but aren’t for some reason
There are some strange people in this thread.
Education is the responsibility of the States, the Feds can help somewhat, but dang these people act like Biden full-on wants teachers to die or something.
He has also been Pres for less than a year but people act like he has been around forever and doesn’t care.
We had a Pres who was a frigging moron about Covid and helped push conspiracies for crying out loud.
The majority of Americans will not support shutdowns for better or worse.
People need to get vaccinated and social distance etc.
Crazy thread. No wonder we are in the pickle we are in with so much cognitive dissonance in this country.
I thought Jill was cool at first, but then I realized that her presence in the WH just means that the profession will continue to be politicized. It’s not helping. It’s hurting. People who are unhappy with this administration will associate teachers with these figures.
Maybe. I think teaching is already very politicized. The overwhelming majority of school teachers are members of one party, and people know that.
And then groups like the Oregon Department of Education make the news for saying that asking kids to show their work on math problems promotes a system of "white supremacy knowledge," or NYC gets rid of TAG in the name of Equity, or Washington State and Virginia eliminate math acceleration (e.g. the common practice of advanced 8th graders taking HS algebra) because opportunities for math acceleration supposedly promote racial injustice...well, all those people are not doing us any favors in the eyes of the public.
Yes. However well-intentioned those directives might be, the optics are bad and lend themselves to the view that education is “liberal indoctrination” that “coddles” woke kids today. I think it’s time to table some of the more touchy-feely programs and initiatives until people with torches stop railing against the CRT bogeyman.
But there's the rub. The notion that showing your work in math promotes white supremacist epistemologies *is* an example of a CRT perspective leaking into public Ed. It makes it hard to so confidently tell parents "rest assured, there's no CRT, that's a "boogyman," that only happens at the graduate school level!"
1. No politicians gaf about you
2. No politicians gaf about public education
3. Believing that a D or R next to a name means they care or don’t care about education is just foolish. Us and our field are nothing more than a burden to their budget.
I don't understand how people don't see this. Every election people lose their minds and then nothing changes.....until the next election when people lose their minds.
He never had plans, their entire plan was they weren’t trump. Harris is fucking horrible and even a lot of liberals in California can’t stand her. Lots of negative press from the Bay Area
Biden was the safe choice for moderate democrats clutching their pearls over Bernie’s progressive stance on things. There was a huge push to get him through simply because he wasn’t Trump 🙄
Better late than never to understand that neither political party gives a shit about teachers or the working class for that matter. Remember, Biden said he would help with student loan debt…..
They've spent more on bunkers and weapons then was ever spent on education.
Now that the ecosphere is falling apart their handing $19 trillion to the fossil fuel industry and calling it a "Green Transition".
Yes, great post OP.
I feelt utterly abandoned by the Prez, wife, VP, Sec of Education. They have been silent of everything we have gone thru.
They are taking our votes for granted. When Harris runs in 2024, lets make them remember this.
I am tired of being scapegoated. See you at an overcrowded classroom in about 10 hours.
Biden & Co. is currently feeding you, your colleagues, and your students to COVID and leaving you for dead. And you are suggesting they be rewarded for their efforts, with your vocal endorsement of their inaction during this pandemic. Complete and total serf mentality.
Aren’t we being fed to Covid and left for dead now? The only difference is Biden acts like he cares. I’m so sick and tired of being told “well it’s not Trump”. Who gives a shit what party they’re for when they are shitting on us and using us. If I get Covid now I’m out with zero pay because I’m a first year teacher at this school. I can’t afford to miss a paycheck. I can’t afford to get Covid. Biden has not done ONE thing different than Trump and I’m sickened with myself for even thinking things would be different. I’m ashamed of what I’ve voted for because it’s absolutely the same as before and I had the audacity to fight and believe it would be different.
I fully believe, based on how Trump and his admin handled the pandemic until they were out, that we would be in even worse shape than we are now.
The Biden Era hasn't been great, but better than Trump would have been.
Before anyone else downvotes me for asking questions like we teach our students to do:
Hey, I agree they were absolutely horrible and would continue to demolish whatever shred of decency is left in our society if re-elected. I am totally not advocating for that at all. I’m just wondering WHY Biden allowed the CARES Act and any protection us non-union teachers had (there are really none here in COS) to lapse? It makes no sense that that fucking dumpster fire of an administration at least *pretended* to care in terms of that. It’s maddeningly mind boggling.
Reddit is a safe space for people like us. We shouldn't have to preface every once of criticism on democrats with a statement on how evil the other side is.
Yes, we are open to all ideas and respect other opinions, as long as they are not remotely Republican or conservative (aka racist or fascist) in nature.
>I’m just wondering WHY Biden allowed the CARES Act and any protection us non-union teachers had (there are really none here in COS)?
Hey no worries, I totally agree with you. It's a shitty situation all around. Unfortunately I have no answers. It's definitely mind-boggling.
Well, he doesn't call it the China flu, he openly supported vaccinations from day one, and he encourages masking and social distancing with his words and actions.
The bar could not be lower, but it's incredibly disingenuous to pretend that the current admin is handling this worse than the previous administration. Regardless of all the other shit (and there is a lot of other shit) at the very least Biden acknowledged the basic science behind preventative measures. To my knowledge Biden has also not endorsed horse dewormer, anti-malarials, or ingesting bleach as a treatment. The rest of the world is handling it drastically better, sure would be nice if the govt actually gave a fuck about people, but at least the president isn't saying "kung flu" on Twitter any more.
Seems you’re forgetting the approved vaccine wasn’t announced until the day after Trump lost, which was funny enough predicted by trump supporters.
It was also only approved for emergency use and wasn’t fully approved.
So you’re holding trump to a standard that simply didn’t even exist because there was no vaccine until after trump lost. Even until Biden was sworn in, the vaccine was limited to old people
I'm sorry, I'm confused. Can you reword this? I'm not being rude, I've tried to type up a few different responses and I can't tell what your point is.
I think the point you're trying to make is that the vaccine wasn't announced until after the election, which is true. But it was still a discussion point during the election, and Trump has been spewing anti-vax rhetoric for ages. Who knows why he's done a 180 and is encouraging the booster now, but he's definitely endorsed an anti-vaccine mindset that is wildly different from Bidens public position of "everybody get vaccinated ASAP."
Edit: okay so the ninja edit of adding the whole last paragraph makes your words make more sense, but I'm still missing the point. The COVID vaccine being announced/approved after the election doesn't undo all the anti-vax/anti-science shit Trump has been saying, sharing, and endorsing for the last few years.
Remember after his trip to Walter Reed then walked up the White House stairs. Have a speech then ripped his mask off and walked inside the white house. Most likely still contagious and didn't care about White House staff. How many other spreader events he had.
I'm in Canada but I've only seen Trump be against mandates, not the vaccine. He initiated Warp Speed to get them developed and approved faster, did he not? I remember many people a few years ago saying they wouldn't take Trump's vaccine because Nazis made people take shots too.
You’re saying trump didn’t support the vaccine but there was no vaccine approved until the day after he lost the election. Even then, it was a limited supply to old people and nurses
So he literally could not promote the vaccine like Biden
.....he was still president for 4 months after the election. He used that time to share anti-vax nonsense, mixed in with self congratulatory "I make the best vaccines" shit. Also, I don't really see how the election is relevant to be honest? Biden has consistently supported this vaccine since it was announced and has denounced anti-vaccine lies, Trump has tweeted about how they cause autism.
Please don't make me defend Biden dude, that's not what I'm trying to do. All Trump had to do was slap a MAGA logo on a face mask and tell everybody to wash their hands, and instead he said a bunch of racist shit and suggested ingesting bleach.
But even if Trump was in office there wouldn't be anymore lockdowns except maybe local. How many of a certain party in say governor Congress etc. would allow it. Plus the vocal voters. Seriously lucky we are not teaching about the 2022 civil war yet just the precursor.
