Quote :

" He used the budget as an excuse to not pay teachers. He vetoed teacher pay raises as well as support staff under the guise that "it wasn't enough". https://www.fox46.com/news/teachers-protest-decision-not-to-increase-their-pay/"

that piece does a really shitty job explaining the legislatures budget and why Cooper vetoed it

here’s a much better article:

https://www.wral.com/cooper-vetoes-4-bills-calls-for-a-middle-ground-in-education-funding/18752855/

7/9/2020 12:44:54 AM

Good ‘ol no one reads the 49th post...Or 48th post for that matter. I can’t blame you my 47 was about how we’d do better if we just gave up a little freedom etc

7/9/2020 12:47:53 AM

people read all 50 posts each page. no need to do anything cute to stand out.

7/9/2020 1:33:09 AM

Quote :

"You do realize high speed internet is still not a viable thing in many rural areas, right? Like I lived for the past ten years in a place with shitty cell signal and the only available internet was like 56k dialup. Online instruction is very much a privilege and replacing in person learning with online is just going to widen the gap between the haves and have nots."

I'm aware, yes. It's only a privilege because we have a shitty national education system that hasn't made it a priority to give every kid a laptop/wifi.

Quote :

"People can't even afford rent, tuition and the normal things much less a viable internet connection. Also, people without extra space don't have adequate work environments to be productive from home."

If they can't afford any of that, how the hell are they going to afford COVID-related medical bills/lost wages/funeral costs? If poor, rural communities don't even have access to wifi, how do you think they'll be able to handle a COVID super cluster? The federal government just gave out BILLIONS of unwarranted loans to individuals/corporations who didn't even need the money, so it's no surprise nobody is even talking about a legitimate federal education stimulus that could help provide funding for technology/internet access. Major corporations like Apple, Google, Amazon, Verizon, etc could all cough up some money and throw the schools a bone and it would do wonders for their PR, all while promoting education and technological literacy. LOL @ any of that happening though...

Again, this is a lose-lose situation. As I said before, I really feel bad for k-12 teachers- especially ones who work in a "right to work" state and/or don't have any protection from a teacher's union. And I do feel bad for parents who can't afford childcare, let alone a computer with WiFi access; however, if they're actually pushing for schools to reopen, yeah I stand by what I said earlier. I also feel bad for the kids who are being used as pawns in a disgusting political game, and Trump's idiotic push to revoke student visas for international students will come with a multibillion price tag. All of this is going to drive a ton of high quality teachers to quit, making our education system continue to fall laughably behind countries like Finland, Singapore, South Korea, etc.

Along with our joke of a health care system, the entire education system in the US from preschool through college needs a complete overhaul.

Childcare in this country is completely unaffordable, despite the fact that many people look down on those who take care of their kids and don't pay them nearly enough for what they do.

Teachers in most states are vastly undervalued/underpaid and this country's stupid obsession with standardized test scores harms children from the time they start taking them until they find their way to college.

Look at how much damage Betsy DeVos has already done...

tl;dr we are all FUCKED



[Edited on July 9, 2020 at 1:59 AM. Reason : words]

7/9/2020 1:52:40 AM

Quote :

"I'm aware, yes. It's only a privilege because we have a shitty national education system that hasn't made it a priority to give every kid a laptop/wifi."

Pretty sure that the education system isn't an ISP. Giving kids computers doesn't help when they can't get high speed internet at home because there is none actually available. I am assuming you live in a city/suburbs and are just blissfully unaware at the ridiculously shitty internet options that much of rural America has.

7/9/2020 2:43:02 AM

CHCCS started a 1:1 Chromebook initiative last year so all students have one, which made sure kids had access a laptop at home. For kids that didn’t have internet the school had some cellular hotspots they gave out, but I don’t know how many they could offer and what limitations were on that. More importantly being a mostly urban district with just a few rural areas internet coverage is far less of a concern, but I am sure thee is some pockets with lower bandwidth accessibility. But it is nothing compared to say Halifax County where we used to live with so much rural area that had huge gaps in internet and cellular coverage. My cousins only recently got true high speed internet at their house (maybe 20MB) but for many years it was dial up and then like 1 MB DSL.

