we could get kids back in the classroom and teachers back in the classroom when these other protocols sooner. host: john bailey will be with us until 9:00. if you want to ask him questions about reopening you could do so. (202) 748-8000 for you parents out there. (202) 748-8001 educators. if you want to text us, (202) 748-8003. mr. bailey, this morning, there is reporting today about the president's initiative on this. saying the president's efforts to reopen public schools within the first 100 days has changed a little bit. the white house press secretary saying that the president's goal is far more than 50% of schools. to have some teaching in person one day a week. not necessarily fully reopened by day 100 of his presidency. what do you think of the change? guest: it is a pretty significant change. we have heard throughout the late fall and most of january that there was going to be this very aggressive and needed and urgent call to reopen schools within the first 100 days. as of this week we heard the criteria for reopening is so much lower that it has already been met. we know ri

here is stevens classroom. and another shot of stevens classroom. here is margaret's set up. this is a screenshot of margaret teaching. and margaret's classroom rules. and finally she gave me a short video to give us a sense of what she does all day. we distinguished learning to tell the difference between what we have learned from the illustration. you guys what do illustrations mean? illustrations are? pictures, good and what we learned learn from the text is shouted out. thank you so much, words. they can be sentences are single words you are absolutely right. nice job. i can distinguish what i learned from the illustration what i have learned from the text in the book what makes day and night to describe the pattern of light and dark on earth. my class had a big discussion making sure we were all clear that the earth is something that's moving a thousand miles an hour and it's the sun that is staying still. one of the things we talked about that was really helpful if sometimes it can seem like something is happening and it's not really happening so i gave this example. se

we can get teachers back in the classroom with these other protocols. host: our guest john bailey will be with us until 9:00. if you want to ask questions about schools reopening. the numbers are (202) 748-8000 four educators. -- for educators. mr. bailey, there is reporting in usa today and other news about the president's initiative on that same that the president's efforts to reopen public schools has changed a bit. the white house secretary said the president's goal is 50% of schools have some in person teaching and not necessarily for quite a 100 of the presidency. what do you think of the changed? guest: it is a pretty significant change. we heard throughout the late fall and for most of january that there was going to be a very aggressive and needed urgent call to reopen schools in the first 100 days. as of this day, the criteria for reopening, the bar is so much lower that it has already been met. we know right now from a number of different websites tracking schools that 60% of kids are doing exactly the type of reopening school that president

we -- pupils to classrooms at once. we will —— pupils to classrooms at once.e — will continue to push to put in place of— will continue to push to put in place of those measures around testing. — place of those measures around testing, ventilation, guidance and mask_ testing, ventilation, guidance and mask wearing, because the last thing we want _ mask wearing, because the last thing we want is _ mask wearing, because the last thing we want is to reopen schools for all pupils— we want is to reopen schools for all pumls and — we want is to reopen schools for all pupils and their many peoples are sent home — pupils and their many peoples are sent home because we have significant outbreaks of the virus. a minority— significant outbreaks of the virus. a minority of tory mps have been pushing for a quicker reopening of the economy. but number 10 has chosen a much more tentative strategy. ministers say there decisions will be driven by data about the vaccine roll—out, hospitalisations, infection rates and any new variants of covid. they want this lockdown to be the

and that includes about classroom 15, to oregon classrooms suffered by 70 miles and 60 years, broughtogether by a brief "new york times" clipping. an engaging mix of investigative reporting and storytelling. it uncovers a long forgotten time in oregon and the cold war history. i never thought i would see this and rostov-on-don in the same sentence. so it raises important questions about the current national politics. hats off to the intrepid student journalists at the university of oregon who have brought this fascinating story to light. and so at this time we realized that yes we send the student halfway around the world and he came back realizing what winter really is and we needed to find a publisher as well. >> yes, and i think it's important that we mention that we were in the middle of this, sending it out to different publishing houses. so there were the same chapters and is managing editor he made us very proud. yes, we are looking for this project that initially we had been involved in, seeing if it could become a book, we tried a couple of different places and eventually fou