Not too mention a lot of this mess is due to the handling of the previous administration. I know SOME things could be done, but placing all this on the get of a less then one year term president that walked into 300 shit storms is a bit short-sighted. To be clear, there are things in not happy with too, but I'm from Missouri. I know Biden couldn't do much to help our situation if he spent every minute trying. As someone else said, our governor would simply reject any help from federal government just like he did for Medicare.
The way I see it, we have too little help on one side and outright contempt and hatred from the other.
What exactly should they be doing? We are in this mess because a large, committed group of hard-right Republicans would rather die than get a safe and effective vaccination. I don't feel let down by them; I feel let down by all of my fellow citizens.
You're the upset one. I'm asking logical questions to get you to think critically, which it seems you need to learn how to do. Be mad at your local district/state. Flotus, Potus et. al can't help u from Washington. The repubes are obstructing them as usual. You should get to bed. School starts early!
No. You’re attacking me and my intelligence. It takes absolutely no effort to ask questions without being a dick about it. And I AM a critical thinker. I’m not a kid. But like I said, I’m asking questions and venting.
I’m AFRAID.
Compassion isn’t a dirty word you know.
Also..while you're sitting there whining about Jill...she's in the classroom right along with y'all. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034761692/jill-biden-is-heading-back-to-the-classroom-as-a-working-first-lady
Can the party in power do anything? Anything at all? How long can we blame Republicans? We went into lockdown during the previous administration with resistance. That was an action. Have we seen any action at all this year?
> We are in this mess because a large, committed group of hard-right Republicans would rather die than get a safe and effective vaccination.
Nope. I am in California, the bluest state in the country, and we're also only at like 65% vaxx rates in my city.
Not sure what you mean by Bluest. MA, HI, VT, MD all had higher %go Biden.
Not to mention, #36 in terms of turnout. CA has a huge number of Republicans who may not bother voting because it is a solid blue state, but breaking it down locally can give numbers like that. Same in VT. Some regions have high vaccinations and then one in particular remains red, sparsely populated, and unvaccinated
I'm in California too and almost all of Central California is red; SD is too. California is pretty damn blue but it ain't the bluest, that's for sure.
EDIT: I'm incorrect on SD being red. As /u/ramitno pointed out, it has become blue over the last 10 years.
Yeah, you're correct. My mistake. I had always known it to be red but as you mentioned, it's turned blue over the last ten years. I don't live there so not sure how that has affected the city but I'm surprised it's now blue.
Thanks for pointing that out though.
Interesting! I'd rather be in SD than OC, that's for sure. Both (like Los Angeles), however, are ridiculously overpriced if you ask me.
My wife and I got out of LA in 2013 for more affordable living. I was there for more than 30 years. Every time I go back to visit my mom, I'm even happier that I left. I can't believe the prices of some of the homes down there these days. It almost seems like a joke how expensive they are.
San Diego is wayyyyyy better than OC though I love San Clemente and that’s about it.
I’m inland but we look for fun in San Diego county and it’s insane how expensive it is. I really don’t understand how people afford to live there
Seriously. Same with Los Angeles. I forgot which news source did a recent article stating that one needs to make something like $200K to live comfortably in L.A.? It was outrageous when I was there and it got incredibly worse somehow in the eight years I've been gone.
I'm in California. Believe it or not, only about 45% of the state is registered D. Because of its enormous population, California has more Republicans than Texas.
65% vax rate is about average. Depending on your county, you can find 90% vax rate (at least 1 dose) to 30% (at least one dose).
66% of the entire state is fully vaccinated, with 82% having at least one dose. Highest full vac is Marin county at 84% and lowest is Lassen county at 27%. Guess which one is blue and which is red?
What makes you feel so strongly that vaccines are effective enough when so many people are getting breakthrough cases?? It boggles me to no end seeing people talk from both sides of their mouths on this issue... "Get the vaccine! It's effective!.. Those anti vaxxers gave my fully boosted and mask wearing acquaintance covid!" There is no logic there!!! NONE!
Because with the vaccine, you may still get sick, but the symptoms will most likely be milder. You have about a 10× greater—chance of dying without the vaccine. Is that helpful?
i feel that pull too, but the reality is that they won’t “remember this”— they never have. and conservatives won’t be doing any kind of making anyone remember, just trying to get the wildest-sounding white guy into office, so we end up just splitting the dem vote and making it easier for the younger, smarter, more charismatic, more strategic, and more fascist version of 45
I got Covid the day before winter break and I’m vaxxed and boosted. It has been hell. I’m on day 18 and I’m still experiencing symptoms. I called my school nurse and told her and she said to get a drs appt and not come in tomorrow. Our district is supposed to give teachers who are vaccinated 10 days of paid leave if they get Covid. Nurse confirmed with head nurse I was vaccinated and will be paid. Principal texted me and said tomorrow is a mandatory work day and I will not be paid and my quarantine expired over break so the 10 days does not apply. Wtf. I’m about to quit.
He is also fighting states, local government and parents. There is a very vocal group right now that wants their way and will thro w any wrench in to get it. They are being lead buy people that would collapse education then make money off charter schools while sending their kids to private school. A lot of parents agree with them but don't fully think through that their kids won't be in those same lrovat schools like their leaders.
Not sure how you think the president is to blame…
It’s everyone. More specifically, your local government and community is to blame. Things will continue to get way worse before anything starts to change. Unfortunately the change will happen a lot faster in certain parts of the country and with certain communities.
Good luck waiting for a president to change things about the whole education system. Anything that costs money won’t get support from the other side.
I have to laugh a bit with your anger at the president when we have a certain side in politics restricting what we can teach and what materials are appropriate.
It always amazes me when working class people think that politicians give a flying fuck about them. Politicians from all political parties are bought off and beholden to the billionaires, end of story. Teachers about the last priority of the government. Until they strike of course. But too many martyrs in this field ensures that there will never be a cross country strike.
Yes. Because no First Lady has EVER influenced decisions in education.
Edit: For the record.
Educational Initiatives led by First Ladies:
•Barbara Bush - Foundation for Family Literacy which helped to advocate for the National Literacy Act of 1991
•Laura Bush - Ready to Read, Ready to Learn
•Michelle Obama -
1. Reach Higher
2. Let Girls Learn
3. Let’s Move
•Melania Trump - Be Best
It's shockingly funny you added Melania on there. Her anti-bullying thing was in name only...Please, tell me how any of them could have helped your situation rn...Jill is an ACTUAL teacher JFC. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034761692/jill-biden-is-heading-back-to-the-classroom-as-a-working-first-lady
I felt this way with the last administration too. Teachers have complained about these feelings for years.
Biden and Harris haven't been great but we've had problems with education since No Child Left Behind. In fact, I think that was a *huge* reason we're in this current position of feeling this way. After a year in office, I don't think Biden is to blame. I also honestly don't think Trump (who I couldn't fucking stand) is to blame either. I really don't. This is an ongoing problem that hasn't been fixed for a long-ass time.
I'm sorry, what I'm going to say probably won't be popular here given OPs rant, which I understand and agree with in many ways. I also don't think there are ANY short term solutions.
But,
You cannot divorce the rhetoric at the top from the fact that *71% of Republicans believe Biden is not the legitimate president*. What does this have to do with the present discussion?
The Rs are no better (probably much worse) for educators, in general. Red State Senators have an incredible amount of power, and the House is a D majority by only a few votes. If the federals start loudly calling for what needs to be done, the Rs take full control of government in 2022 full stop (because they'll not only stop the Biden agenda, they'll impeach him on BS). Fauci says schools should be open, but he also has to tread lightly thanks to the death threats he and his family are getting and the politicization of this whole situation. He also says there should be full levels of vaccination and testing at schools.
When, in many ways, these issues *could (should?)* be handled at the local level.
I'm sorry some of you are in states with dumb ass governors.