I only hope when Starlink comes out there is eventually some provision for lower income rural people to get subsidized internet access.

[Edited on July 9, 2020 at 1:24 PM. Reason : ]

7/9/2020 1:23:22 PM

Yeah I lived less than half a mile from a main road which had high speed internet, but they ISP refused to run lines down the road I lived on because the 20 or so houses on this couple mile long road weren't enough for them to care about.

And cellular hotspots are great unless you live somewhere with bad reception or you need to watch videos/do zoom calls for school. Because then you deal with throttled speeds (even on unlimited data plans) once you hit a relatively low threshold. And don't get me started on satellite internet, which is just overpriced garbage. They can throttle your speeds at any time, for no reason. And it costs way more than any other residential internet, it's essentially dialup for like $100+ a month.

7/9/2020 1:48:52 PM

Quote :

"Pretty sure that the education system isn't an ISP. Giving kids computers doesn't help when they can't get high speed internet at home because there is none actually available. I am assuming you live in a city/suburbs and are just blissfully unaware at the ridiculously shitty internet options that much of rural America has."

My own parents live in a rural part of NC (they're retired and comfortable, but their WiFi/cell coverage still sucks) so it's not like I'm "blissfully unaware" of what rural America looks like, but I'm glad you somehow found access to the internet to explain this to me. Anyway, here's the point I brought up earlier:

Quote :

"The federal government just gave out BILLIONS of unwarranted loans to individuals/corporations who didn't even need the money, so it's no surprise nobody is even talking about a legitimate federal education stimulus that could help provide funding for technology/internet access. Major corporations like Apple, Google, Amazon, Verizon, etc could all cough up some money and throw the schools a bone and it would do wonders for their PR, all while promoting education and technological literacy. LOL @ any of that happening though..."

Trump is proposing another $1T "stimulus" that's going to line the pockets of corporations and rich people far more than it will stop the bleeding for people who are literally living hand to mouth. I'm not an expert on the costs associated with providing high speed internet to remote areas, but $1T is a lot of money, either way. Other developed countries with robust education systems have invested in the technology and infrastructure to make WiFi free for all citizens, but I guess we should just keep doing what we're doing, despite it not working, and hope for the best.

Also, and this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think internet access in 2020 should be treated as a basic utility.

[Edited on July 9, 2020 at 2:30 PM. Reason : .]

7/9/2020 2:29:35 PM

Guys. You're all debating the wrong shit here. Even if the government came in and monopolized ISP's like they've done with power generation, and rolled out high speed to every holler and rural town in the country, and provided at home nannies for every parent that has to work and leave kids at home, you still have the problem of kids not learning because

they're f'n at home!

Every person I've spoken with who have young children, be it wealthy parents who send their kids to private school, to folks who need all kinds of government assistance, kids have NOT done well learning at home. Home is a safe space. A place to decompress from learning and school. Home is not a learning place. Children across the country are depressed because they aren't in class with their friends. They are not learning what they need to be, and they are not at the level they should be. Talk about a learning gap. The people who can will fill in those gaps with tutors. What about the folks who can't afford tutors? We are working on having a lost generation of kids here.

I don't have any answers, but home learning is not it. Maybe for older children (5-12 grade?) it's ok. But FFS, Kindergarten isn't just learning how to read! It's learning how to listen to teachers, interact with other children, use a library....learning how to go to school and learn. HTF are they going to do that from home.

[Edited on July 9, 2020 at 2:46 PM. Reason : y]

7/9/2020 2:45:40 PM

I get your point, but I think people need to realize that it would be a lot wiser to either delay in-person classes for a least a few months than to reopen too soon. Florida is absolutely disgusting, and NC has more options to AVOID becoming the next one. And as far as children's needs are concerned, according to Maslov's hierarchy, basic physiological needs come first, followed by safety. Kids aren't going to feel safe having to get tested daily, let alone after their teacher/friend's teacher/etc contract it and then there's an outbreak.

7/9/2020 2:54:55 PM

We were all somewhat hopeful that a slow reopen over the summer would do the trick. It hasn't. Delaying a few months is only delaying the inevitable.