i have three -- >> zoom classrooms. you're on zoom classrooms. >> exactly. zoom rooms.ave three first year teachers that i'm supervising, so, like, brand new, that i had -- i was able to support teaching them about, you know, being a first-year teacher and supporting them in that and then it's on zoom, so, it's this strange new world that we're all first-year teachers in. i have a lot of meetings with teachers, one-on-one, supporting them in that effort and also with other admin to create the conditions for this to be successful. or at least somewhat successful. and i do a lot of -- of thinking about the data, thinking about, like, how to respond and be flexible in the moment to all the many things that are happening. every single day, with our students, with families, with teachers, there's power outages, where, you know, then school is not accessible, it's almost like the building is locked on a rainy day. and so, there's, like, a lot of responsiveness that i have to do in the moment and long-term planning. as stephen was saying, we don't know when we're coming back,

here's stephen's classroom. another shot of stephen's classroom. here's margaret's setup. this is a screen shot of margaret teaching. and margaret's classroom rules. and finally, she gave me a short video to give us a sense of what she does all day. >> we distinguished, which means learning to tell the difference, between what we learn from the illustration, what do illustrations mean, unmute -- illustrations are -- pictures. good. what did we learn from the text? text is -- shout it out? words. yes. words. they can be sentences or they could be single words. you're absolutely right. nice job. so i candice ting wish what i learned if the illustrations and what i learned from the text in the book "what makes day and night" to describe the pattern of light and dark on earth. we had a big discussion making sure that the earth is the thing that is moving, it's moving a thousand miles per hour and it's the sun that is staying still. one thing we talked about that was helpful is it can seem like something is happening when it's not happening. i gave this example. it seems like m

they are worried about the students not being in the classroom. phenomenal teacher that goes above and beyond the students her school is on the ab schedule how hard it is to teach young kids through distance learning and feels it is essential for young people to get in the classroom and the child's education is a building block and it starts in the youngest years. and those keeping the classrooms that could set them back four years you imagine being a first grader trying to learn to read on zoom? this is learning for some students it widens the achievement gaps to jeopardize the top ten states i promise to keep fighting for our students every single day. [applause] we have kept our promise to thousands of business owners by allowing them to stay open safely. as you know, some states shut down completely for months at a time. but we found the right balance between protecting public health and oklahomans right to provide for their families. we went to phase one of the open up and recover safely plan on april 24th. to phase three fully reopened on ju

now and the result of simply being in the classroom setting have been remarkable. >> i can not give reporter: as discouraging as the words are, they are hearing from other teach worse are excited to welcome kids back to the classroom. >> last night, an amazing teacher got on zoom with me and my family on sunday night. he gave up his time. he's a high school teacher. he believes the experience is going to be amazing. he has no plan of simply zooming in the classroom. >> reporter: families and students have until wednesday to decide whether to stay remote or return in person. lau laura anthony, abc 7 news cool a rarely seen pygmy sperm whale watched up on the beach yesterday. the mammal center says she was pregnant. scientists are working to figure out the cause of death. the pygmy sperm wells are elusive. it lows them to built data. >>> turtles left cold, stunned in the winter storm in texas are back in the wdis they slid back in the water today. nearly 5,000 sea turtles were at risk. animal rescue groups began saving them last weekend. they are back where they belong. the interestin

and parents certainly want to have their children back in the classroom.lightfoot and the chicago teachers union strike a tentative deal -- not been signed off by the teachers just yet. however, some chicago teachers could return to the classroom later this week. here to talk about it, real clear politics associate editor a.b. today the ard. so again, a.b., the agreement is tentative. teachers will sign off on it tuesday, i understand, or send it back to the bargaining table. how do you see this unfolding? >> well, it's complicated because the federal government doesn't have the power to make this happen. it's going to happen across battle lines in states and localities across the country with different needs and different influences, teachers unions among them. i think that that for the biden administration you can see in their first few weeks this is something they knew that would come up, but they haven't resolved it. they are a very tight-knit team, is so there's not been any leaking about the conversations that are taking place, but his pledge to open

