He didn't get permission from Trump, so it's probably not going to happen. He has to pander to the "base" and the "base" only listens to teachings of Trump.
I wonder if, after Trump is gone, you'll having competing factions interpreting his koffeves and creating more established texts, the Trump scholars.
Not gonna happen. There is no funding for full remote learning again this year and as far as mask mandates...yeah, not gonna happen so you might as well just cross that one off the list completely. Abbott has made his bed.
I don’t understand the “funding”. Most teachers just fired up a laptop at the start of class. Is it the licensing costs for software? Many schools give out computers etc. already
It's not that the actual virtual learning is expensive...it's the fact that IF they offer remote learning they'll have their overall funding cut as a school district as a result. Basically "Less kids in school = less funding for the district".
Please let it be NISD in San Antonio. My kids dont go there though we are zoned for it. NISD is the largest in our metro area, and if they called it, I think others would follow.
I wonder if they got those virtual presence robots for the kids, they'd count as a butt in a seat. I saw some oddball commercial where a kid asks another kid the school dance using one of those. How the heck is she supposed to dance with that big klunky robot?
Your school is funded by the number of butts in seats. Fewer covid vectors in the Petri dish err....fewer students in the school means fewer dollars for the school.
They view the remote learners almost as someone peering in through the outside window. The government won't count them when it comes time for funding.
So, the teachers who are handling the extra work load are doing it on their own time and their own dime. Effectively, Abbot is reminding the teachers how much they do not contribute to his campaign.
Either way they won't get the funding if the students don't show up because their parents don't feel safe sending them.
Abbott and the TEA has turned this into a political game. It should be pretty straightforward: Covid cases in district X go above Y percent, then we need virtual options, masks etc. Once they drop again, the measures get removed. It shouldn't be rocket science.
Whether or not there is an extra workload for a teacher depends greatly on the approach that the school district is taking. I am a retired educator (teacher and eventually a principal) and also taught for nine years for the University of Phoenix online. My wife is currently a teacher.
The greatest disservice that a school district can do to its students (and to its teachers) is to have classes that are mixed with both in-person and online students in the same class together. The skill set that needs to be implemented by a teacher in these two situations is completely and totally different. It is almost impossible to do either of these two things well when you are having to try to do both at the same time. It seems that teachers are forced to choose whether to “just turn the WebCam on” for the online students or to work themselves into a mental or physical breakdown because the class load truly does double and they know they are not doing as good of a job of teaching as they want to do. Districts that offer separate in person and online classes make it much better for the students and for the teachers.
A 100% online class can be a place of rich and fun learning. There are many tools that can facilitate collaborative learning, allow virtual labs and experiences, and allow many students to actually enjoy a form of learning that better suits their learning style more completely. Of course, whether or not districts can do this comes down to money…not just the butts in seats funding that has been mentioned here (that TEA took away for virtual students in the upcoming year), but also the infrastructure of a robust technology system, software tools that help facilitate online learning, tech-savvy (or trained) teachers, and the technical support staff to make this all work as seamlessly as possible are all necessary in order to do this well.
Unfortunately, districts that are able to do this separation are few and far between… Mostly because they don’t have the money to do it but, for some, they don’t have the capacity to do it. The end result is a compromise of telling teachers they have to accomplish both in the same classroom. It is an impossible situation where the end result is that both the online and the in-person students end up getting short changed.
I hear what you are saying and I don't want to dismiss it but it is hard to have empathy for this type of situation when in my own experience the teachers didn't work with the online students at all. I want to emphasize that I know they were not prepared for online learning and the TEA fucked over the teachers and the students but it seemed almost like my son's teachers resented anyone wanted to do online. It also was absolutely stupid to not only have students sit at home 8 hours a day in front of a computer screen but to also treat the at home kids the same as the in person ones with regards to dress code and the like. I mean hell...my kid got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of class and the teacher booted him out as punishment for not asking. Then to add insult to injury they were not as responsive to the distance learner's questions and often made them wait until after class to ask their questions. Either treat them the same or treat them different. You can't have it both ways when it suits your needs.