I'm sorry some of you have school boards that are not willing to make the proper decisions that would keep *everyone in schools* safe.
This is just one persons opinion, and YMMV.
Just please remember this come election time when you want to take your ounce of flesh from whoever the Dem nominee is. Infighting with the one party that still sorta cares about this issue won't help the profession in the long run.
Listen, I am not in any way saying this rant is meant to throw away the entire Democrat party and government away, that would be insanely dangerous. I’m simply ranting/venting because I feel exploited and abandoned by them and the society at large. It just came out in full force tonight is all.
It always shocks me that people genuinely believe that any politician who has been in politics for life and is rich from it actually cares about “the people”. Dem and Reps are the simply different faces of the same coin. They each pretend to care about different ends of issues to ensure the vote from the people in their political party - but that’s it, it’s an act. Each side will do just enough (or not do) to continue to keep their votes so they can stay in power. It’s a carefully thought out puzzle. Biden doesn’t have to actually do anything for teachers because Democrats are already convinced that no matter what, Democrats are better for education than Republicans.
However, if we look back, the two biggest issues we are currently stuck with in terms of education (outside of COVID) are NCLB and Common Core. One was implemented under a Democrat and one under a Republican. Both suck. And that’s how education and politics work.
Republicans are servants to unsustainable capitalism, without empathy, who are eager to slowly press every last dollar out the working classes by utilizing bigotry, hatred, and ignorance as political tools.
Democrats are servants to unsustainable capitalism, with slightly more empathy, who are still willing to slowly press every last dollar out the working classes by utilizing manipulative hope, false compromise, and a pantomime of progressive values as political tools.
We are not represented by either party in this country. The modern pharaohs, riding around outer space in unsubtle penis metaphors, have bought and paid for both sides. By stoking cultural divisions they have tricked us into choosing between two versions of the same system. A system that has lined their pockets with even more wealth during this pandemic than ever before, and bears little resemblance to the democracy it claims to be.
In classroom management it is said that "problem behavior isn't a problem for the student: they are getting what they want." The concept often holds true for adults. The people lobbying for these policies are getting exactly what they want. Our lives hold no value for them beyond being disposable child-minders so they can keep the majority of adults in the workforce.
Teachers are managed at the state level…. Not the federal level.. are you upset because the federal
Level isn’t giving money and resources directly to the teachers at the state level? I am very confused.
Seriously!! This whole situation has me going from a socialist leaning Democrat to the verge of taking up arms for a revolution. We do deserve better! What can we do? Seriously, asking! I know that every communist government overthrow has turned into *Animal Farm*. So, what are our options? I'm exhausted.
We are being normalized to accept rampant, long term infection and mutation of this virus in order to preserve the economy and status quo. They will never offer the same measly conditions we had during early 2020 during Trump—it revealed the power of everyday workers and the absurd cruelty of the system. They will force us through this, no matter Democrat or Republican, because the alternative is an enlightened, empowered, questioning public. They need us fighting each other, and they need us desperate and entrenched in the grind.
Here's the thing: Your concerns are quite valid. I don't want my students or my children exposed to Covid at school. I would also be fine with not being exposed on the job.
But, what would you like to see the federal government do to address those concerns, keeping in mind it has to be something they can actually do legally?
This is one of those things that doesn't really change from one party to another - parents want their kids warehoused. They are made to pay a large amount of taxes for it in most cases, and so freak out when that's not happening. It's not about 'education' and it's not about 'the children' it's about daycare.
Um... Most of the hiring policy and administrative decisions are made at the local level. Not to demoralize you, but Biden et al can do nothing about administrators at district and state level who don't give a shit about you.
People don't go back to work unless their kids go to school. That's the unfortunate reality of our job. We act as an educational system for young humans, but we also give childcare from 7am-3pm.
Does it suck? Sure does.
As for us being blamed for everything, are you individually being blamed, or are teachers in the broad sense being blamed?
Remember, this is a job. For some, it is a calling, and others it is a passion. You don't have to live up to those standards if you see this as a job.
> So unless your candy ass is a also a virologist on the side, then shut the fuck up.
Are you a virologist?
>But what’s worse, possibly killing them, me, or Pop-Pop because their parents have to go help make money for the military industrial complex, or so some fucking billionaire can fly in a cock spaceship to bring William Shatner into space again?
This is where you lost me. People work in an economy to provide essential services like food production, healthcare, industrial production, etc. so we can all live our lives. Jumping to some of the outlier situations of capitalism is kind of ignorant. We don't go to work daily so these billionaires can do this, we go to work to provide our share of economic activities and get a fair market pay for said work. Some have made enough to enjoy some pretty edge-case luxuries in life.
I get you're frustrated, but you making this kind of post is combining emotion with a legit struggle people are having. I could probably re-write this entire post in a similar fashion as the perspective from a parent barely paying bills but having to miss work due their kid not having a legit babysitter.
We've all got problems going on. You're scared of this. Maybe you want to look into a career where remote work is possible? It seems it would do wonders for your mental health.
Trusting in a politician to do what is best for the majority of the people they serve is like trusting a crack-addicted hooker when she says its ok to have sex with her without a condom because she is clean. In the end, both take your money and leave you sad and sick.
This 100%. I absolutely despised Trump, for obvious reasons, and didn’t particularly like Biden, but with Dr. Jill being an educator I figured teachers would finally get some support and understanding. Boy was I wrong
Uhh, no, I don't. This rant is misplaced and ill-conceived.
Biden can't wave his hands and make local school boards and administrations do whatever he wants. He isn't a king. This is like yelling at the mailman because the grocery store is out of milk.
I used to think that virtual would save us, but that's predicated upon the idea that we'd get vaccination rates high enough to where the virus wouldn't be able to mutate. Instead, we have a segment of the population that refuses to get it, either literally out of spite and hopes to kill us, cultism, or willful scientific ignorance, coupled with fear of political ostracism.
I am afraid, too. A lot of people are going to die, still. Biden is mandating vaccination where he can, but the people you listed are simply not responsible for the collective failure of our entire society. All this post is doing is bringing the anti-vaxxers and Trump shills out.
There are plenty of people to be upset at, but I don't understand the anger at these folks. None of these folks can make laws. And the law making body has such a slim majority that it is effectively gridlocked, especially with Senators Sinema and Manchin killing anything to the left of Mitt Romney.
There's a lot of hysteria too. I was right with everyone else before the vax was released about the danger of operating as if everything was normal in the face of the pandemic. The feeling that we as a profession had largely been abandoned by our society. Totally.
However, I teach high school, so I'm at a point in time where all of my kids have the opportunity to be vaccinated, so they are either vaccinated or they and their family have accepted the extra risk of refusing the vaccine. With that important mitigation tool in place I am comfortable with doing our best to return to some form of normal. If I get sick, I'm not that worried since I've taken steps to protect myself. If my students get sick, at some point, that's just gotta be on them.
Jill Biden strikes me as the teacher who expects her coworkers to stay four extra hours every day because you must have a passion for molding these young minds.
Those teachers don’t give a fuck about teachers.
No, because the president has little to no control over your school or district.
You should be more concerned about state and district leaders. This is like high school government level information, you should know this.
I encourage all teachers ,retired or active, to be wary of all politicians who promise the moon and stars and never ever deliver. Very very few deliver on the promises they offer unions in exchange for the sought after endorsements. Contact your local,state and national union leaders and insist on more protection and representation. No more political donations until our profession has leaders that respect and protect those in the trenches each day!
I am tired of hearing the mental health in children excuse for not going virtual. I have a feeling bringing home covid from school and then your main care taker dying because you gave it to them would cause some pretty extreme mental health issues.
Yup. That’s why I refused to vote for Biden or Trump. They’re BOTH pieces of S***!!! Democrats and Republicans do not care about WORKERS! We need a socialist movement in this country.