the other half come in for 2 hours in the afternoon to give time for the classrooms to be cleaned inween according to marin county officials nearly 90% of the county schools. >>have been reopened to in a classroom based learning since early september and there has been very little in school spread of the virus. the marine county office of education website shows only 11 suspected cases of in-school transmission of covid-19 6 suspected cases spread student a student, 3 adult to adult 2 adult a student but so far there are no cases of adults catching covid from the kids teachers aren't getting vaccinated here yet but a date could be set in the next few weeks than a bottle unified school district is aiming to begin welcoming back high school students. >>as soon as marin county is in the red tier that could happen as soon as next week. fingers crossed maureen kelly kron 4 news. >>in san francisco, the board of education commissioner says she is now committed to reopening schools for in person instruction. instead of working to rename some of the schools in the district on sunday presiden

classroom 50, how they censored the dreams of innocent fourth-graders. it started winter term in an advanced reporting class. before you tell that tail, introduce yourselves briefly because your biographies are already just too long. who are you, julia? >> [inaudible] from the university of oregon school of journalism communication in june. right now i am taking a pandemic class. for this project i was the managing editor. and zach, who are you? >> i am also a graduate from the university with degrees in journalism and political science but now i am a reporter on the oregon coast for the world newspaper and for classroom 15 i was what we termed the lead reporter so i offered a couple chapters and did a bunch of reporting you will hear about today. >> and julia you served as the managing editor of classroom 15 so you are in a great position to provide us, the audience with this synopsis. >> it examined something that happened. a fourth grade class of schoolchildren tried to start a penpal exchange underneath a lesson they were learning in class called how

so that brought a sense of how do i bring that to classrooms? in my current role in working with teachers of all grade levels, how can i help them tell different stories, nuances, perspectives, but in a way that i would not say is balanced but provides a full picture. we talk about revealing the warts, but how do you teach history in a way that is not all warts or no warts? how do you create that sense of -- in spite of the difficulties and challenges and missteps and mistakes that there are glimmers of hope, people who worked toward a better society, worked for a greater cause, and how do you highlight them in a way that does not neglect or overshadow some of the sacrifices very deeply felt by too many groups at two many times? so that is kind of where i am with teachers -- that is kind of where i work with teachers, building their sense of understanding, expanding their knowledge base so that they can teach it. one of the big challenges for them i think -- and when i was president of the national council for social studies, i found very common

now and the result of simply being in the classroom setting have been remarkable. >> i can not give help in the classroom. >> reporter: as discouraging as the words are, they are hearing from other teach worse are excited wcome k back to the classroom. >> last night, an amazing teacher got on zoom with me and my family on sunday night. he gave up his time. he's a high school teacher. he believes the experience is going to be amazing. he has no plan of simply zooming in the classroom. >> reporter: families and students have until wednesday to decide whether to stay remote or return in person. lau laura anthony, abc 7 news cool a rarely seen pygmy sperm whale watched up on the beach yesterday. the mammal center says she was pregnant. scientists are working to figure out the cause of death. the pygmy sperm wells are elusive. it lows them to built data. >>> turtles left cold, stunned in the winter storm in texas are back in the water. a splash landing as they slid back in the water today. nearly 5,000 sea turtles were at risk. animal rescue groups began saving them last weekend. they ar

we hope you find classroom 15 as intriguing as we have. we hope you get yourself a copy and we hope that you enjoy reading it and we would love to hear from you. find us at the email address that has been up and if you part watching julia, what is that email address? classroom15book@gmail.com and they are all classroom 15 with the 15 numerical so 1 5. >> join us there and we will continue the story because we still want to get letters beyond the school, writes back to rastov-on-don and there they both are again in the same sentence. thank you again, i'm peter laufers. until the next time. >> you are watching the tv on c-span2, every weekend with the latest nonfiction books and authors . book tv on c-span2 created by america's television companies brought to you by these television companies who provide tv toviewers as a public service .>> here's a look at books being published this week. in fall of, l isabella again day offers her thoughtson feminism . astrophysicist neil degr