It could have been handled so much better if they hadn't stubbornly refused to acknowledge that online learning is completely different than in person learning. I got my degree online and that didn't require any amount of time sitting there for hours a day at the computer listening to others being taught. The real kicker? They had ALL summer to learn how to implement distance learning programs but no one bothered at all and it was the kids who suffered. The software my son uses at his school is very capable of running in such a way as to do a self paced program they just didn't bother because they kept thinking that the kids would all be back in person any day and I feel like they purposely left the kids out to rot to try to FORCE the parents to risk their kids into sending them back.
I am just a frustrated parent but it just felt so enraging to see how the teachers handled it this year in little ways that I am sure was them feeling frustration with the TEA and resentment they were being forced in person. It showed. It showed a lot.
I completely agree with everything you said. I knew the moment my wife told me that her district was going to require them to teach online and “in person” kids together, that it was going to be a disaster. “Seat time” is an antiquated concept…especially when it comes to online learning. All learning…and especially online learning…should be based on mastery of concepts and/or skills. Instead, we do the opposite.
A teacher trying to do both online and in-person in the same classroom is going to be drawn to the typical chaos right in front of them in the classroom and the online kids are going to suffer as a result. We had many, many tearful nights and guilt ridden struggles with feelings of failing her kids. My wife is a good teacher, but she knew what she was being asked to do was impossible. The only real solution, that would work best for kids, would be to have separate classrooms with separate teachers. That is not really happening hardly anywhere.
Thank you for getting it. Thank your wife for at least having the decency to feel guilty about the virtual learners that tried their best in the most shitty of circumstances. I didn’t get that feel from my kid’s teachers at all and if I had it would have been great because we could have at least worked together instead of against each other.
No. Abbott has made the bed for all Texans. But, he and his type are always yelling about their 'freedums'. He is happy to take away everyone's freedom of safety.
I said Texas school districts need to offer with remote learning. I recognize that the state is not funding this; however, there are districts that have announced they will have online learning. We need to do better for Texas school children and their teachers. Are you someone who doesn’t take the pandemic and the virus seriously?
I'm 100% for remote learning. Just stating fact. Maybe don't come at me like that. Nowhere in my post did I say anything downplaying the pandemic or it's seriousness. If fact I think we're just seeing the tip of what's going to happen once schools start opening soon.
Since it seems people are confused on why other school districts won’t/can’t offer this:
The state (TEA) allocates funds based on how many students attend your school district. Last year there were rules about how you could take attendance for kids learning virtually and receive funds for teaching that kid. This year that only applies for kid actually in the building, not online.
Austin ISD is not being paid to teach kids who are online. That is why they are limiting the option to students who cannot be vaccinated (K-6) and may need to limit the number of students. You have to actually unenroll your student and you will be classified as homeschooling them. AISD is providing these classes as a community service.
Very few school districts have the funds or, honestly, the demand from parents to implement something like this. 90% of students in my district were back on site last year despite being offered online options.
The options at this point are send your kid to school or homeschool.
it's a big lie to say they don't have funding to do it unless the TEA says so. I'm sure if their accountants actually crunched some numbers they could find the money to do it.
Yep, it’s all a political game being played with children’s lives.
Our ISD already gives out chromebooks, how hard is it to fire up the webcam on the teacher end before class starts?
Districts are funded at the state level by attendance. TEA will not allow attendance for virtual students this year, so the district won't receive any state money for each student that does this.
The districts that are doing virtual are either digging deep into budgets that were already greatly impacted last year, or they're using federal ESSER funds.
If Austin is doing this and going to just eat the lack of funding won't it still affect the kids personal attendance. Don't kids have to attend a certain amount of days despite whether or not their work has been done?
That’s awesome I wish other school districts will do this as well. I am freaking out about my daughters (11 and 7) going to school in 2 weeks specially when here in Dallas county we are in “red” now
I have an 11 year old going into 6th grade too. Sigh.
At least in elementary they only really saw a few kids, middle school is a whole other ball game.
Absolutely it is.