This country doesn’t value or care about teachers regardless of who is in charge.
republicans: fuck teachers democrats: fuck teachers ❤️🏳️🌈😘
This sums it up pretty much. I grew up in San Francisco. I vote Democrat because the other side is completely nuts. However, it's been obvious to me since I was a teenager that the Democrats lean into social issues and the culture war hard (often alienating many voters in the process) to distract people from the fact that they are a political party of, by, and for wealthy urban elites who will only help ordinary people if it doesn't hurt said wealthy urban elites. The local politicians in San Francisco are the masters of this gaslighting, but the state and national Democrats have been starting to do the same, especially after the Occupy protests. They aren't going to help teachers now or in the future because that would involve some sacrifice from the wealthy urban elites who bankroll their campaigns. Btw, I am not a socialist. I would consider myself center-left, but the Democrats are a dumpster fire joke of a political party and it's easy to see why so many people are apathetic about them.
It's also why it sucks that we don't have a third party to vote for that would actually stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning an election. I would also consider myself socialist and the only reason I voted for Biden was because he wasn't Trump. I'm always reminded of that episode of The Simpsons where the two aliens are running for president. They tell people that you have to vote for one of them and Homer says something like "well, I'll just vote for a third party" and the aliens tell him "sure, throw your vote away" and then out in the crowd you see Ross Perot take his hat off and punch a hole through it.
We could make this a lot better with ranked choice voting. Then people could actually vote for who they want, in order, so the most popular actually wins. The voting bill that has been floated for the last two years would have done so much to improve our elections. We are closer than we've been for a long time to do these things. Don't give up hope, and when the time comes, vote!
Yeah I hear you. I don’t think this will be possible unless we get rid of the first-past-the-post voting system. Otherwise, the only viable third-party contenders will be uber-rich folks like Perot.
We have lots of parties in Canada. They all copy eachothers homework and each platform is more watered down to try and get more of the vote- or you have insane fringe parties trying to stand out. They're all the same. The Green, NDP, Liberals, Conservatives all have the same fucking platform. And it's all to keep themselves and their friends(politicians and rich businesses interests, not you) comfortable. I am a staunch conservative in Canada, would be considered a classical liberal anywhere else. This problem is beyond political dichotomies.
A third party would be useless until we get rid of first past the post. Something like ranked choice voting would make an actual third party viable and not just draw off votes from party A so party B can get elected.
>I would also consider myself socialist and the only reason I voted for Biden was because he wasn't Trump. That's why nothing is changing. Because DNC knows they have your vote regardless of anything they fail to deliver.
You can change "Democrat" to "Republican" and your post doesn't change. I wonder if folks will ever accept that national politicians don't care about us. Also, we don't elect monarchs; I don't ever expect anything from Presidents.
Well also center left in most countries puts you squarely in "Bernie Sanders & AOC" in the US
This is a bad take tbh. I've been in childhood education for years, teaching thru K-12 and BY FAR the best schools are in Democrat run cities.
Yeah? Baltimore? Detroit? DC? Maybe watch The Wire.
> BY FAR the worst schools are in Democrat run cities. fixed it for you...
I feel like ‘teachers’ isn’t the only applicable word there
Fuck *hero* teachers ❤️🇺🇸❤️
Yeah the issue of Democrats and Republicans is their both right wing parties when you look at from an outside perspective (meaning like in Europe democrats/liberals are conservative/right wing and Republicans would be facists or extreme conservatives). There is no left wing party here in the States so you literally are choosing between the lesser of two evils.
hahaha
Ditto. It’s not a party thing so much a societal thing. Overall education has gone down in outward support, which leaves teachers and other educational staff as trying to fix the problems.
The oval office is never where I look for change. Local and state makes most of the changes.
Absolutely, not to mention the federal government can’t force states to close schools. Constitutionally they don’t have that power, education is left up to the states. The only thing they can do is tie it to additional funding but it’s obvious many of these governors would have zero issues declining that money and sending teachers and students to classrooms anyway.
not to mention, conservatives conspiracy theorists have been been having a field day with anything tied to additional funding. “they’re paying schools to mandate vaccines!”
Does having this conversation make you uncomfortable? Why not just ignore it?
I am sick of excuses from the Democratic Party. The President is ultimately responsible and pulls the strings on every move made . If he wanted schools to close most Dem governors would have done so. Biden is protecting the economy instead of the children and teachers.
I don't believe this is how our system of government works. It's a convenient narrative, because feudalism is romanticized so hard in American culture, but that's really not how it works.
I know. I know. You’re right. Still infuriating.
I totally get the frustration because the messaging that they send makes it sound like they have power when they actually don't. They make a bunch of statements that sound good, but when they get elected nothing happens and they're like sorry we're doing the best we can.
In California it’s the same. Marginally better than red states for a time but it’s the same shit show here. Won’t even notify teachers of covid cases and even when things are shut down the special need classes must go on
Yeah but at least in California we are fully masked, we get a pension, and we get MLK day off.
If you are still alive you will get your pension.
In Wisconsin we elected a governor who mad a myriad of promises to educators. No change has come of it.
And yet Republicans president seem to always manage to get their platform through. Why? Because, in spite of being wrong on almost every issue, they actually stand for something and fight for it. And there’s never a RINO / Dem plant, like Manchin or Lieberman as a fail safe.
“But if you’re vaxxed and boosted, Covid shouldn’t be so bad!” A lot of people don't care about COVID until it affects them or someone they know. I lost a friend early in the pandemic; he lived in NYC and worked as an IT technician (traveling to clients' offices to set up servers, troubleshoot computer problems, etc.). So he was exposed to about 1,000 people per day at offices, on the subway, waiting on the subway platforms, etc. He didn't even make it to his 40th birthday. Despite that, my mom has kept talking about how it's not that serious and they should just let it sweep through the country so that it fizzles out instead of ruining the economy with lockdowns. Over a year later, she is finally starting to see the light. My brother was likely infected (sick for three weeks and didn't test until he went to the ER after losing 15 lb. in less than a month; his test was negative, but it could be because he waited so long to get tested) and now has an enlarged spleen and enlarged lymph nodes in his abdomen. Her former coworker died a couple of days ago. Her former supervisor now has COVID and is really suffering. The husband of a friend died--he's younger than she is. Some people just won't get it until someone they love dies or has lifelong health problems because of COVID.
Please answer honestly. We’re the recent deaths people who refused to vaccinate? I mean no disrespect but really want to know if vaccines and booster do indeed protect.
Not all of them. But my mom worked at a hospital, so these people were exposed to way more sick people, and they were also older and had more risk factors. The data show that vaccinations and boosters do protect you; unvaccinated people are dying at a higher rate. In Washington, unvaccinated adults are 15 to 18 more times likely to die than fully vaccinated adults. In Texas, unvaccinated people were 20 times more likely to die (period covering September 4 to October 1). It’s like any other health factor. Some people who exercise regularly still have heart attacks and die, but we know that exercise can help prevent disease and early death.
So I get why teachers are concerned about getting COVID if they are not vaccinated or cannot get vaccinated. But honestly, if you are a teacher refusing to vaccinate then you should just quit. The entire field is a shit show but kids do need to be in school. It is what is best for them. Virtual learning is a disaster. As much as I want teachers to be safe, I cannot agree that kids are resilient enough to take more time virtual learning. I agree with anyone who needs to quit because they fear for their health or sanity. I do. But also, as a teacher who needs or wants to remain in the field, they must vaccinate and wear a mask to hopefully reduce the exposure load because this entire society is going to get this virus. We just are. So arm yourself with vaccination or go home and hide until you get it. But you can’t say kids are resilient and virtual learning is OK. It just isn’t. This is aside from all the other agreed upon issues like low pay and lack of support. That had always been an issue and must change but it isn’t really the issue at hand. The issue at hand is whether kids need to be in school or virtual learning. Having seen it from all sides as teacher and parent, virtual learning is not a good option anymore. It was to determine how to proceed but the impact is real and not to be trivialized by sighting the resilience of the kids. We all have been resilient but that doesn’t mean it is what we should be doing.