Look - I've quarantined. I've kept myself at home. I've taken my mask out and have worn it every where I go. Hell I even forget and leave it on in the car sometimes. I've been a faithful Fauci follower.

But I'm slowly coming to understand that this isn't going to end. Not any time soon, and not soon enough to give school a serious start. So I'm beginning to wonder if we should just rip off the bandaid.

Here is my solution.

Each state needs to have two sets of teachers. Those that want to be in the classroom, and those fearful of personal contact. The teachers who don't want to be face-to-face can be a part of the online learning academies. The school systems can do their best to work out the technical logistics. This would do two things - make teachers and parents who want their kids at home happy, and in the long run, if and when things do get back to normal, can provide a relief from school overcrowding stress. Imagine a world where parents can choose to keep their kids at home and learn if they want, without having to officially homeschool. It would keep structural costs down, and maybe prevent the need for as many new schools. Those parents can work all the social shit out down the road.

But for the other set - people who really want to get their kids back to the classroom - let them come back accepting the risks.

With the few amount of child-related cases, going back to school is probably the least of our worries.

7/9/2020 3:03:09 PM

^^your first point was parents should provide everything, you pivoted to govt provided after getting popped by Jt3 of all people.

7/9/2020 3:05:45 PM

Quote :

"Home is a safe space."

Not for all kids...Not even close.

7/9/2020 3:18:39 PM

No, I said even if...

Big difference. I don't feel like parents should provide their children with the facilities for public school. Public schools should 100% provide the necessary materials. It's f'd up to think that a single parent working at Home Depot can afford a laptop for their kid's schooling.

But anecdotally, we've given our daughter everything she's needed, and she still hated every minute of learning from home last quarter, and now we're going to a tutor to try and make up the difference.

7/9/2020 3:25:57 PM

^my comment wasn't directed at you

7/9/2020 3:27:22 PM

https://twitter.com/tbpinvictus/status/1281256803788107776?s=21

Lol

7/9/2020 3:31:52 PM

Quote :

"your first point was parents should provide everything, you pivoted to govt provided after getting popped by Jt3 of all people."

Eh, sorta. I DO think that parents need to do whatever they can to provide for their children's education, and I think many parents do exactly just that. It just pisses me off to hear so many people demanding to reopen the schools in Florida, despite the fact that it's going to be an absolute catastrophe. I even said NC wasn't there yet, but it definitely will be if they follow Florida's course of action. Either way, I'm not even a parent, so my opinion on opening k-12 schools is not going to directly align with the views of those who are. /rant

7/9/2020 3:35:10 PM

Whats wrong in theory with opening schools and asking parents to socially distance from their kids and putting responsibility on them that way where its the parents or grandparents who lose out if they are irresponsible and not the kids.

7/9/2020 3:49:47 PM

people are tying themselves in knots to argue how re-opening schools is good and feasible when it’s not in any way good and feasible

the sooner people realize that this is a lost year, the better

nothing is going to return to normal until a vaccine exists

use that energy to advocate for a bigger social safety net

[Edited on July 9, 2020 at 4:01 PM. Reason : .]

7/9/2020 3:59:13 PM

^ 100% agreed. Unfortunately, however, half the country is still in complete denial that we even have a problem, and although I hope I'm wrong, states like FL/AZ/TX/much of CA are going to have to experience the devastation first-hand to "believe" it. So many people in this country have been conditioned to believe that they are special and that they should only care about themselves.

[Edited on July 9, 2020 at 4:06 PM. Reason : .]

7/9/2020 4:05:00 PM

Quote :

"use that energy to advocate for a bigger social safety net"

https://www.bailoutthepeople.com/

7/9/2020 4:21:49 PM

UBI would be great, but let's face reality: Americans, by and large, genuinely believe in rugged individualism, and tend to look down on people who use government assistance. We hear the narrative of welfare queens gaming the system, and while plenty of people do, I have many extended relatives who live in borderline impoverished conditions because they would rather not lose face and feel ashamed. They go into massive credit card debt, refinance their mortgages, take out way more in student loans than they can afford, gamble their tax returns away at Casinos, take out cash-advanced loans, and do a ton of other counterintuitive things to make life worse, all because they don't want the stigma of being a "taker". The myth of the self-made person is an integral component to the "American Dream."

