Chicago have had schools closed for 18months due to covid.

[Iwanttobeapaperbackwriter]

Watching American news on YouTube as wanted to hear about Ida when this came on.

Closed to all children, for 18 months. Yet America is always shown by the UK media to be getting back to normal.

I'm in a suburb of Houston in Texas and that's not my experience here.

The children were off of school in March 2020 and had virtual lessons until late May 2020. Their summer vacation started in late May and the children returned to school in late August 2020 to begin the 2020-2021 school year. I know that they had limited sports and school activities and many had the option to have virtual lessons if they wanted them. Back then, they wore masks in school.

The school year for the school district started last week for the 2021-2022 year (they study August to May) and everything is mostly back to normal and all kids are back in school. There's full capacity sports and extracurricular activities and right now, masks are optional. I am aware that the school district has offered a 100% virtual school with dedicated teachers for those who are more comfortable learning in that manner.

So, the kids here were only out March-May 2020.

Yes. Texas and other states have been different.

It pains me to say this, but if I were to live in the US right now (God help me!) I'd want to live in a red state rather than a blue one. And I am not normally someone who would ever ever had said or thought such a thing.

Teachers demanded priority access to the vaccine early in the rollout, and they got it, because everyone wanted kids back in school. That was in December and January, and the teachers still refused to go back that year.

To be fair, this wasn't everywhere, only in some districts. But yes, teachers unions really did do this in some parts of the US--elbowed their way closer to the front of the vaccine queue (in front of many vulnerable elderly people), and then still refused to go back and teach in person. It was absolutely a case of unions using their muscle to throw their weight around. The Americans I know who are in these districts were dismayed, and these are people who have always strongly supported public education and have generally been on the side of teachers' unions before COVID.

@Iwanttobeapaperbackwriter

Watching American news on YouTube as wanted to hear about Ida when this came on.

Closed to all children, for 18 months. Yet America is always shown by the UK media to be getting back to normal.

This is incorrect. Schools are fully opening in Chicago AFTER 18 months.

Article here: www.google.ca/amp/s/chicago.suntimes.com/platform/amp/education/2021/8/30/22648199/chicago-public-schools-cps-first-day-in-person-learning-coronavirus-covid-19-delta

Some States have prioritised the economy over education..schools were the first to close and last to reopen. In addition, the structure of school districts and governance is v different to the UK. Many are heavily Unioinised and the teachers' unions have much more power than in the UK and have made returning to in person learning very difficult in some cities, particularly Chicago.

So while we as adults have had a lot of freedom where we live, our kids' have only had part time school with excessive restrictions.

So what sbout working parents? Mumsnet was full of threads here of parents trying to work and homeschool. Did they have any "keyworker kids" provision or anything for those working?

It looks like this will have just exacerbated the rich/poor divide even further. And there isn't the safety net there of benefits/nhs innquite the same way as here.
Good homeschooling gor a year could inky happen with a dedicated parent surely. Although if there weren't other restrictions I can see socialising being okay if that parent arranged playdates etc...

Also infant age kids need more than virtual school. It will be interesting to see what happens.

So what sbout working parents? Mumsnet was full of threads here of parents trying to work and homeschool. Did they have any "keyworker kids" provision or anything for those working?

A big difference is that it wasn't accompanied by other lockdown measures. So you could get family to help, do swaps with other parents and pay for help. There are some working parents who don't have any of these options but their voices have been drowned out.

To be clear too, this issue isn't just Chicago. Lots of school districts across the US are only just now going back and many are only going back with hybrid provision. My relatives are in different areas (not Chicago) and their primary age kids are getting 2 days a week in person

But yes, teachers unions really did do this in some parts of the US--elbowed their way closer to the front of the vaccine queue (in front of many vulnerable elderly people), and then still refused to go back and teach in person.

What shitty behaviour

There was a lot of concern here that child neglect and abuse would go unnoticed while children were not attending school in person. For many children, sadly, school is a much happier and safer place than home, and someone at school might notice that all is not well, or listen when you tell them you need help.

MattyGroves. Surely most people don't have family to cover this. Or the money to pay for fulltime childcare?!

Again looking at all the keyworkers in schools here there's no way they'd allxfund alternatives. We aren't minimum wage or anything and we couldnt. The average teacher/nurse/etc couldn't so how would retail staff/low paid workers manage.

This sounds like there's going to be a whole host of problems beewing up. I really feel for single parents or families that lost jobs/couldnt care for their children. That really is huge that there was nothing in place.

Again - fine for the wealthy... just pay someone.

Gosh yes my poat was only really thinking of functioning families but average to low income (most families I imagine income wise...)

The poor children from difficult homes :( That was so tricky here in the UK too but after 18 months. School was my safe place as a kid (despite wealthy family). For so many kids this will be a real disaster.

@L1ttleSeahorse

MattyGroves. Surely most people don't have family to cover this. Or the money to pay for fulltime childcare?!

Again looking at all the keyworkers in schools here there's no way they'd allxfund alternatives. We aren't minimum wage or anything and we couldnt. The average teacher/nurse/etc couldn't so how would retail staff/low paid workers manage.

This sounds like there's going to be a whole host of problems beewing up. I really feel for single parents or families that lost jobs/couldnt care for their children. That really is huge that there was nothing in place.

Again - fine for the wealthy... just pay someone.

I totally agree, it's been awful for those without family or money. Basically either children have been neglected or their parent has had to quit their job and plunge them into poverty.

I was trying to explain why the issue has been less talked about there - basically unlike here where all parents were in the same boat, there some parents are fine so there has been much less public pressure about the issue. (Also the hyper local element - it's not even state by state, it's school district by school district)

www.who.int/westernpacific/news/commentaries/detail-hq/school-reopening-can-t-wait

Seems like the UK has kept.their schools open far more than many countries..

Can't be entirely true as I have a friend who started a new teaching job in Chicago last year.

Probably a catholic school - they’re plentiful in Chicago.

There were some provisions for key workers dc over the pandemic as I remember.
For a long time there was a significant significant shutdown so very few people were going to work.
In our neighborhood a couple of people started running informal childcare as the pandemic eased.

@EmeraldGreenVelvet

Friends in LA have kids who have been off for most of the last 18 months. Not sure what the situation is now. I know I saw pictures of their son's 10th birthday party in the garden a few months ago and all the kids were in masks, even in the garden. That was the first time he'd seen his friends in months.

Child abuse. Full stop.

@longerevenings

There were some provisions for key workers dc over the pandemic as I remember. For a long time there was a significant significant shutdown so very few people were going to work. In our neighborhood a couple of people started running informal childcare as the pandemic eased.

My cousin is a doctor and nothing was on offer for her kids (she has grandparent support anyway but still)

This came up in my Twitter feed this morning.

USA very much hasn't prioritised kids. If they disengage from education, oh well, so what. They don't vote.

I can’t even begin to think of the implications of that.

I know someone on the east coast and her kids have finally gone back to school this week after 18 months at home. She said it's taken a serious toll on their mental health.

Rich kids get education poor kids don't. That's awful.