The following came into the SBSB newsroom earlier in the week. It is a letter and petition directed to our dear governor requesting that he stop the insanity and inanity, as well as De Blasio's and Carranza's incompetence to keep schools from opening on September 10. 

This letter and petition were created by Marisa Wagner and Tracy LaGrassa, both biology teachers, both with PhD's, both with real life educational experiences, at Bronx Science High School. Who do you think we should listen to? These two dolts, or Drs Wagner and LaGrassa? Both deserve all the kudos.

The Crack Team and myself have read this many times over and we like what we read. This letter and petition obviously is the results of people with brains, foresight and most importantly not named Carranza or De Blasio. You can tell the authors put more time and work into their letter how to reopen the schools than Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Dumber have.

Please sign the petition. And please use the hashtags on Twitter, #notuntilitssafe and #followthescience. 

I still don't believe schools will open on September 10.

Dear Governor Cuomo,                                                          

 

As teachers in the New York City public school system, we are proud of how New York, under your leadership, has handled the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. You and your advisors have made public health decisions based on the science. You advocated for and procured what was needed for the medical community. You spoke frankly to the public about what was happening and what had to be done, and, together, we flattened the curve. You are now guiding us through a cautious, phased reopening of the state, adjusting criteria as needed. All of this is toward ensuring that the curve stays flattened. Your leadership during this crisis has helped to ensure our safety, despite the lingering presence of SARS-CoV-2 in our local communities and the increasing prevalence of the virus in states to our south and west.

 

We now ask that you take that same cautious approach, informed by the best science available, as we consider how to safely reopen our schools. We all want to return to the normalcy of in person learning; HOWEVER, we feel it is irresponsible to reopen our school buildings to children in any capacity until it can be done safely, for the sake of the health of our children, our staff, our families, and New York. We have serious concerns about how we can accomplish this in the NYC public school system with over 1 million students at over 1,600 schools, and in light of impending budget cuts, in time for buildings to reopen in September. Once outbreaks begin to happen in the schools, a second wave of COVID-19 in NYC seems inevitable.

 

Based on the best science available, what needs to be done NOW to make our schools safe to reopen in the age of COVID-19?

 

We MUST have a robust testing and contact tracing system in place that includes frequent testing of ALL students and staff, multiple times per week.1 As more data are collected concerning SARS-CoV-2 and children, the evidence is increasingly clear that children of all ages are capable of contracting and transmitting the virus as well as adults do.2 Upwards of 50% of virus transmission happens pre-symptomatically, from infected individuals who have not yet experienced symptoms.3 Viral transmission happens from asymptomatic individuals, those who are infected but never experience symptoms.4 This evidence informs us that temperature checks and self-reporting of symptoms are ineffective measures to prevent virus spread.

 

If we cannot identify infected pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals in our school communities, there most certainly will be outbreaks that will contribute to community spread throughout the city. Pooled PCR testing to detect viral RNA, recently FDA-approved, could be performed a minimum of twice per week on all cohorts within a school.5 Rapid, inexpensive antigen-based tests for virus present in saliva, akin to home pregnancy tests, could be done at home each day to determine whether or not it is safe for that student or staff member to go to school. Such tests exist but there has not been a push for licensing, manufacturing and distribution.6 We are in this for the long haul, until we achieve the protective herd immunity needed to keep our community safe. We have every confidence that we will eventually have successful vaccines to help us to reach that herd immunity more quickly, but we cannot wait. Frequent testing with rapid turnaround time for all students and staff in the schools needs to be implemented NOW and we would be proud to see New York take the lead on this.

