In person teaching - lessons from the first week back...

 As LA County inches towards full reopening in a couple of months, and case rates have plummeted to their lowest level in almost a year, most schools in the county have reopened their doors to resume in person teaching. That may seem like positive news all around, and it generally is. HOWEVER...

Hybrid mode just isn't the way to go. Simple as that. Let's just resume full classroom instruction.

Similar to our US Tax code which offers too many loopholes to count, and then creates massive incentives to find ways for high earners to pay lower tax rates than those making a fraction of their income, the hybrid model does the same with students being able to remain at home rather than come back to school in person. This uncertainty, and lack of straightforward rules, may actually result in a worse outcome than remaining in a full remote situation, similar to that we were in since the beginning of this school year.

Teachers have to get used to a new mode of teaching, after honing their remote skills over the school year. Students have to engage in a 3rd type of classroom in the last 12 months. And this system creates more inequalities come assessment time. This is clearly not an ideal situation to be in. Data from Israel, a leader in the vaccination department, show that things can be quite normal with relatively few serious illnesses. Thankfully the US is doing extremely well in this department and should be able to quickly get to similar levels of vaccination. Full class in person instruction simply shouldn't a choice at this point, it's the only option we have.

Schools have long been a petri dish of germs leading teachers, students, and families to  hop on a merry go round of a cornucopia of illnesses throughout the school year. I like what Cornell, Duke, Rutgers and a number of other institutions of higher learning are doing, mandate the vaccine for students and faculty, which then reduces the risk of serious Covid 19 outcomes to virtually zero. This requirement, coupled with the facilities upgrades and cleaning procedures instituted over the past few months, should make it such that the 2021-2022 school year becomes one of the safest on record.

Parents, teachers, and students, what do you think? Should the hybrid model even exist at this point? Should it ever have been a consideration? 

Here's to a return to normal, as soon as we can, preferably starting today...