Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

Long-range strategic thinking has never been the POTUS’ forte, but it HAS been the forte of the GOP and the business leaders who see the possibility of education becoming a free market. What better way to have parents seek alternatives to public education that to mandate the opening of schools during a pandemic? In doing so, the POTUS and his ardent supporter Betsy DeVos are forcing parents to choose between sending their children to a traditional public school with “full-sized, in person classes” that the CDC see as posing the “highest risk” for the spread of corona virus or  keeping them at home. And if they stay at home they can complete a commercially available on-line program, or— if they can afford it— band together with a group of similarly well-heeled parents to hire a teacher-tutor who can provide child care and direct instruction for their children in a safe and sanitary environment while they work remotely. Now THERE is a really good idea!

You might ask “Where would parents find such a tutor?” It isn’t hard to imagine that there is an entrepreneurial minded individual looking to create an Uber-like platform that will match prospective tutors with clients… and the pool of elementary tutors could be large and deep in a year when districts are forced to cut staff members due to budget shortfalls and child care centers are compelled to close due to their inability to conform to the safety regulations established in response to the coronavirus.

And if those relatively well-heeled parents find the teacher/tutor program to their children’s liking, why bother to support their local public schools with taxes? In the end, our existing two tiered system whereby children in affluent districts receive more options than children in poorer districts, will devolve even further… and the profiteers will be the main beneficiaries of the new order.

And how does the union play into this? By insisting that schools remain closed they are giving the politicians who are unable to devise a new model for schools on the fly a chance to criticize teachers and school leaders for THEIR inability to develop remote learning… and an opportunity to persuade non-parent voters that the problem isn’t the political leadership… it’s the union!

The suit crafted by the union does a good job of citing the REAL problem, which is Governor De Santis’ inability to “accept the reality of the situation here in Florida, where the virus is surging out of control” and his utter and complete disregard for the advice of scientists to the point where he has sidelined their opinions completely. My concern is that the union might win this legal battle but lose the strategic war that the pro-private sector forces are about to launch.

Source: Teachers Sue Florida Governor for Order to Reopen Schools in Defiance of ‘Basic Human Needs for Health and Safety’