Just days before school started, in August of 2020, I felt symptomatic, so I had a COVID test. I tested negative. Unfortunately for me, I was in quarantine for the two days prior to school starting. Add to that - I was promised a room with a window. Perhaps a nod to the fact that I was one of the first teachers to open our new building, and the head of my department wanted to give me a room that wasn't a prison cell. But ... the new principal decided I was unworthy, so 18 years of things got moved to three different places, and then I lost 18 years of my personal files on every single thing I teach.
Just a shitty game of hide and seek.
But hey, no big thing, right?
I only had to recreate every thing I teach in the middle of a pandemic, in a new room, which was nowhere near being six feet apart from anything. With no files.
Teachers are just like any other serf-job sect. Disposable. Replaceable. Irrelevant.
The week of November 9-13, 5 kids tested positive on Monday, 5 on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, 7 on Thursday. And I have received ONE email from the administration telling me I was in close enough contact to be at risk. Total bullshit.
Oh, and my school district is the ONLY one in our area 100% committed to 100% in-person learning (at the expense of ... everyone), but as long as we are towing the party line of Pete Ricketts and Donald Trump, we are winning! Our sports teams are playing! We are awesome! (propaganda)
Students who chose to go "remote" were punished. They couldn't take any honors or AP classes, no athletics, no activities, no academies ...
We had a "no harm" policy In MARCH, because of the pandemic, and more people are sick now than ever. Nebraska rates keep climbing, even as we pretend that wearing a mask inside, in closed rooms, with 30 people is not a problem. So fucking embarrassing.
I have never been embarrassed of my school or district before now. They will not help me. Mr. Man said this this morning, "If you need anything, you need to let us know". (I did. No one cares.). Mr Man said, "if you're going through a difficult time, let us know. We can help." (I let them know. They didn't help.). Mr Man said, "when you're on, you're on; when you're off, you're off." (Sure. Tell that to any English teacher. I bring work home EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I work during the weekend. I do not get paid a single extra cent for my effort, and when I asked, I was not allowed to work from home, even when the students were given two days off to "be safe and take care of themselves".)
Total communication breakdown. I came home from school today and threw up everywhere. But hey, who cares, right? I have to stick to my contract rules, even when the state has thrown out the number of hours students need to be in school for this year.
Why not target teachers? It's nothing new, but this year is a fucking slap in the face.
Our software programs don't communicate with each other.
I teach a remote class, and I received NO help in terms of how to do something I've never done.
My paycheck increases every year ON PAPER, but my take home salary is about $1000 less than last year (thank you, taxation). I talked to Human Resources to ask if I could stop contributing to my retirement fund, but my retirement account is a Ponzi scheme. If I leave early, I am punished. I will not get my money back, let alone the promised matching funds. The school district treats teachers like idiots, giving us donuts and email thumbs-ups rather than actual help.
And this Monday, I will go back to school, working in that cinderblock prison cell, trapped in a cesspool of viral contagion, until someone either dies or there are no more teachers to staff the building because everyone is either COVID-positive or in quarantine.
Happy Thanksgiving. I feel so blessed.
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