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Interesting idea - particularly for those that can manage it with their jobs. But then do you just keep paying everyone in public education for a whole year to

Interesting idea - particularly for those that can manage it with their jobs. But then do you just keep paying everyone in public education for a whole year to take the year off, too? Here in Seattle, the last 3 months of school the kids were enrolled in was a complete and utter joke. I have two kids, one in middle school and the other in elementary. When the kids got online to talk to teachers it was never about actual instruction, course work, etc. It was almost entirely kum-ba-yah sessions where the teachers would ask the kids what they were doing and how they were feeling. School was essentially put on hold. Grades were sent out and based mainly on the 1st half of the year. The prospect of remote learning is very promising, but at least in 2020 there seems to be an utter lack in leadership or will to implement a quality product. It's a race to the bottom. Skipping a year? Honestly, I think even if my kids wind up doing remote learning in the Fall they'll be going through the motions but intellectually skipping a year anyway. It's a mess.

zamfi 6y ago
> It was almost entirely kum-ba-yah sessions where the teachers would ask the kids what they were doing and how they were feeling. Maybe in the middle of a pandemic, when you’re trapped at home, away from your friends, with parents who are busy working — what you really need is a little kumbaya? At some point we need to transition away from “crisis mode” but making sure kids are doing ok, when their worlds have been turned upside-down, seems like a completely reasonable use of time to me.
- erickhill 6y ago
  I understand this. And honestly, a part of me believes in several years we (my wife and I) will look back on this time with fondness as we've never been able to spend this much time together as a family unit. But what I meant in the OP was how - across 3 months - school was put on hold even though my kids would dial in a few times a week. I could tell some of the teachers _wanted_ to teach but I am certain there were orders from above not to. If there's one child who didn't have access to a laptop or internet across the district, I think the idea was that no one would be taught material as a result. I don't have the right answers - I just know that if that's what school looks like in the Fall, it will only deepen class divides where the well-off pay for private tutors, and the rest of the kids simply drift. I have one friend who has a daughter here who - across 3 months - only had 2 sessions with her teacher. That was it. Effectively, school _was_ cancelled, if not officially. Hence why the idea of just lobbing off a whole year's worth sounded intriguing. But at the end of the day this is really all about economics and why there's a push to get kids back in school no matter what, plan or no plan. The economy won't start to heal until kids are under the in-person daycare of schools. It's just a fact. This is all going to be very messy for at least another 12-18 months. EDIT: My dad taught for over 50 years at the high school level. He is now 81. He taught well into his 70s. I imagine there are quite a few teachers who are terrified of being forced back to work in-person unless significant changes are made, and even then... This may force a lot of early retirements.

zamfi 6y ago

> It was almost entirely kum-ba-yah sessions where the teachers would ask the kids what they were doing and how they were feeling. Maybe in the middle of a pandemic, when you’re trapped at home, away from your friends, with parents who are busy working — what you really need is a little kumbaya? At some point we need to transition away from “crisis mode” but making sure kids are doing ok, when their worlds have been turned upside-down, seems like a completely reasonable use of time to me.

erickhill 6y ago
I understand this. And honestly, a part of me believes in several years we (my wife and I) will look back on this time with fondness as we've never been able to spend this much time together as a family unit. But what I meant in the OP was how - across 3 months - school was put on hold even though my kids would dial in a few times a week. I could tell some of the teachers _wanted_ to teach but I am certain there were orders from above not to. If there's one child who didn't have access to a laptop or internet across the district, I think the idea was that no one would be taught material as a result. I don't have the right answers - I just know that if that's what school looks like in the Fall, it will only deepen class divides where the well-off pay for private tutors, and the rest of the kids simply drift. I have one friend who has a daughter here who - across 3 months - only had 2 sessions with her teacher. That was it. Effectively, school _was_ cancelled, if not officially. Hence why the idea of just lobbing off a whole year's worth sounded intriguing. But at the end of the day this is really all about economics and why there's a push to get kids back in school no matter what, plan or no plan. The economy won't start to heal until kids are under the in-person daycare of schools. It's just a fact. This is all going to be very messy for at least another 12-18 months. EDIT: My dad taught for over 50 years at the high school level. He is now 81. He taught well into his 70s. I imagine there are quite a few teachers who are terrified of being forced back to work in-person unless significant changes are made, and even then... This may force a lot of early retirements.