It's really not surprising when they then punch down at minorities and people poorer than them, because at least they feel as if they're keeping up with appearances.

It's the same reason why people refuse to evacuate when a huge hurricane is headed their way.

It's why many people end up homeless, develop substance abuse/addictions, and even resort to crime to survive.

UBI, like counseling/therapy/rehab/etc will only lift people out of poverty if they're willing to admit they have a problem and need help. And it will only help people out of poverty if they have a basic grasp of financial literacy and can make rational decisions.

So there's that.

I know we just had about 3 solid months of "stimulus" payments/unemployment, but how many unemployed/poor people have been able to turn their lives around for ~1k a week?

7/9/2020 6:09:09 PM

I'm glad you mentioned hurricanes because it highlights how our COVID failures are not uncharacteristic of our country.

https://www.democracynow.org/2017/9/12/after_irma_a_look_at_why

7/9/2020 6:22:25 PM

I know that people have selective memories and tend to forget about terrible things don't happen to them personally, but does anyone else remember Maria? Trump's response was to blame a natural disaster on Puerto Ricans, lie about the death toll, and toss them rolls of paper towels to help them 'clean up.'

It's only July and hurricane season doesn't usually get into full swing for another month or two, but how the hell will Florida/Texas/NC/SC/LA/etc possibly deal with a massive hurricane on top of a pandemic? I know there was that Saharan dust storm a few weeks ago which nullified any potential threats, but do we know how for how long?

7/9/2020 6:50:07 PM

^^^^^^long as lost year is not lost 2020-2021 school year

7/9/2020 10:50:13 PM

Durham County leading the way again.

Their school year will be K-8 in class education and HS online only. It's the only plan that makes any sense, I'm just not sure how they staff up for K-8 to have enough teachers to limit the # of kids in classrooms.

7/10/2020 12:41:22 PM

That seems reasonable. I suppose the question is do they utilize the high schools to make enough space for the lower levels to appropriately distance.

7/10/2020 1:25:44 PM

K-6 would make even more sense to me, but better than nothing.

7/10/2020 1:28:08 PM

Quote :

"I'm just not sure how they staff up for K-8 to have enough teachers to limit the # of kids in classrooms."

Yeah, not sure how this will work

7/10/2020 1:36:10 PM

Quote :

"I suppose the question is do they utilize the high schools to make enough space for the lower levels to appropriately distance."

Yep, that's what the plan is. So plenty of space and a good overall plan, but still have the question of how they staff up to support this.

7/10/2020 3:06:36 PM

Let's not forget that a number of parents will be choosing the virtual academy for fear of sending their children to a meatgrinder. Which is perfectly fine if that is what they feel like they need to do. This will also relieve crowding in physical schools. Because once you sign on for the virtual academy, you're stuck until the end of the year.

I have a feeling the virtual academy will be here to stay, long after Coronavirus is a footnote. This will be a good way to give parents choice and simultaneously help out school populations.

7/10/2020 3:49:08 PM

Cooper apparently recently appealed some NC court ruling that was going to allow bowling alleys to open, so the thought is that we will not enter phase 3 next Friday

7/10/2020 4:10:49 PM

Quote :

"I'm not even a parent,"

lolol
then why you talkin' about what parents should and shouldn't do with their kids?

7/10/2020 5:14:01 PM

http://twitter.com/PaymanBenz/status/1281693614276349952

Quote :

" I’m not posting this to make fun of this guy. This is the tragedy of 45’s legacy. There’s other screen grabs of Richard’s posts and his timeline mirrors a lot of what we see from 45’s supporters. False equivalency memes and ignorance fueled by the president led to his death. https://t.co/S5DwFQXE8N"

7/10/2020 6:16:44 PM

And exactly those kinds of posts are part of why I can't use Facebook anymore.

7/10/2020 7:01:45 PM

Whats the best practice if you potentially had contact with someone that potentially was infectious?