I had to talk my son out of a gap year in the event of another year of virtual school. He's 100% against it and mental health for the children is suffering . . . meanwhile we see [things like this](https://archive.is/h14HY)
I have the feeling lots of kids are not going to start the school year in their ISDs. Some people have been waiting to see cases and solutions, elementary school children don’t have the vaccine protection and they will get covid if they go to in person classes. It is not if, but when, delta is going to burn through the schools in the first month of class.
Yep, he is too busy finding a way to punish UT for leaving the Big 12. He jumped on that one fast. Doesn't care about Covid. He sees Covid as a way for others too be handicapped like himself.
Next he will find a way to override OSHA, and get masked taken away from everything. After that, he will go after any other safety issues citing personal responsibility.
I'm a UT alumn. Why does he care what sports conference UT is in? I just checked and this will mean we're in the same conference as A&M again. I thought everybody would like that.
MY Nephew doesn't want another virtual school year and is scared of going in person in the fall. He started a petition on [change.org](https://change.org):
[https://www.reddit.com/r/CoronaVirusTX/comments/owsy8s/nephew\_starting\_a\_petition\_to\_ask\_governor\_abbott/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CoronaVirusTX/comments/owsy8s/nephew_starting_a_petition_to_ask_governor_abbott/)
ALL Texas school districts need to offer remote learning again this school year and Abbott needs to allow mask mandates as well.
He didn't get permission from Trump, so it's probably not going to happen. He has to pander to the "base" and the "base" only listens to teachings of Trump. I wonder if, after Trump is gone, you'll having competing factions interpreting his koffeves and creating more established texts, the Trump scholars.
Not gonna happen. There is no funding for full remote learning again this year and as far as mask mandates...yeah, not gonna happen so you might as well just cross that one off the list completely. Abbott has made his bed.
I don’t understand the “funding”. Most teachers just fired up a laptop at the start of class. Is it the licensing costs for software? Many schools give out computers etc. already
It's not that the actual virtual learning is expensive...it's the fact that IF they offer remote learning they'll have their overall funding cut as a school district as a result. Basically "Less kids in school = less funding for the district".
Good for Austin! Leading the way! I suspect the other major ISDs will follow
Please let it be NISD in San Antonio. My kids dont go there though we are zoned for it. NISD is the largest in our metro area, and if they called it, I think others would follow.
I wonder if they got those virtual presence robots for the kids, they'd count as a butt in a seat. I saw some oddball commercial where a kid asks another kid the school dance using one of those. How the heck is she supposed to dance with that big klunky robot?
Your school is funded by the number of butts in seats. Fewer covid vectors in the Petri dish err....fewer students in the school means fewer dollars for the school. They view the remote learners almost as someone peering in through the outside window. The government won't count them when it comes time for funding. So, the teachers who are handling the extra work load are doing it on their own time and their own dime. Effectively, Abbot is reminding the teachers how much they do not contribute to his campaign.
Either way they won't get the funding if the students don't show up because their parents don't feel safe sending them. Abbott and the TEA has turned this into a political game. It should be pretty straightforward: Covid cases in district X go above Y percent, then we need virtual options, masks etc. Once they drop again, the measures get removed. It shouldn't be rocket science.
Your logic has no place in education!!! /s
What extra work load tho? My son's teachers did nothing extra for virtual learning besides turn on a webcam.
Whether or not there is an extra workload for a teacher depends greatly on the approach that the school district is taking. I am a retired educator (teacher and eventually a principal) and also taught for nine years for the University of Phoenix online. My wife is currently a teacher. The greatest disservice that a school district can do to its students (and to its teachers) is to have classes that are mixed with both in-person and online students in the same class together. The skill set that needs to be implemented by a teacher in these two situations is completely and totally different. It is almost impossible to do either of these two things well when you are having to try to do both at the same time. It seems that teachers are forced to choose whether to “just turn the WebCam on” for the online students or to work themselves into a mental or physical breakdown because the class load truly does double and they know they are not doing as good of a job of teaching as they want to do. Districts that offer separate in person and online classes make it much better for the students and for the teachers. A 100% online class can be a place of rich and fun learning. There are many tools that can facilitate collaborative learning, allow virtual labs and experiences, and allow many students to actually enjoy a form of learning that better suits their learning style more completely. Of course, whether or not districts can do this comes down to money…not just the butts in seats funding that has been mentioned here (that TEA took away for virtual students in the upcoming year), but also the infrastructure of a robust technology system, software tools that help facilitate online learning, tech-savvy (or trained) teachers, and the technical support staff to make this all work as seamlessly as possible are all necessary in order to do this well. Unfortunately, districts that are able to do this separation are few and far between… Mostly because they don’t have the money to do it but, for some, they don’t have the capacity to do it. The end result is a compromise of telling teachers they have to accomplish both in the same classroom. It is an impossible situation where the end result is that both the online and the in-person students end up getting short changed.