 

Our physical buildings must be made safe. Although most viral transmission happens via larger respiratory droplets and is mitigated by 6 feet physical distancing and wearing masks, there is evidence of transmission via aerosols, smaller droplets that remain in the air longer and can accumulate in rooms with poor ventilation. Thus HVAC systems need to be inspected and upgraded as needed for sufficient air exchange rates in classrooms and offices.7 Cleaning supplies, soap, paper towels, hand sanitizer and the like must be kept in plentiful supply to reduce viral transmission via contact with surfaces. PPE such as masks and gloves must be made available. We need a means to enforce PPE use and proper physical distancing at all times of the day, including arrival, travel to classrooms, lunch, and dismissal.

 

Given the current lack of widespread use of SARS-CoV-2 tests that allow sufficient monitoring of our school communities, as well as budget cuts that will make funding all of the necessary safety measures nearly impossible, we have zero confidence that schools can be safely opened by September. Please make the right decision now. Let us begin the school year with 100% remote learning. Let teachers focus on making remote learning engaging and effective for all our students. Let us invest resources and creativity in making the necessary technology available to all NYC students. This is especially important because remote instruction will continue to be an essential component of education until the pandemic is over.

Once a robust test and trace system is implemented in all schools and all physical buildings are safe, and assuming that COVID-19 cases remain at their current low rate in NYC, then a phased return of students to their schools for physically distanced, 6-feet-apart learning can be considered. To accommodate this phased return under the current budget conditions, the safety measures put forth above should be applied in a way that prioritizes first bringing back the students who need in person learning the most.8 

Younger children (e.g., grades K-8) as well as older students who require in person services should be part of the first phase. Younger children are more susceptible to learning loss, need interaction with peers and their teachers for social-emotional development, and need home supervision to benefit from remote learning.9 Many parents of younger children rely on their children being in school to allow them to work.

 

High school students should be the last to be phased in for school reopening. High schoolers require less parental supervision and can do well with 100% remote learning. In addition, in NYC, while most primary and middle schools are neighborhood schools, requiring a short commute such as a walk to school, most high schoolers travel longer distances, often between boroughs, each day to get to school. Given their longer times on public transportation and their inherently larger social and in-school networks, high school age students have the potential to contribute the most to increased citywide community spread and will be more difficult to contact trace as compared to younger children.

 

Governor Cuomo, we urge you to lead us through a safe ’20-’21 school year for all New Yorkers. We fear for the health of our students, ourselves, and all of our families. We do not want to have to mourn the loss of any more members of our school and home communities due to COVID-19. We do not want to see any more members of our school and home communities suffer permanent organ damage and chronic disability due to COVID-19.10 We want to see the curve in NYC and New York remain flattened.

Respectfully,

New York City Public School Teachers

***

Marisa Wagner, Ph.D. - Biology Teacher, Bronx High School of Science

Tracy LaGrassa, Ph.D. - Biology Teacher, Bronx High School of Science

 

References: 

1. Need for frequent, inexpensive testing with rapid turnaround time

• TWiV 640: Test often, fast turnaround, with Michael Mina | This Week in Virology (Listen from 0:00 to 48:00)
• Test sensitivity is secondary to frequency and turnaround time for COVID-19 surveillance
• SARS-CoV-2 Screening Strategies to Permit the Safe Reopening of College Campuses in the United States
• Radical shift in COVID-19 testing strategy needed to reopen schools and businesses, researchers say
• Failing the Coronavirus-Testing Test, interview with Michael Mina in Harvard Magazine

2. Children contract and transmit SARS-CoV-2

• Age-Related Differences in Nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 Levels in Patients With Mild to Moderate COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Infection Among Attendees of an... 
• Contact Tracing during Coronavirus Disease Outbreak, South Korea, 2020
• A large COVID-19 outbreak in a high school 10 days after schools' reopening, Israel, May 2020

3. Pre-symptomatic spread of SARS-CoV-2

• Presymptomatic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 — Singapore, January 23 …
• The implications of silent transmission for the control of COVID-19 outbreaks 

4. Asymptomatic spread of  SARS-CoV-2

•  SARS-CoV-2 Infections and Serologic Responses from a Sample ...