Like for instance me and someone go to pool 10 days ago and today she says her husband has had covid for 10 days. She says she and her son are fine but i doubt they have been tested. Should like I just wait and see or get tested...self isolate? I really think I have had it already, but maybe not.

7/13/2020 7:49:40 PM

Serious question, but what even is the point in getting tested (at least via Quest corporate) if the average response time is 9 days?

7/13/2020 8:06:49 PM

If it's free and semi quick it's prob worth the gamble right?

7/13/2020 8:19:13 PM

Quote :

"Let's not forget that a number of parents will be choosing the virtual academy for fear of sending their children to a meatgrinder. Which is perfectly fine if that is what they feel like they need to do. This will also relieve crowding in physical schools. Because once you sign on for the virtual academy, you're stuck until the end of the year."

Based on the Wake County rules, you opt-in to online based on the semester, so you could realistically see the kids all go back into the classrooms in the Spring if things miraculously get better.

Also not a great sign that after 4 or 5 days only 11% of students in Wake County have signed up for the Virtual Academy. The "Plan B" for Wake County was based on the polling that projected "30%" of kids would sign up for the Virtual Academy. Barring Cooper saying everything is online tomorrow(he abruptly moved up his announcement from Friday to Tuesday), they're going to need a big push of kids signing up for the Virtual Academy for Plan B to have a remote chance of working.

Though he could be trying to announce they're going with Plan B a few days early to encourage parents to go ahead and enroll for online just to help them figure out their numbers.

7/13/2020 9:30:22 PM

Quote :

"but what even is the point in getting tested (at least via Quest corporate) if the average response time is 9 days?"

so you can notify people you've been in contact with that you had potentially been infected. it's pretty much the underlying theory of contact tracing.

7/13/2020 10:35:26 PM

After 2 weeks of in-person public school, prepare for a shit show.

7/13/2020 10:55:45 PM

I told 2 people so far. Just that I was near someone that is married to someone that has covid and was told got it 10 days ago.. I we shared a bowl of tortilla chips and 2 different salsas 10 days ago and i think she double dipped

7/13/2020 10:57:00 PM

How tacky can you get?! That's like putting your whole mouth right into the bowl!

7/13/2020 11:11:33 PM

from Cooper's press conference just now

- Phase 2 extended 3 more weeks from this Friday
- Schools can open in-person, in-person/online combo, or all online depending on what the district wants to do
- in-person schools require masks for all students, teachers and staff, building capacity that allows for 6 foot distancing, etc

[Edited on July 14, 2020 at 3:52 PM. Reason : .]

7/14/2020 3:51:39 PM

Love to know how they handle lunch

7/14/2020 3:55:44 PM

someone mentioned eating in the classrooms, if the cafeteria wasn't large enough for everyone to social distance

7/14/2020 4:50:48 PM

Hopefully from now on, when she takes a chip, she'll take one dip and end it.

7/14/2020 4:54:43 PM

Someone very close to me is a teacher. She's considering resigning. I don't blame her, she's in a elementary school that has a lot of low income families... it was already a breeding ground for sickness and disease. Sick kids show up at school everyday. Got a fever? Load them up with Tylenol and send them to the bus stop.

[Edited on July 14, 2020 at 6:08 PM. Reason : ]

7/14/2020 6:05:17 PM

Quote :

"US top infectious disease specialist, Anthony Fauci, on Tuesday said that coronavirus a pandemic of "historic proportions" has the potential to be as serious as the 1918 Spanish Flu in which over 50 million people globally died. "I think we can't deny that fact," CNN quoted Fauci as saying during a Georgetown University Global Health Initiative webinar. "If you look at the magnitude of the 1918 pandemic where anywhere from 50 to 75 to 100 million people globally died, that was the mother of all pandemics and truly historic. I hope we don't even approach that with this, but it does have the makings of, the possibility of ... approaching that in seriousness." The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide--about one-third of the planet's population."

lost me here

[Edited on July 14, 2020 at 9:09 PM. Reason : you can say its serious without exaggerating geez. ]

7/14/2020 9:07:54 PM

yeah, you sure can, and then no one wears masks.


enjoy the taste of trumps tiny orange dick in your mouth

7/14/2020 9:16:46 PM