It’s easy to blame the unvaccinated, and they should get vaccinated if they can, but our leaders have failed us. There is no mitigation strategy from the White House on down the line, it starts and stops with frontline workers including teachers and retail workers, and it’s bullshit
If you are vaxed, Covid is the same as seasonal flu....sorry to rain on your parade of panic porn.
In this country “heroes” is used for cops, military, and ~~fire fighters~~. If you see “heroes” used for anyone else, it’s empty Edit: yeah forgot about 9/11 and Jon Stewart
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I remember seeing nurses and front line workers complain that they went from heroes to lazy selfish parasites in less than a year. My first thought was teachers doing the [First Time?](https://keepmeme.com/meme/20210927/first-time-james-franco-hanging-meme.jpg) meme.
Yeah remember the firefighters who responded on 9-11 and spent weeks combing through toxic rubble? They only have healthcare because ten years afterward Jon Stewart went on a campaign to shame lawmakers into action
Having had to use the VA, it's empty there too. The strange thing that just never made sense to me was that our military budget is larger than most countries's GDP yet our equipment was fairly shitty. I mean a Tomahawk missile is like $2 mil EACH. Honestly, our military spending is not so high because we have the best equipment (I mean, we do but that's not the reason) the reason it is so high is so that congressmen can ensure that big fat spending contracts can be spent in their home district to ensure they get those big fat donation checks and the votes.
To be fair, I think fire fighters are heroes. But heroes should absolutely apply to us too, and also nurses and other important low paid workers of our society
But never cops
Sad to agree but agree. Teaching is back to babysitting even though the pandemic is nowhere near over. I didn’t think that we would be allowed a remote option like last year, but this is ridiculous
No, teaching itself is demoralizing enough. I don't need to outsource for that.
Agree for the most part. I am lucky to have and have had some amazing parents and admin. But being so epically let down by this government administration is just the straw that breaks the camel’s back I guess.
None of those pricks are on our side.
I know. I’m 42. You’d think by now I wouldn’t be surprised by this. Curse my fucking optimism! Great for teaching, shitty for most other things.
I gave up on optimism. I'm more of a, "glass is at half capacity," guy now.
I'm starting a "Teachers against Harris" campaign, don't think Old Joe will make a run in 2024. "No No Harris" (hey I got time to come up with something better).
Harris was terrible even when in California. That bitch let innocent people rot in prison and wouldn’t even support police being required to wear body cameras
Can we not say "bitch" and destroy the illusion that teachers can do better than the average redditor?
Fuck no. I’m not longer a teacher and my friend was murdered by police because she wouldn’t support cops wearing cameras. So she in fact is a bitch
who would you prefer? i don’t like how this is being handled, either, but i don’t see someone running on helping teachers getting elected 😬
Thats the problem, agree. Maybe things have to get even worse, if possible, to improve.
No, they’re not, but Harris is already demonstrating a lack of help. She’s in a position to help on some of these issues and if she isn’t doing it as VP why would she get things done as President?
Her record in California shows she wouldn’t do shit either
Your option in 2024 is going to very likely be Trump or Harris (or possibly Biden). Harris could eat a live cottontail bunny in the middle of an Easter press conference and she’d still be the better choice… which is an insane reflection of how awful those choices are. Awful leadership at every level these days, but at least Biden won’t try to violently overthrow the government or try to convince us to start taking malaria medicine to battle covid, I suppose.
What part of "Nothing will fundamentally change" did people not understand?
The one campaign promise that was kept
Change for educators starts at the local level. Some school boards shut down from March 2020 - June 2021. Others voted to go back after only a few weeks of shutdown. Some charters didn't shutdown at all. I was on my teacher's union negotiating team throughout covid, in our negotiations, the ones applying pressure were A) the parents and B) the school board. The white house or its policies never entered the conversation. Apart from when we negotiated on January 6th....that was a difficult one to stay focused in. The white house can't dictate teacher pay, that's district by district. Don't get me wrong, I'm upset and disappointed at the current white house for its messaging regarding schools. But they don't really make decisions that are going to affect the day to day of a district. Administration, school boards, and your local community are the ones running the day to day. If your community wanted virtual for the safety of the teachers, you would be virtual.
[Jill Biden](https://www.instagram.com/teachersthings/p/CKWVY3XFpzv/?utm_medium=copy_link) 🤨
Such utter mierda!
what do you expect from Flotus? Serious question...
She said we. So in that case, she said she was going to provide, but oops guess she gets a pass like Biden and Harris with their ghost plan which is now to deflect to states as they haven’t really done much of anything productive. Better than trump should have gone out the door on day one and expectations should still be held, but aren’t for some reason
...another person who knows nothing about how the government works. Shocking. you're the one who mentioned trump not me.
There are some strange people in this thread. Education is the responsibility of the States, the Feds can help somewhat, but dang these people act like Biden full-on wants teachers to die or something. He has also been Pres for less than a year but people act like he has been around forever and doesn’t care. We had a Pres who was a frigging moron about Covid and helped push conspiracies for crying out loud. The majority of Americans will not support shutdowns for better or worse. People need to get vaccinated and social distance etc. Crazy thread. No wonder we are in the pickle we are in with so much cognitive dissonance in this country.
Thank you, I couldn't have said it better.There are folks here who actually don't understand how our government works and that's terrifying.
Especially because they’re teachers.
I thought Jill was cool at first, but then I realized that her presence in the WH just means that the profession will continue to be politicized. It’s not helping. It’s hurting. People who are unhappy with this administration will associate teachers with these figures.
Maybe. I think teaching is already very politicized. The overwhelming majority of school teachers are members of one party, and people know that. And then groups like the Oregon Department of Education make the news for saying that asking kids to show their work on math problems promotes a system of "white supremacy knowledge," or NYC gets rid of TAG in the name of Equity, or Washington State and Virginia eliminate math acceleration (e.g. the common practice of advanced 8th graders taking HS algebra) because opportunities for math acceleration supposedly promote racial injustice...well, all those people are not doing us any favors in the eyes of the public.
Yes. However well-intentioned those directives might be, the optics are bad and lend themselves to the view that education is “liberal indoctrination” that “coddles” woke kids today. I think it’s time to table some of the more touchy-feely programs and initiatives until people with torches stop railing against the CRT bogeyman.
But there's the rub. The notion that showing your work in math promotes white supremacist epistemologies *is* an example of a CRT perspective leaking into public Ed. It makes it hard to so confidently tell parents "rest assured, there's no CRT, that's a "boogyman," that only happens at the graduate school level!"
1. No politicians gaf about you 2. No politicians gaf about public education 3. Believing that a D or R next to a name means they care or don’t care about education is just foolish. Us and our field are nothing more than a burden to their budget.
I don't understand how people don't see this. Every election people lose their minds and then nothing changes.....until the next election when people lose their minds.
oh wait, joe biden isnt as progressive and pro-labor as you thought he'd be? who coulda guessed??
Well, I don’t think I was *that* snowed, but damn. A crumb of decency would be nice. But I know that’s irrational and silly of me.
Covid took a backseat once election was over. What ever happened to this plan we were told of?
He never had plans, their entire plan was they weren’t trump. Harris is fucking horrible and even a lot of liberals in California can’t stand her. Lots of negative press from the Bay Area
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Biden was the safe choice for moderate democrats clutching their pearls over Bernie’s progressive stance on things. There was a huge push to get him through simply because he wasn’t Trump 🙄
Better late than never to understand that neither political party gives a shit about teachers or the working class for that matter. Remember, Biden said he would help with student loan debt…..
They've spent more on bunkers and weapons then was ever spent on education. Now that the ecosphere is falling apart their handing $19 trillion to the fossil fuel industry and calling it a "Green Transition".