 

5. Pooled RT-PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 RNA is FDA-approved

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes First Diagnostic Test for Screening of People Without Known or Suspected COVID-19 Infection

6. Rapid at home antigen tests exist and are sensitive enough to detect transmissible virus

• TWiV 640: Test often, fast turnaround, with Michael Mina | This Week in Virology (Listen from 0:00 to 48:00)
• Opinion | Coronavirus Testing the Cheap, Simple Way
• TWiV 648: Life is for learning, with Daniel Griffin | This Week in Virology (Listen from 2:30 to 17:20)

7. Aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV2

• Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2: The world should face the reality
• The airborne lifetime of small speech droplets and their potential importance in SARS-CoV-2 transmission
• Opinion | Yes, the Coronavirus Is in the Air,

8. Alternative NYC plans for phased re-opening, prioritizing younger grades first

• Jumaane D. Williams, NYC Public Advocate, White paper on reopening schools, July 27, 2020 
• Mark Treyger, City Council Member, NYC, Chair of the Committee on Education, "Public Health Data Needs to Guide the Safe Reopening of Our Schools" accessed 8/4/20

9. Younger children need in person learning more than older children

• Reopening Primary Schools during the Pandemic,

10. COVID-19 morbidity for even mild cases

• From "brain fog" to heart damage, COVID-19's lingering problems alarm scientists

Poor Errol Louis. He just seems to keep on stepping in it and his bereft of any independent thought.

The shame he must bring on his hometown of New Rochelle.

When we last left Errol Louis on these pages we had noticed that he had become the "Kool-Aid Man." Now, after reading his column in today's Daily News we know that the supply of Kool Aid packets worldwide will decrease for some time.

This is becoming too easy to take his "arguments" apart but The Crack Team wish to have some fun tonight so we are having a go of it.

Errol starts off of course without any facts...as usual when he puts all the onus on the unions. This year, that number is expected to soar, thanks in part to an organized campaign by the state teachers union and its political allies to persuade parents to have their children opt out.

Political allies? Like whom? If he means the grass roots parents, REAL grassroots, not like his pals at Families for Excellent Schools, StudentsFirst, Educators4Excellence, and new kid on the block, High Achievement NY but advocates that started from a single person, a real life mommy, a smart person.

For instance New York State Allies for Public Education, Diane Ravitch, Stop Common Core in New York State, the plethora of personal blogs, and let's not forget the many, many Facebook pages in which so many are using their own time and their own monies to do a service for now monetary gain whatsoever. Why isn't "Journalist" Errol taking the time and speaking to these people? 

"Journalist" Errol prattles on; First and foremost, parents should guard against allowing their movement to get hijacked by the money and political clout of union officials, whose motivation and ultimate goals on this issue are very different from those of parents.

Actually NYSUT was late to the game, about a few years late. Yeah, parents should wonder what took them so long and why only now are they on the bandwagon but since they are we welcome them with open arms. But ultimately the goals are the same.

Heck, what about the millions of dollars that Governor Andy has pocketed for the benefit of 9 billionaires?

More bloviating from "Journalist" Errol;  a new law, passed by the Legislature and strongly backed by Gov. Cuomo, that makes test scores the basis of tougher evaluation standards intended to detect poorly performing teachers and steer them out of the classroom.

A new law yes. And also a bad law. Tougher evaluation standards? Has "Journalist" Errol seen what happened in Atlanta because of the reliance on the tests? Has "Journalist" Errol read the New York Times and their story of Eva? Michelle Rhee? The suicides? Can "Journalist" Errol explain the algorithm that is used to determine whether or not a teacher is effective? What about the outside evaluator? Who is paying this person? Who is training this person? Does this person know the intricacies of the teacher and the students he is to evaluate?

"Journalist" Errol digs himself deeper; “We have 20% right now. We’d be happy with zero, because it’s not a true indicator of what’s going on in the schools,” said Magee.
“Happy with zero” means the union would just as soon not have its members’ job security or prospects for promotion affected in any way by whether the students have actually learned reading, writing or math.

