Parents - how do you feel about teaching unions?

[Musicaldilemma]

Following various exchanges in real life and on here, I was wondering what other parents currently feel and think of teaching unions? Do you know a lot about them? What do you feel their role is and should be in this pandemic? If you are able to, please clarify if you are a parent married to a teacher or teacher parent. Or just a parent like myself with a few friends who are teachers. I was interested to see that teaching unions in Switzerland, for example, really pushed the message that schools must be and stay open for children’s mental health.

@rawlikesushi. So some teachers stage fright trumps kids getting something which even vaguely resembles an education.

As you state, unions represent teachers interests. They don’t give a shit about pupils.

As a teacher I support my union as my union supports me and works for health and safety and working conditions.
As a decent human being I support other unions to do the same for their members.
I support the transport union to call for masks for all and screens on public transport.
I support the doctors and nurses unions, and paramedics and aligned services, in their call for decent working hours and adequate PPE

I support the shopworkers union in their calls for universal masks and screens in shops.

I remember drink drive laws, seatbelt, cycling helmets, the banning of cigarettes in the workplace and various other health and safety initiatives. Asbestos, bse, contaminated blood products scandals etc.
Opening schools with absolutely no safety mitigations barr handgel in the midst of a novel virus pandemic - well, I don't think it will be looked back on as a good decision in the future.

As a teacher I bloody care about my students and my community. I want them to be safe. The unions represent their members - people like me.

This thread ...

It's like something from the plot of an 80s American High School film.

OP is the girl in the big house, getting lots of tutoring, lots of clothes - but is outraged that there's a girl from a small house getting the top grades.

Alas, the careful detente between popularity and tyranny she routinely explores and exploits snaps after one B+ too many.

She tears a page out of her notebook:

'Molly is ugly and everyone hates her. Sign here if you agree' and she passes it along.

Some people sign.

And some people don't.

And some people write, ' You know, if you paid more attention in class, rather than sending around stupid notes, maybe you'd do better in class and become a better person.'

So some teachers stage fright trumps kids getting something which even vaguely resembles an education

Now go back and read that post properly. Is it about “stage fright”? No.
Try harder.

It's almost as if some parents didn't care whether their kids were safe at school. It's just as well that the unions cared that schools were safe. I didn't hear of any parents' groups advocating for their kids' safety.

@saraclara

It's almost as if some parents didn't care whether their kids were safe at school. It's just as well that the unions cared that schools were safe. I didn't hear of any parents' groups advocating for their kids' safety.

How will you keep your dc safe without a vaccine for them? Covid won’t be eradicated. Will you keep them home?

I support them. Think they’re stuck behind a rock and a hard place thanks to right wing media and mouthpieces. Every time since last summer that they have days they want schools open safely with more measures... people scream so you want them closed?! There’s a campaign to shut them up so the government doesn’t have to fund their safety requests, which would benefit children too.

Posted too soon

I support them. Think they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place thanks to right wing media and mouthpieces. Every time since last summer that they have said they want schools open safely with more measures... people scream so you want them closed?! There’s a campaign to shut them up so the government doesn’t have to fund their safety requests, which would benefit children too.

I'm 100% behind them.
Teachers have died. My DC's teacher was one of them. The mental health issues that has caused in my DD alone are massive.
It was never safe. It is still not safe.
And vaccinating teachers is a start, but community transmission would still occur outside the schools due to kids using public transport, shops and being around their immediate families who then could catch it and be asymptomatic like a lot of kids are.
If they open schools in March you mark my words the numbers will rise again, it may not be grannies this time but it will be people under 50.
The only logical solution now is to write off the year, ditch summer holidays and restart from the year group they were in in September 2019

Just to say: 'live lessons' aren't some magic bullet.

Parents with younger children would have to support the children to engage. That's incredibly hard if you have more than one child and/or other demands.

Screen time: do you really want your children watching a screen for hours? Probably not.

There are other issues - but those two are enough.

I think a lot of people really hoped there would be an ideal way out of this, a magic way. But from pretending schools weren't vectors of transmission to live lessons, we have to accept there isn't a magic solution.

There just isn't.

It's awful, it's horrible - but blaming teachers is just a way of scapegoating a group to make another group feel better from the devastating effects of a poorly responded-to pandemic.

I have read it. Some teachers preference not to engage meaningfully with pupils remotely is more important than children’s rights to learn. If you can argue that learning in isolation via PowerPoint slides is an adequate education then why have teachers in the first place? If it’s not adequate (which it clearly isn’t) then why are unions campaigning for it? Prioritising teacher comfort over pupil education is their purpose but they can’t then pretend to care about children.

@saraclara

It's almost as if some parents didn't care whether their kids were safe at school. It's just as well that the unions cared that schools were safe. I didn't hear of any parents' groups advocating for their kids' safety.

Parents Against Unsafe Schools did. They just haven’t had the expensive coverage Us For Them get, nor do they have their Tory contacts or access to talk to Gavin Williamson. So you’re less likely to have heard of them.

I'm a parent of teachers.