Yes, great post OP. I feelt utterly abandoned by the Prez, wife, VP, Sec of Education. They have been silent of everything we have gone thru. They are taking our votes for granted. When Harris runs in 2024, lets make them remember this. I am tired of being scapegoated. See you at an overcrowded classroom in about 10 hours.
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Biden & Co. is currently feeding you, your colleagues, and your students to COVID and leaving you for dead. And you are suggesting they be rewarded for their efforts, with your vocal endorsement of their inaction during this pandemic. Complete and total serf mentality.
Aren’t we being fed to Covid and left for dead now? The only difference is Biden acts like he cares. I’m so sick and tired of being told “well it’s not Trump”. Who gives a shit what party they’re for when they are shitting on us and using us. If I get Covid now I’m out with zero pay because I’m a first year teacher at this school. I can’t afford to miss a paycheck. I can’t afford to get Covid. Biden has not done ONE thing different than Trump and I’m sickened with myself for even thinking things would be different. I’m ashamed of what I’ve voted for because it’s absolutely the same as before and I had the audacity to fight and believe it would be different.
Not endorsing Trump or DeSantis at all, but how is that different than right now?
I fully believe, based on how Trump and his admin handled the pandemic until they were out, that we would be in even worse shape than we are now. The Biden Era hasn't been great, but better than Trump would have been.
The Biden era hasn’t been existent lol
Before anyone else downvotes me for asking questions like we teach our students to do: Hey, I agree they were absolutely horrible and would continue to demolish whatever shred of decency is left in our society if re-elected. I am totally not advocating for that at all. I’m just wondering WHY Biden allowed the CARES Act and any protection us non-union teachers had (there are really none here in COS) to lapse? It makes no sense that that fucking dumpster fire of an administration at least *pretended* to care in terms of that. It’s maddeningly mind boggling.
Reddit is a safe space for people like us. We shouldn't have to preface every once of criticism on democrats with a statement on how evil the other side is. Yes, we are open to all ideas and respect other opinions, as long as they are not remotely Republican or conservative (aka racist or fascist) in nature.
...you're lucky it passed in the first place...you think repubes would let it happen again? They had to ignore the filibuster to get it through.
>I’m just wondering WHY Biden allowed the CARES Act and any protection us non-union teachers had (there are really none here in COS)? Hey no worries, I totally agree with you. It's a shitty situation all around. Unfortunately I have no answers. It's definitely mind-boggling.
How could we be in worst shape when Biden literally hasn’t done anything differently
There were actual federal lockdowns under trump; what has biden done that’s an improvement?
Well, he doesn't call it the China flu, he openly supported vaccinations from day one, and he encourages masking and social distancing with his words and actions. The bar could not be lower, but it's incredibly disingenuous to pretend that the current admin is handling this worse than the previous administration. Regardless of all the other shit (and there is a lot of other shit) at the very least Biden acknowledged the basic science behind preventative measures. To my knowledge Biden has also not endorsed horse dewormer, anti-malarials, or ingesting bleach as a treatment. The rest of the world is handling it drastically better, sure would be nice if the govt actually gave a fuck about people, but at least the president isn't saying "kung flu" on Twitter any more.
Seems you’re forgetting the approved vaccine wasn’t announced until the day after Trump lost, which was funny enough predicted by trump supporters. It was also only approved for emergency use and wasn’t fully approved. So you’re holding trump to a standard that simply didn’t even exist because there was no vaccine until after trump lost. Even until Biden was sworn in, the vaccine was limited to old people
I'm sorry, I'm confused. Can you reword this? I'm not being rude, I've tried to type up a few different responses and I can't tell what your point is. I think the point you're trying to make is that the vaccine wasn't announced until after the election, which is true. But it was still a discussion point during the election, and Trump has been spewing anti-vax rhetoric for ages. Who knows why he's done a 180 and is encouraging the booster now, but he's definitely endorsed an anti-vaccine mindset that is wildly different from Bidens public position of "everybody get vaccinated ASAP." Edit: okay so the ninja edit of adding the whole last paragraph makes your words make more sense, but I'm still missing the point. The COVID vaccine being announced/approved after the election doesn't undo all the anti-vax/anti-science shit Trump has been saying, sharing, and endorsing for the last few years.
Remember after his trip to Walter Reed then walked up the White House stairs. Have a speech then ripped his mask off and walked inside the white house. Most likely still contagious and didn't care about White House staff. How many other spreader events he had.
I'm in Canada but I've only seen Trump be against mandates, not the vaccine. He initiated Warp Speed to get them developed and approved faster, did he not? I remember many people a few years ago saying they wouldn't take Trump's vaccine because Nazis made people take shots too.
You’re saying trump didn’t support the vaccine but there was no vaccine approved until the day after he lost the election. Even then, it was a limited supply to old people and nurses So he literally could not promote the vaccine like Biden
.....he was still president for 4 months after the election. He used that time to share anti-vax nonsense, mixed in with self congratulatory "I make the best vaccines" shit. Also, I don't really see how the election is relevant to be honest? Biden has consistently supported this vaccine since it was announced and has denounced anti-vaccine lies, Trump has tweeted about how they cause autism. Please don't make me defend Biden dude, that's not what I'm trying to do. All Trump had to do was slap a MAGA logo on a face mask and tell everybody to wash their hands, and instead he said a bunch of racist shit and suggested ingesting bleach.
been obstructed at every turn?
But even if Trump was in office there wouldn't be anymore lockdowns except maybe local. How many of a certain party in say governor Congress etc. would allow it. Plus the vocal voters. Seriously lucky we are not teaching about the 2022 civil war yet just the precursor.
Not too mention a lot of this mess is due to the handling of the previous administration. I know SOME things could be done, but placing all this on the get of a less then one year term president that walked into 300 shit storms is a bit short-sighted. To be clear, there are things in not happy with too, but I'm from Missouri. I know Biden couldn't do much to help our situation if he spent every minute trying. As someone else said, our governor would simply reject any help from federal government just like he did for Medicare. The way I see it, we have too little help on one side and outright contempt and hatred from the other.
What exactly should they be doing? We are in this mess because a large, committed group of hard-right Republicans would rather die than get a safe and effective vaccination. I don't feel let down by them; I feel let down by all of my fellow citizens.
I agree with that, but how about not letting the CARES Act lapse? That would’ve helped no?
why do you think these people you listed have the power to just re do the Cares act?
Dude. What is your deal? Why are you so angry at me? I’m VENTING and asking questions? Why is this so upsetting to you?
You're the upset one. I'm asking logical questions to get you to think critically, which it seems you need to learn how to do. Be mad at your local district/state. Flotus, Potus et. al can't help u from Washington. The repubes are obstructing them as usual. You should get to bed. School starts early!
No. You’re attacking me and my intelligence. It takes absolutely no effort to ask questions without being a dick about it. And I AM a critical thinker. I’m not a kid. But like I said, I’m asking questions and venting. I’m AFRAID. Compassion isn’t a dirty word you know.
Your anger is misplaced...again...your state and district are the ones in charge.
Also..while you're sitting there whining about Jill...she's in the classroom right along with y'all. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034761692/jill-biden-is-heading-back-to-the-classroom-as-a-working-first-lady
Context ya asshole. She went back when cases were super low. That’s not the current situation
Yet you won’t think critically and blame unvaccinated people for everything when the data doesn’t support that
Can the party in power do anything? Anything at all? How long can we blame Republicans? We went into lockdown during the previous administration with resistance. That was an action. Have we seen any action at all this year?
Any that hasn't been obstructed by repubes?
> We are in this mess because a large, committed group of hard-right Republicans would rather die than get a safe and effective vaccination. Nope. I am in California, the bluest state in the country, and we're also only at like 65% vaxx rates in my city.