No. Not just on ridiculous tests created by a company that only is in it for a profit and pushed by politicians getting paid off. 

But "Journalist" Errol rails against bad cops. How would "Journalist" Errol make sure we get rid of bad cops? 

The blabbering goes on; the union’s strategy — backed by groups including the Working Families Party — is to cripple the evaluation system by encouraging so many kids to opt out that the tests won’t represent a reliable sample.

The kids are not making the decisions the parents are. And is "Journalist" Errol saying the parents are too stupid to think on their own, to make an informed decision? 

That’s not the same agenda as parents, who simply dislike the stress and lost classroom hours that inevitably come with prepping for a high-stakes standardized test.

"Journalist" Errol just contradicted himself. But the NYSUT and the educators of this state have the same agenda as the parents. The parents also know the tests are not the way to evaluate the teachers of THEIR children!

The blithering is ceaseless; Cuomo vowed to revamp teacher evaluation systems that he dismissed as “baloney” because nearly every teacher gets rated as effective...

So what will Governor Andy do next year if the same happens? 

Now, for a minutes it seems that "Journalist" Errol gets it; Magee’s response? “The truth is, there’s no epidemic of failing schools or bad teachers,” she said in a statement responding to Cuomo. “There is an epidemic of poverty and underfunding that Albany has failed to adequately address for decades.”

Let's look and compare in "Journalist" Errol's hometown of New Rochelle, NY. Former home of Bob Petrie, former head write of the "Alan Brady Show," and former home of Yankee legend Lou Gehrig. 

The North End of New Rochelle has some of the richest real estate in Westchester County.  Now let's compare it to the Washington Ave and 5th Ave areas of the city. Lots of poverty. Lots immigrants. Lots of ELL's.

The two middle schools, Albert Leonard and Isaac Young are not zoned. But at the north end Albert Leonard in which 376 students who are economically disadvantaged took the the ELA exam only 21% were proficient. So is it poverty, second language learners or teachers? Same teachers, same schools. 

IT'S POVERTY! And lack of English. And so much much more.

"Journalist" Errol ignorantly claims that people must...realize that high-stakes testing is, for better or worse, the norm in our complex modern society. Universities base admissions decisions on SAT and ACT scores; graduate schools do the same with LSATs, GREs, MCATs and more.

And virtually all Civil Service employees, be they firefighters, bus drivers or entry-level sanitation workers, must pass a high-stakes standardized test to get the job. The legal and medical professions famously require exams of punishing difficulty, as do architecture and aviation

Please, don't compare. These tests are not used to destroy someone's career. These tests are not out to trick you and they test questions make sense. 

Students have plenty of tests in school do know how to get ready for grown up tests. But they can worry about getting this practice in high school and college, not THIRD GRADE!!!

These tests are not about helping students are evaluating where a students in academically. The tests the way they are being used now is basically twofold. One, to jam teachers and the other is for Pearson to make s***loads of money. Nothing more, nothing less. 

The assessment of a student starts and ends at home. Want to know how and what your child is doing in school? Ask him or her. Ask their teacher. Discuss with your child what their school work is and what they are learning. Do the same with the teacher. Show up in school when you should. Speak to other parents. Go to PTA meetings, come to open school night, volunteer. Doing all these things will get you the lay of the land of your child's school and knowing what your child is doing in school. 

Wouldn't this be easier, get teachers back to educating our students full time, and be a heck of a lot less expensive? 

One wonders if "Journalist" Errol really has any journalistic chops or curiosity left in him and whether he fancies himself a journo-celeb nowadays or just a talking head.

One can wonder what "Journalist" Errol might be getting under the table to write such drivel.

One can also wonder if "Journalist" Errol puts his money where is mouth is and why he won't answer in regard to this tweet;