being in a physical classroom is so important for most students to succeed. by not giving our parents and children an option for in person learning schools have tied their hands. it has been 325 days since tulsa students have been allowed to be in their classrooms, 325 days. meanwhile just a few blocks away the rest of the also metro has been safely in session most of this year, unions, broken arrow, bixby, shabab a, sand springs, collinsville, the list goes on, they all found ways to put their students first and give them the choice to come back to the classroom. the only difference between schools that stay closed and those that have safely reopened is the mindset to find a way to make it happen. my heart breaks when i hear stories like abby, she said i'm a tulsa public school life friend never in 1 million years thought i would be uttering these words. she said my kids are miserable. they big every day through tears do not do distance learning anymore. my fourth-grader is baking to switch to any school that is open. it is devastating to watch our beloved s

our kids deserve the option to be in their classrooms. to keep fighting for our students every day. [applause] we've kept our promise to thousands of business owners by allowing them to stay open safely. as you know, some states shut down completely for months at a time. but we found the right balance between protecting public health and protecting oklahomans' right to provide for their families. we went to phase 1 of the open up and recover safely plan april 24th. we went to phase 3 - fully reopen - on june 1st. back then, i said by reopening safely and responsibly, we'd be months ahead of other states. our june unemployment rate was fifth lowest in the country, 40% lower than the national average and almost 60% lower than new york. [applause] because of that, almost 100,000 more oklahomans were back to work compared to the national average. everywhere i go across the state, small business owners and workers tell me how grateful they are for being able to keep their businesses open, to provide income for their employees and their familie

that should be being done across classrooms. it's important to development. james, your thoughts? james: the president has been saying that some schools shouldn't have to reopen for months, really they never should have closed. dr. valenski is expressing what the science tells us and countries all over the world. schools were never the super spreader events. the kids are obviously at very little risk and most of the staff are at little risk. most teachers are not in high-risk categories. the schools should be opened and every day they are not, we are robbing the kids of the skills, the learning they need to earn in the future so we are basically stealing from their future earnings every day that we have them out of class. mike: chris, a tentative deal in chicago announced by the mayor, are you hopeful this is a start of the trend of some of the big districts getting children back in the classroom? >> absolutely. and i think it takes leadership on the part of whether it'd be a major or a governor or a school board president to work with their teachers and thei

>> well, i feel like all teachers, of course, want their students to be in the classroom.ctions. you can do more hands on activities. it's just wonderful to be able to be in the classroom and do what we do, and teach, and enjoy our students, enjoy our time together. however, this year, teachers have just shown that they can be creative and go above and beyond, and still try to make those connections with those students who are learning remotely. it is not the same, but teachers have just proven that teachers can teach from anywhere and do amazing things. >> trey: all right. you are also a mom. >> mmhmm. >> trey: you are every bit as concerned about your health. shieh no mike i am married to a teacher. and yet, it can't be simply a question of being concerned about health. you are a mom and want to be healthy, too. yet you are in the classroom. what led you to say, "you know what, it is worth it, i am going?" >> i think our health is obviously the most important, but also a huge part of going to school is that social and emotional growth, and i can speak for kindergarten. t

marsh said yesterday, quote, the classroom is a safe place to be. he continued by saying, the k-8 classroom, there is a tremendous amount of really good data to suggest that it is even a safer place to be than staying in your community. following these comments, our state's board of education voted in favor of our students, kindergarten through eighth grade returning to a full five-day in-person learning. they had some blended smrks in class -- some in class, some at home. while data we've seen makes a very compelling case why we can get children safely back into the classroom with the right mitigations, other realities make it even more necessary. with the option of remote learning at home, there are still many children and especially in states like mine in west virginia who struggle with connectivity. despite robust funding from congress to attempt toll address these issues, the digital divide is very real and it begins to exacerbate the have and have not phenomenon. as a result these children can be affected for years. i hear concerns from parent

some chicago public school students are returning to classrooms tomorrow. where most have not been in nearly a year. the teachers union approved a deal overnight with the nation's third largest school district. but in some cities, like philadelphia, there is still a major rift over reopening. here is cbs's meg oliver. >> i miss their smiling faces, miss their energy. >> reporter: david malone teaches third grade from his basement every day. he's been doing it since march. do you want to return in person? >> 100%, absolutely. if all safety measures are met, then i do want to go back to school. >> reporter: malone is one of thousands of philadelphia teachers demanding upgraded ventilation systems and vaccinations before they return to classrooms. philadelphia superintendent william hite says students are suffering. >> quite frankly, they are isolated, and we are starting to see some negative effects of that all across the country with children being depressed. >> reporter: but tonight it seems the white house is lowering their bar on their plan to reopen the