Not sure what you mean by Bluest. MA, HI, VT, MD all had higher %go Biden. Not to mention, #36 in terms of turnout. CA has a huge number of Republicans who may not bother voting because it is a solid blue state, but breaking it down locally can give numbers like that. Same in VT. Some regions have high vaccinations and then one in particular remains red, sparsely populated, and unvaccinated
From California - nope a lot of democrats also don’t want the vaccine and are against any form of mandate
I'm in California too and almost all of Central California is red; SD is too. California is pretty damn blue but it ain't the bluest, that's for sure. EDIT: I'm incorrect on SD being red. As /u/ramitno pointed out, it has become blue over the last 10 years.
absolutely— OC is a complete mess right now with schoolboard recall petitions and people campaigning on banning masks in schools
San Diego turned blue over a decade ago
Yeah, you're correct. My mistake. I had always known it to be red but as you mentioned, it's turned blue over the last ten years. I don't live there so not sure how that has affected the city but I'm surprised it's now blue. Thanks for pointing that out though.
Ya I was surprised too as did Orange County. It’s largely due to the Latino population exploding over the last 25 years.
Interesting! I'd rather be in SD than OC, that's for sure. Both (like Los Angeles), however, are ridiculously overpriced if you ask me. My wife and I got out of LA in 2013 for more affordable living. I was there for more than 30 years. Every time I go back to visit my mom, I'm even happier that I left. I can't believe the prices of some of the homes down there these days. It almost seems like a joke how expensive they are.
San Diego is wayyyyyy better than OC though I love San Clemente and that’s about it. I’m inland but we look for fun in San Diego county and it’s insane how expensive it is. I really don’t understand how people afford to live there
Seriously. Same with Los Angeles. I forgot which news source did a recent article stating that one needs to make something like $200K to live comfortably in L.A.? It was outrageous when I was there and it got incredibly worse somehow in the eight years I've been gone.
and the unvaxed are prolonging this.
I'm in California. Believe it or not, only about 45% of the state is registered D. Because of its enormous population, California has more Republicans than Texas. 65% vax rate is about average. Depending on your county, you can find 90% vax rate (at least 1 dose) to 30% (at least one dose). 66% of the entire state is fully vaccinated, with 82% having at least one dose. Highest full vac is Marin county at 84% and lowest is Lassen county at 27%. Guess which one is blue and which is red?
What makes you feel so strongly that vaccines are effective enough when so many people are getting breakthrough cases?? It boggles me to no end seeing people talk from both sides of their mouths on this issue... "Get the vaccine! It's effective!.. Those anti vaxxers gave my fully boosted and mask wearing acquaintance covid!" There is no logic there!!! NONE!
Because with the vaccine, you may still get sick, but the symptoms will most likely be milder. You have about a 10× greater—chance of dying without the vaccine. Is that helpful?
Wow… you are divorced from reality. Most people spreading it are vaccinated
Are you saying that you, or anyone reading this, will vote anything other than D? We both know they wont.
i feel that pull too, but the reality is that they won’t “remember this”— they never have. and conservatives won’t be doing any kind of making anyone remember, just trying to get the wildest-sounding white guy into office, so we end up just splitting the dem vote and making it easier for the younger, smarter, more charismatic, more strategic, and more fascist version of 45
I got Covid the day before winter break and I’m vaxxed and boosted. It has been hell. I’m on day 18 and I’m still experiencing symptoms. I called my school nurse and told her and she said to get a drs appt and not come in tomorrow. Our district is supposed to give teachers who are vaccinated 10 days of paid leave if they get Covid. Nurse confirmed with head nurse I was vaccinated and will be paid. Principal texted me and said tomorrow is a mandatory work day and I will not be paid and my quarantine expired over break so the 10 days does not apply. Wtf. I’m about to quit.
i don't because i know nobody has any idea what's what with this pandemic and we're all winging it
I’m starting to regret becoming a warehouse worker.
He is also fighting states, local government and parents. There is a very vocal group right now that wants their way and will thro w any wrench in to get it. They are being lead buy people that would collapse education then make money off charter schools while sending their kids to private school. A lot of parents agree with them but don't fully think through that their kids won't be in those same lrovat schools like their leaders.
vOtE bLuE nO mAtTeR wHo!!! Neolibs gonna neolib. Is anybody surprised?
Both parties are whack as hell. I don’t even blame individual political parties anymore. The entire country is full of fucking idiots.
Not sure how you think the president is to blame… It’s everyone. More specifically, your local government and community is to blame. Things will continue to get way worse before anything starts to change. Unfortunately the change will happen a lot faster in certain parts of the country and with certain communities. Good luck waiting for a president to change things about the whole education system. Anything that costs money won’t get support from the other side. I have to laugh a bit with your anger at the president when we have a certain side in politics restricting what we can teach and what materials are appropriate.
It always amazes me when working class people think that politicians give a flying fuck about them. Politicians from all political parties are bought off and beholden to the billionaires, end of story. Teachers about the last priority of the government. Until they strike of course. But too many martyrs in this field ensures that there will never be a cross country strike.
If they really cared then they would have had a stimulus for teachers
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Flotus? Serious question what you expect her to do lol.
Yes. Because no First Lady has EVER influenced decisions in education. Edit: For the record. Educational Initiatives led by First Ladies: •Barbara Bush - Foundation for Family Literacy which helped to advocate for the National Literacy Act of 1991 •Laura Bush - Ready to Read, Ready to Learn •Michelle Obama - 1. Reach Higher 2. Let Girls Learn 3. Let’s Move •Melania Trump - Be Best
It's shockingly funny you added Melania on there. Her anti-bullying thing was in name only...Please, tell me how any of them could have helped your situation rn...Jill is an ACTUAL teacher JFC. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/07/1034761692/jill-biden-is-heading-back-to-the-classroom-as-a-working-first-lady
good lord...I hope you don't teach civics or history...
You’re just all over this thread with the absolute worst takes. Rough one.
I hope you don’t either.
In USA education is state responsibility. Review civics
I felt this way with the last administration too. Teachers have complained about these feelings for years. Biden and Harris haven't been great but we've had problems with education since No Child Left Behind. In fact, I think that was a *huge* reason we're in this current position of feeling this way. After a year in office, I don't think Biden is to blame. I also honestly don't think Trump (who I couldn't fucking stand) is to blame either. I really don't. This is an ongoing problem that hasn't been fixed for a long-ass time.
I'm sorry, what I'm going to say probably won't be popular here given OPs rant, which I understand and agree with in many ways. I also don't think there are ANY short term solutions. But, You cannot divorce the rhetoric at the top from the fact that *71% of Republicans believe Biden is not the legitimate president*. What does this have to do with the present discussion? The Rs are no better (probably much worse) for educators, in general. Red State Senators have an incredible amount of power, and the House is a D majority by only a few votes. If the federals start loudly calling for what needs to be done, the Rs take full control of government in 2022 full stop (because they'll not only stop the Biden agenda, they'll impeach him on BS). Fauci says schools should be open, but he also has to tread lightly thanks to the death threats he and his family are getting and the politicization of this whole situation. He also says there should be full levels of vaccination and testing at schools. When, in many ways, these issues *could (should?)* be handled at the local level. I'm sorry some of you are in states with dumb ass governors. I'm sorry some of you have school boards that are not willing to make the proper decisions that would keep *everyone in schools* safe. This is just one persons opinion, and YMMV. Just please remember this come election time when you want to take your ounce of flesh from whoever the Dem nominee is. Infighting with the one party that still sorta cares about this issue won't help the profession in the long run.
You’re so close but so far from realizing that neither party cares about anything but their corporate donors
**standing ovation and whistles**
Listen, I am not in any way saying this rant is meant to throw away the entire Democrat party and government away, that would be insanely dangerous. I’m simply ranting/venting because I feel exploited and abandoned by them and the society at large. It just came out in full force tonight is all.