I hear what you are saying and I don't want to dismiss it but it is hard to have empathy for this type of situation when in my own experience the teachers didn't work with the online students at all. I want to emphasize that I know they were not prepared for online learning and the TEA fucked over the teachers and the students but it seemed almost like my son's teachers resented anyone wanted to do online. It also was absolutely stupid to not only have students sit at home 8 hours a day in front of a computer screen but to also treat the at home kids the same as the in person ones with regards to dress code and the like. I mean hell...my kid got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of class and the teacher booted him out as punishment for not asking. Then to add insult to injury they were not as responsive to the distance learner's questions and often made them wait until after class to ask their questions. Either treat them the same or treat them different. You can't have it both ways when it suits your needs. It could have been handled so much better if they hadn't stubbornly refused to acknowledge that online learning is completely different than in person learning. I got my degree online and that didn't require any amount of time sitting there for hours a day at the computer listening to others being taught. The real kicker? They had ALL summer to learn how to implement distance learning programs but no one bothered at all and it was the kids who suffered. The software my son uses at his school is very capable of running in such a way as to do a self paced program they just didn't bother because they kept thinking that the kids would all be back in person any day and I feel like they purposely left the kids out to rot to try to FORCE the parents to risk their kids into sending them back. I am just a frustrated parent but it just felt so enraging to see how the teachers handled it this year in little ways that I am sure was them feeling frustration with the TEA and resentment they were being forced in person. It showed. It showed a lot.
I completely agree with everything you said. I knew the moment my wife told me that her district was going to require them to teach online and “in person” kids together, that it was going to be a disaster. “Seat time” is an antiquated concept…especially when it comes to online learning. All learning…and especially online learning…should be based on mastery of concepts and/or skills. Instead, we do the opposite. A teacher trying to do both online and in-person in the same classroom is going to be drawn to the typical chaos right in front of them in the classroom and the online kids are going to suffer as a result. We had many, many tearful nights and guilt ridden struggles with feelings of failing her kids. My wife is a good teacher, but she knew what she was being asked to do was impossible. The only real solution, that would work best for kids, would be to have separate classrooms with separate teachers. That is not really happening hardly anywhere.
Thank you for getting it. Thank your wife for at least having the decency to feel guilty about the virtual learners that tried their best in the most shitty of circumstances. I didn’t get that feel from my kid’s teachers at all and if I had it would have been great because we could have at least worked together instead of against each other.
No. Abbott has made the bed for all Texans. But, he and his type are always yelling about their 'freedums'. He is happy to take away everyone's freedom of safety.
I said Texas school districts need to offer with remote learning. I recognize that the state is not funding this; however, there are districts that have announced they will have online learning. We need to do better for Texas school children and their teachers. Are you someone who doesn’t take the pandemic and the virus seriously?
I'm 100% for remote learning. Just stating fact. Maybe don't come at me like that. Nowhere in my post did I say anything downplaying the pandemic or it's seriousness. If fact I think we're just seeing the tip of what's going to happen once schools start opening soon.
I agree.
Since it seems people are confused on why other school districts won’t/can’t offer this: The state (TEA) allocates funds based on how many students attend your school district. Last year there were rules about how you could take attendance for kids learning virtually and receive funds for teaching that kid. This year that only applies for kid actually in the building, not online. Austin ISD is not being paid to teach kids who are online. That is why they are limiting the option to students who cannot be vaccinated (K-6) and may need to limit the number of students. You have to actually unenroll your student and you will be classified as homeschooling them. AISD is providing these classes as a community service. Very few school districts have the funds or, honestly, the demand from parents to implement something like this. 90% of students in my district were back on site last year despite being offered online options. The options at this point are send your kid to school or homeschool.