Have lost a lot of respect for teaching unions in the last year and if they succeed in jumping the queue for vaccines I will be livid.. with the exception of special school staff, who are more vulnerable themselves, but so are the children in their care.

Trade unions are there to support and represent their members and their employment rights. As a parent they’re nothing to do with me really but I support the legal rights of workers to join a trade union and all the legal rights that go with that.

Tiktokersmiracle I'm really sorry to hear that. I can imagine how that must have impacted on you and the whole community.

And I am really sorry to hear about your child's MH.

I, personally, wish that there was pressure to increase MH provision - delivered by professionals - for young people.

The area has been underfunded for years and it's just not coping with demand right now.

I really have so much sympathy. 💐

@MarshaBradyo the unions were asking for rotas, so that half the children would be in and half at home, alternate weeks. They were pushing for masks to be worn by all. They wanted schools to be open, but they wanted the risk mitigating as far as possible. But of course the media (and the govt) weren't interesting in reporting that accurately. It simply became 'lazy teachers and their unions wanting schools shut'. And that was never what it was about.

But the public fell for the media and govt spin.

@Cheesecats, thank you for that information about Parents Against Unsfae Schools. The fact that I hadn't heard of them demonstrates how the govt and media pretty much control who gets the publicity.

They are doing their job,which is to look after teachers
Only wish he had someone looking out for the pupils

How will you keep your dc safe without a vaccine for them? Covid won’t be eradicated. Will you keep them home

Hmm so let's look at what other countries have done?

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/28/reopening-schools-different-countries-tackle-education-conundrum-coronavirus

So there's a choice of air filter, increased ventilation, smaller class sizes, rota systems, using alternative venues, more outside teaching, masks, weekly testing, back tracing and whole bubble testing when a case is identified...lots.

What did we do? Wash your hands, open a window (if they do) and send home the people who sat next to them on a seating plan....

@DareIask

I'm a parent of teachers.

Have lost a lot of respect for teaching unions in the last year and if they succeed in jumping the queue for vaccines I will be livid.. with the exception of special school staff, who are more vulnerable themselves, but so are the children in their care.

I'm not aware that the unions are asking for that. It appears to be the same people who roared with fury about it a while back, who've suddenly decided (mistakenly) that it might be the only way to get their children back in school, so they've started hollering FOR it now. I don't know of any teacher who wants to jump any queue. Especially as it won't make any difference to infection spread in schools and the wider community.

@thecatfromjapan

Tiktokersmiracle I'm really sorry to hear that. I can imagine how that must have impacted on you and the whole community.

And I am really sorry to hear about your child's MH.

I, personally, wish that there was pressure to increase MH provision - delivered by professionals - for young people.

The area has been underfunded for years and it's just not coping with demand right now.

I really have so much sympathy. 💐

We are extremely lucky, despite the teachers and staff being in a world of grief themselves, they have been absolutely amazing to all the kids, offering phone calls, video chat or emails to those who need a chat. I have so much respect for them all. DD had a chat with one of the support staff from the SEN team this week and she really got how she felt out there. As a result, a work plan has been set up, she will be called every week to just have someone to talk to that isn't a parent (not that we don't offer it but teens never really like chatting to parents). She has had a much better day work wise today. The staff never stop caring at our school, we are so lucky. I just want to hug them all and support them through it but can't.

I want my kids back in school more than anything, but I never, ever want to sit them down and tell them a teacher or staff member is dead down to the virus ever again. They had never experienced death. And to know it could have been avoided is even worse

@DareIask

I'm a parent of teachers.

Have lost a lot of respect for teaching unions in the last year and if they succeed in jumping the queue for vaccines I will be livid.. with the exception of special school staff, who are more vulnerable themselves, but so are the children in their care.

It's the people who want schools back as normal who are calling for this - not teachers or unions. No bloody point if the teachers are vaccinated but the kids are still merrily spreading it amongst themselves eh?

@EnemyOfEducationNo1

How will you keep your dc safe without a vaccine for them? Covid won’t be eradicated. Will you keep them home

Hmm so let's look at what other countries have done?

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/aug/28/reopening-schools-different-countries-tackle-education-conundrum-coronavirus

So there's a choice of air filter, increased ventilation, smaller class sizes, rota systems, using alternative venues, more outside teaching, masks, weekly testing, back tracing and whole bubble testing when a case is identified...lots.

What did we do? Wash your hands, open a window (if they do) and send home the people who sat next to them on a seating plan....

And when hospitalisation is no longer an issue? Keep going indefinitely?

When we’re all back at work and in restaurants, theatres etc would you keep it

Because dc won’t be vaccinated then

[quote Bartlet]@rawlikesushi. So some teachers stage fright trumps kids getting something which even vaguely resembles an education.

As you state, unions represent teachers interests. They don’t give a shit about pupils.[/quote]
That's not what I said. But I'm glad that teachers have unions to support and protect them because who else would? Some lovely parents and others...well, like you, without any thought for staff at all.

Tiktokersmiracle

Sending all love to you.❤️
I hope that you all come through this knowing that the world is made of care, hands that hold and support, words that bring comfort and healing. 💐