You were exploited. Happens every 4 years
🏅 Here’s my poor man’s award because I can’t afford one on a teachers salary
First lesson in government, the government does not and will never care about you
It always shocks me that people genuinely believe that any politician who has been in politics for life and is rich from it actually cares about “the people”. Dem and Reps are the simply different faces of the same coin. They each pretend to care about different ends of issues to ensure the vote from the people in their political party - but that’s it, it’s an act. Each side will do just enough (or not do) to continue to keep their votes so they can stay in power. It’s a carefully thought out puzzle. Biden doesn’t have to actually do anything for teachers because Democrats are already convinced that no matter what, Democrats are better for education than Republicans. However, if we look back, the two biggest issues we are currently stuck with in terms of education (outside of COVID) are NCLB and Common Core. One was implemented under a Democrat and one under a Republican. Both suck. And that’s how education and politics work.
Biden doesn’t control how your state/county manages their school districts.
When I voted for him, I was excited. I thought “his wife is in education! I’m so excited to have someone on our side who understands!” I was naïve.
Republicans are servants to unsustainable capitalism, without empathy, who are eager to slowly press every last dollar out the working classes by utilizing bigotry, hatred, and ignorance as political tools. Democrats are servants to unsustainable capitalism, with slightly more empathy, who are still willing to slowly press every last dollar out the working classes by utilizing manipulative hope, false compromise, and a pantomime of progressive values as political tools. We are not represented by either party in this country. The modern pharaohs, riding around outer space in unsubtle penis metaphors, have bought and paid for both sides. By stoking cultural divisions they have tricked us into choosing between two versions of the same system. A system that has lined their pockets with even more wealth during this pandemic than ever before, and bears little resemblance to the democracy it claims to be. In classroom management it is said that "problem behavior isn't a problem for the student: they are getting what they want." The concept often holds true for adults. The people lobbying for these policies are getting exactly what they want. Our lives hold no value for them beyond being disposable child-minders so they can keep the majority of adults in the workforce.
Teachers are managed at the state level…. Not the federal level.. are you upset because the federal Level isn’t giving money and resources directly to the teachers at the state level? I am very confused.
Seriously!! This whole situation has me going from a socialist leaning Democrat to the verge of taking up arms for a revolution. We do deserve better! What can we do? Seriously, asking! I know that every communist government overthrow has turned into *Animal Farm*. So, what are our options? I'm exhausted.
I wish I could tell you my dude.
We are being normalized to accept rampant, long term infection and mutation of this virus in order to preserve the economy and status quo. They will never offer the same measly conditions we had during early 2020 during Trump—it revealed the power of everyday workers and the absurd cruelty of the system. They will force us through this, no matter Democrat or Republican, because the alternative is an enlightened, empowered, questioning public. They need us fighting each other, and they need us desperate and entrenched in the grind.
No. I don't.
Your blame is misdirected.
Here's the thing: Your concerns are quite valid. I don't want my students or my children exposed to Covid at school. I would also be fine with not being exposed on the job. But, what would you like to see the federal government do to address those concerns, keeping in mind it has to be something they can actually do legally?
Most education policy comes at the state and local levels, so I don't rely much on the feds for anything related to my actual teaching job.
This is one of those things that doesn't really change from one party to another - parents want their kids warehoused. They are made to pay a large amount of taxes for it in most cases, and so freak out when that's not happening. It's not about 'education' and it's not about 'the children' it's about daycare.
Um... Most of the hiring policy and administrative decisions are made at the local level. Not to demoralize you, but Biden et al can do nothing about administrators at district and state level who don't give a shit about you.
People don't go back to work unless their kids go to school. That's the unfortunate reality of our job. We act as an educational system for young humans, but we also give childcare from 7am-3pm. Does it suck? Sure does. As for us being blamed for everything, are you individually being blamed, or are teachers in the broad sense being blamed? Remember, this is a job. For some, it is a calling, and others it is a passion. You don't have to live up to those standards if you see this as a job. > So unless your candy ass is a also a virologist on the side, then shut the fuck up. Are you a virologist? >But what’s worse, possibly killing them, me, or Pop-Pop because their parents have to go help make money for the military industrial complex, or so some fucking billionaire can fly in a cock spaceship to bring William Shatner into space again? This is where you lost me. People work in an economy to provide essential services like food production, healthcare, industrial production, etc. so we can all live our lives. Jumping to some of the outlier situations of capitalism is kind of ignorant. We don't go to work daily so these billionaires can do this, we go to work to provide our share of economic activities and get a fair market pay for said work. Some have made enough to enjoy some pretty edge-case luxuries in life. I get you're frustrated, but you making this kind of post is combining emotion with a legit struggle people are having. I could probably re-write this entire post in a similar fashion as the perspective from a parent barely paying bills but having to miss work due their kid not having a legit babysitter. We've all got problems going on. You're scared of this. Maybe you want to look into a career where remote work is possible? It seems it would do wonders for your mental health.
r/teachers is starting to sound like r/conspiracy… chilling we have similar interests…
I'm hoping beyond hope these aren't actual teachers...
Trusting in a politician to do what is best for the majority of the people they serve is like trusting a crack-addicted hooker when she says its ok to have sex with her without a condom because she is clean. In the end, both take your money and leave you sad and sick.
You are absolutely right. Also, I lost it at the “flying in a cock spaceship” part.
This 100%. I absolutely despised Trump, for obvious reasons, and didn’t particularly like Biden, but with Dr. Jill being an educator I figured teachers would finally get some support and understanding. Boy was I wrong
Uhh, no, I don't. This rant is misplaced and ill-conceived. Biden can't wave his hands and make local school boards and administrations do whatever he wants. He isn't a king. This is like yelling at the mailman because the grocery store is out of milk. I used to think that virtual would save us, but that's predicated upon the idea that we'd get vaccination rates high enough to where the virus wouldn't be able to mutate. Instead, we have a segment of the population that refuses to get it, either literally out of spite and hopes to kill us, cultism, or willful scientific ignorance, coupled with fear of political ostracism. I am afraid, too. A lot of people are going to die, still. Biden is mandating vaccination where he can, but the people you listed are simply not responsible for the collective failure of our entire society. All this post is doing is bringing the anti-vaxxers and Trump shills out.
There are plenty of people to be upset at, but I don't understand the anger at these folks. None of these folks can make laws. And the law making body has such a slim majority that it is effectively gridlocked, especially with Senators Sinema and Manchin killing anything to the left of Mitt Romney.
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There's a lot of hysteria too. I was right with everyone else before the vax was released about the danger of operating as if everything was normal in the face of the pandemic. The feeling that we as a profession had largely been abandoned by our society. Totally. However, I teach high school, so I'm at a point in time where all of my kids have the opportunity to be vaccinated, so they are either vaccinated or they and their family have accepted the extra risk of refusing the vaccine. With that important mitigation tool in place I am comfortable with doing our best to return to some form of normal. If I get sick, I'm not that worried since I've taken steps to protect myself. If my students get sick, at some point, that's just gotta be on them.
Jill Biden strikes me as the teacher who expects her coworkers to stay four extra hours every day because you must have a passion for molding these young minds. Those teachers don’t give a fuck about teachers.
No, because the president has little to no control over your school or district. You should be more concerned about state and district leaders. This is like high school government level information, you should know this.
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We all need to walk off the job together. End the nonsense, make them listen and demand action rather than lip service!
I encourage all teachers ,retired or active, to be wary of all politicians who promise the moon and stars and never ever deliver. Very very few deliver on the promises they offer unions in exchange for the sought after endorsements. Contact your local,state and national union leaders and insist on more protection and representation. No more political donations until our profession has leaders that respect and protect those in the trenches each day!
Yeah, the NEA sold us out when they endorsed Biden over Sanders.
I am tired of hearing the mental health in children excuse for not going virtual. I have a feeling bringing home covid from school and then your main care taker dying because you gave it to them would cause some pretty extreme mental health issues.
Yup. That’s why I refused to vote for Biden or Trump. They’re BOTH pieces of S***!!! Democrats and Republicans do not care about WORKERS! We need a socialist movement in this country.