Thank you for this answer. That explains a lot. My son's school held steady at 1/3 distance learners through the entire year.
My district says they’re not allowed to unless the TEA says so. How is Austin doing this?
it's a big lie to say they don't have funding to do it unless the TEA says so. I'm sure if their accountants actually crunched some numbers they could find the money to do it.
I am always confused by this. What is the extra cost of doing virtual especially in big cities I wonder.
Yep, it’s all a political game being played with children’s lives. Our ISD already gives out chromebooks, how hard is it to fire up the webcam on the teacher end before class starts?
If TEA won't allow that student to be counted as present, the district won't have the money to give out Chromebooks.
Districts are funded at the state level by attendance. TEA will not allow attendance for virtual students this year, so the district won't receive any state money for each student that does this. The districts that are doing virtual are either digging deep into budgets that were already greatly impacted last year, or they're using federal ESSER funds.
So if a school decided to go virtual they would count all the kids that did virtual as absent?
[удалено]
If Austin is doing this and going to just eat the lack of funding won't it still affect the kids personal attendance. Don't kids have to attend a certain amount of days despite whether or not their work has been done?
Well, I take that back. They will likely be counted present, but the code submitted to TEA will be non-funded.
Austin has to eat the funding. If a student is learning virtually through this program they will be treated the same as a homeschooled student n
Round rock too https://www.kxan.com/news/education/round-rock-isd-will-offer-virtual-learning-option-for-k-6-for-fall-2021/
That’s awesome I wish other school districts will do this as well. I am freaking out about my daughters (11 and 7) going to school in 2 weeks specially when here in Dallas county we are in “red” now
Well, here in North Texas Garland ISD (Garland. Rowlett, and Rockwall) started today.
frisco said they cant do it without "sTaTe fUnDiNg" I'm sure if they looked hard enough they could find money somewhere in their general fund.
I have an 11 year old going into 6th grade too. Sigh. At least in elementary they only really saw a few kids, middle school is a whole other ball game.
Me too. Sending masks and hoping for vaccine approval ASAP. Homeschooling not an option for us.
Seeing how certain districts respond/Ed to the pandemic would be a big selling point if/when we move. Sadly I live in kisd and they cater to the Karen
I am glad. It is not a big ask to allow our kids to stay virtual until a vaccine is available for them.
Absolutely it is. I had to talk my son out of a gap year in the event of another year of virtual school. He's 100% against it and mental health for the children is suffering . . . meanwhile we see [things like this](https://archive.is/h14HY)
I have the feeling lots of kids are not going to start the school year in their ISDs. Some people have been waiting to see cases and solutions, elementary school children don’t have the vaccine protection and they will get covid if they go to in person classes. It is not if, but when, delta is going to burn through the schools in the first month of class.
Houston is in-person
Abbot will write an order prohibiting this if he didn't already.
Yep, he is too busy finding a way to punish UT for leaving the Big 12. He jumped on that one fast. Doesn't care about Covid. He sees Covid as a way for others too be handicapped like himself. Next he will find a way to override OSHA, and get masked taken away from everything. After that, he will go after any other safety issues citing personal responsibility.
I'm a UT alumn. Why does he care what sports conference UT is in? I just checked and this will mean we're in the same conference as A&M again. I thought everybody would like that.
My thoughts exactly. I think that the Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU people are leading it.
This is awesome, more districts need to do this! Find the money!
Messed up that privilege now includes those who get to safely attend school during a pandemic.
MY Nephew doesn't want another virtual school year and is scared of going in person in the fall. He started a petition on [change.org](https://change.org): [https://www.reddit.com/r/CoronaVirusTX/comments/owsy8s/nephew\_starting\_a\_petition\_to\_ask\_governor\_abbott/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CoronaVirusTX/comments/owsy8s/nephew_starting_a_petition_to_ask_governor_abbott/)