we also air purification systems air purifiers in each classroom which that filter out the virus and conduct air exchanges, frequent air exchanges. we are also recommending. to open our our classroom windows and doors weather permitting and certain chance nothing is perfect and asked all to be patient. >>as this step unfold. >>inevitably as we roll this out there will be wrinkles there will be bumps in the road and we will work through so here's what's going to happen next. >>if the numbers are good on tuesday, then the in person will start on wednesday with code words with alternating days and that's t k through 5th grade and then 6th grade will return. next week after the president's day weekend reporting under theresa kron 4 >>well in the north bay schools across warren county are proving that a safe return to in person instruction might be possible for both students and staff since returning to the classroom back in september there have been a total of 10 cases of suspected in-school transmission of the coronavirus and of those cases 5 of them were student to student transmission

so imagine 18 months outside of the classroom. that will be devastating for the learning loss for too many kids. at the exact same time as we celebrate catholic school week we note that there are over five million students today in private schools and many of them are open today. 1.7 million low income families send their kids to open private and catholic schools. that should be the case today. the cdc has said basically the same thing. that it is really important to get our kids back in school. that is something we should prioritize as a country. and private school education that is available for the elites in washington. the elites around the country, and if you don't send your kid to a private school, you can send your kid to the best public school by moving into the right district, that's not the case for too many poor kids in rural america. when you think about the promise of high quality education and private school education you have to look at our current president. president biden and his kids. former president obama and

well for maureen kelly shows us what changes nevado has made to make their classrooms safer. letters spelling out welcome back scorpions greeted the 7th and 8th graders here at san jose middle school returning to the classroom for the first time. >>in nearly a year. one parent dropping off his kids says his family has mixed emotions about this we're all kind both trail somewhat >>they've been looking forward to this yet kind of strange to getting some form of normalcy back into our lives, here's what the new normal looks like hand sanitizer stations at multiple locations and the desks are partitioned off with plastic barriers and that's not all all of our air filtration systems have been upgraded if they don't have that capability in their classrooms. they have air purifiers him that have been installed in their costumes and so there's been a lot of safety precautions put in place to make sure that we can do this safely the returning kids will see fewer of their classmates as well since they're coming in shifts and some not coming back at all. >>20% of novato unified students

>> the question about the classroom size there are numerous studies that have shown classroom size isn't necessarily the most important indicator however as a former teacher and principal, and my experience as an educator i can tell you when i have 15 students in front of me versus 28, i am able to give more specialized attention to the 15 students. and i think that in the studies you've referenced a there are other factors that would be unfair to compare those two because it could be in the communities that have greater class sizes they also have additional resources that may be the others don't. >> i would look at studies by the mckinsey institute that looks at the performance around the world and the impact of the classroom size. i know when i served as the governor of massachusetts we compared 152 different school districts based on classroom size and performance and there was no relationship whatsoever. the key is making sure we hired the best, starting wages i think the average salary is absolutely critical and i would strongly encourage you to look at the 170 billion that the admi

the largest school districts have no plans to bring their youngest children into the classroom untillers have no plans to get kids back inside the classroom the school year. i don't think that is right, that that could be hundreds or thousands of vaccines going to teachers when they are not going back to class. >> janice: i understand the teachers are getting vaccinated but teachers are getting vaccinated for the purpose of getting them back in the classroom, getting kids back in the classroom but that is not happening then this cycle will keep repeating when you could be using those vaccines for the elderly. correct? >> it is an active role, not in april or may or the fall which is a big concern. they need to take a uniform approach, the issue, the teachers unions who claim they are concerned about student safety. jillian: we vaccinated every senior that was in congregate care and nursing but we need to take action to help thousands of oregon kids who haven't seen the inside a classroom in a year. our kids are suffering anxiety and depression. before we let you go have you noticed a

