Literally I had to stop and pause because there is just so much wrong about what @NYCMayor, @NYGovCuomo, @DOEChancellor and my teachers union @UFT are doing around #remotelearning. It is completely overwhelming to even try to list out everything they've done wrong around this.

But I have been thinking about it, and all of it comes down to democracy. Actually listening to people on the ground, including parents, students, teachers, community. My union @UFT is not a rank and file union. My @NYCMayor has mayoral control of the schools. Rubber stamp PEP.

We've been shouting for WEEKS that there are probs w/ @zoom_us, esp. privacy concerns, yet many administrators mandated the use of Zoom. And now, finally, FINALLY @DOEChancellor and @NYCSchools looks into it & bans it. Now we educators are scrambling to make an alternative work.

Parents all over the city are shouting that their children are being given too much work. @DOEChancellor & administrators are telling us to slow down, w/o any actual guidance on what that means. Meanwhile, educators on the ground are left to pick up all the pieces.

We are supposed to collect student attendance starting tomorrow? When hundreds of thousands of students in @NYCSchools don't yet have technology or internet at home to even get on remote learning? Are you kidding me?

What is democratic or equitable about #remotelearning? Esp when our poorest, most needy students don't have access to technology or internet right now? Or aren't tech literate? Everything we're doing should be enrichment or optional. There's no way any of this should count.

And what is my teachers union @UFT doing about working conditions? They're not letting teachers know in real time what's expected or not (UFT email tells me 4pm a due date for special Ed paperwork was pushed back, when I'd spent 4 hours finishing it up by 2pm dealing that day)

No one, not @DOEChancellor nor @NYCMayor nor @UFT are sharing the same message on expectations of educators. It is a muddled mess. Hearing that we will be virtually observed soon for teacher evaluations?! On what?! When most of us just lost our video chat platforms w/ students?

It is crazy making how much educators have had to interpret on the ground about #remotelearning, how much work we've done just to get conflicting guidance later. If any of those institutions were democratic, they would have actually asked educators & we wouldn't be in this mess.

(there is more, but of course I am going to leave this thread because I have to take care of lesson planning for this week and figuring out a new platform for my students and I to video chat on. I'll say, some of my students- not everyone has technology or internet yet. Sigh.)

(for those students w/o tech, I mailed out 3 days worth of work 7:20pm Friday, under the assumption that we would have a 3-day week this week. Found out at 9:20 p.m. Friday from @UFT that we're also #remotelearning Thurs/Friday as per a directive from @NYCMayor. Ridiculous!!!)