in tennessee most of the classrooms are open. our county mayors, our school boards, our school systems, our teachers, our parents, they're all working together to make certain that children get back to a normal lifetime, a normal school day, but you're not seeing it in these big cities. and that's why people are getting out of them as fast as they can. griff: so, with the covid relief package, which is moving right down the path to getting passed with reconciliation, are you calling for a contingenty in that final piece of legislation, to get that money you have to reopen? >> yes, we have said and i had an amendment that we filed that said you can't get these federal dollars in you are not going to have children back in those classrooms. if you're not going to have those teachers in person back in those classrooms. this is despicable that these unions keep moving the goal post. they are saying, we're not going to go back until you do this, that or the other and griff, it has nothing to do with the education or the safety of the c

. because of the amount of time out of the classroom-— the classroom.i the classroom. that's absolutely| right and what we are focused on the classroom. that's absolutely i right and what we are focused on a speaking should be maximise that time in the classroom. this has got to be the last time we kick the gates open, this has got to be an absolutely saleable return. we want to make sure that the prime minister is reassured his decision doesn't run that risk of a third school lockdown, which would be even more devastating than taking a more measured approach to getting children back in school i want to be absolutely clear, all teachers and school leaders want to see children back in school. but teachers and school leaders want to see children back in school.- see children back in school. but we want to make _ see children back in school. but we want to make sure _ see children back in school. but we want to make sure they _ see children back in school. but we want to make sure they stay - see children back in school. but we want to make sure they stay

>>to prepare or schools for reopening we have inspected 15,000 windows across over 1600 classrooms but will the students desks are spaced 6 feet apart, the children themselves are still a ways away from coming back to learn in person, a tentative agreement has been reached between the district and the labor unions on part of the plan which includes reopening schools when the city is in the red tier if the teachers and staff have been vaccinated or wait until the city is in the orange tier to go back without vaccinations today sfu estes superintendent says the very nature of the pandemic is why despite having been closed for close to an entire year there is still no date for when these classrooms will have children inside again we don't have a date for when vaccines are going to be here. we don't have a date for when we're going to you as you know we're still in the purple. >>so we do have a date when we're going to move out of the purple into the red you're asking for exactly when we don't get to set that date we don't get to set the it's the back of the virus that actually says that t

nothing replicates the classroom.ionary measures are already in place, and they're fully prepared for classroom learning. i think it's a good idea to have a phased return and let the primary 1—3s come in. we know they're the children who are at least risk. however, i think the feeling in our school is the sooner the better, for the children in 4—75 returning. the priority is to get all children back into the classroom, but this is a cautious and phased approach. the scottish government wants to see what impact it has on the number of coronavirus cases before allowing more pupils to return. some senior secondary school pupils are also back today, but only for practical lessons, like this drama class at holyrood secondary school in glasgow. it feels great to be back, just because you kind of miss the teachers and everything, when you're stuck in the house. this is an encouraging step forward, but with a strong note of caution. the first minister said it's not a signal that things are getting back to normal quite yet. al

so she worked for the transportation director to convert a camper into a classroom, bringing the classroom to them. in hinton with the school went to hybrid model for a few weeks, teachers spent hours holding individual zoom calls with students. sometimes going into the evening to make sure they were not falling behind. teachers are personally went to the homes of spanish-speaking families who needed help setting up their internet. in clarinda, the district was short on bus drivers so josh porter, a school administrator with the cdl jumped behind the wheel to make sure his kids could be in the classroom. i then cedar rapids, noreen bush superintendent of the second largest school district in the state on her team made heroic effort to get her kids back into the classroom just weeks after many of their schools were ripped apart by the duration. and she did it all while receiving chemotherapy. there are stories like this all across the state. teachers and administrators put their teachers first student first and a difficult time for specials implemented plans to safely and responsibly reopen

her mind 18 kids on the outside of the classroom. that the devastating learning loss were too many kids. the same time we sell rate catholic school weekly note that over 5 million students today in private schools. many of those schools are open today, 1.7 lower income families send their kids to open, open private and catholic schools. the cdc has basically the same thing that it is really important to get our kids back in school. and that is something we should prioritize as a country. in private education is available for the elites in washington. the elites around the country. and if you don't want to send your kid to a private school send them to public school. one of the best public schools a bid by moving into the entire district. that is not the case for too many poor kids in rural america. certainly not the case for too many kids in inner-city america. it's a matter fact think about the promise of high quality education. frankly pride school education. if you look at our current president, president biden and his kid. look a

it's absolutely imperative that we get children back in the classroom. the science said it.e trump administration and this record says it very clearly. >> jerry: admiral giroir, thanks very much. we hope the science will actually be heeded by this administration as they prom messed. parler is back up and running. perhaps a win? with president biden's decision to allow 25,000 asylum speakers in, meet those that are out. and i'd like your best new smartphone deal. oh do ya? actually it's for both new and existing customers. i feel silly. but i do want the fastest 5g network. oh i want the fastest 5g network. are we actually doing this again? it's not complicated. only at&t gives everyone the same great deal. like the samsung galaxy s21 5g for free when you trade in. there it is... “the extra mile.” on the border of expected and extraordinary. for those willing to go further. like vans customized for work or play. with safety and tech to keep you connected. supported by a five-star sales, service and finance team. and backed by the one star you know. so, go the extra mile. it's

i have a large classroom compared to the other classrooms in our building. this is the middle feet of the back row of my classroom. this is their view of the board. and so i'm just wondering, when we ordered $5 million of plexiglass, we have a classroom of 28 set up to where school board members could sit in them and see what this was really going to be like. and my students, wearing masks behind all the plexiglass. >> rachel: doctor, forget the waste of money and god knows what is happening with all the money spent on safety precautions, but this was so oppressive, it makes me sad. i don't want my kids to be in that classroom. >> that is exactly right. and i think it is completely ludicrous not with the science at all. it is almost insane. but secondly, we in the united states are on the verge of creating an incredibly neurotic generation here. we have children, young children, wearing masks being separated thinking they are infection vector for everyone and that everyone is a danger to them. i mean, this is really a tragedy here and folding. this will go d

so what happens next as students await word on a return to the classroom. and the weather outside going to be getting a little windy but very very warm to break down >>a temporary school board is now in place for the oakley union elementary school district after its former board members all resigned you may remember just last week they were all caught on tape blasting parents during a virtual meeting when they thought no one was airing them don't want thought they were being recorded kron four's michelle kingston explains what now happens. >>basically i was unfortunately true colors were revealed parents still shocked by the comments made by the former oakley union elementary school district board members last week. >>want to take on they want their babysitters back the meeting posted on youtube has hundreds of thousands of views and has left parents and students of the district with many questions all the board members resigned on friday, it means is in a very sticky situation as far as. >>still trying to get these kids back to school. the contra costa cou

this is the calendar for students' return to the classroom. on march 29, pre-k through second grade goes back. april 12th, 3rd through u9 will go back. followed by grades 10-12 on april 19. but with vaccines, first aid guidelines, it will be a hybrid model of learning with the option to continue distance learning from home. >> we don't know right now what it is going to look like over the next 18 months roughly to support our students but we imagine that we have a lot of work to do to help them reestablish social bonds. to think about their academic learning. to make up for social emotional loss. >> reporter: most of the physical changes to the classroom are already in place. now it is just the logistics they have to nail down. the schedule when it comes to distance learning which is still a negotiating point they will delve into with the teacher east union. in berkeley, emily turner, kpix5. >>> we should also note berkeley unified has about 10,000 students. san francisco unified has more than 57,000. >>> developing now, the intense search for

they are not reviewing early education classrooms, as those classrooms are governed by a different set of regulations. when they go through the classrooms, they are really ensuring compliance with the d.p.h. guidelines. making sure the desks are distanced. is there hand sanitizers? are the windows open, screening stations, etc., and all the p.p.e. being out and displayed so they can see how we plan to use them over the course of the school day. in addition, those site inspectors also ask, usually this team, the lead inspector with the assistant superintendent and the principal to hash out kind of the bigger picture strategies for the site. what would you do in the case of a covid exposure? show us your isolation room, and other kinds of how are you prepared-type questions. next slide, please. so the inspections occur at the site. they are taking -- actually, we did -- we clocked out the last few inspections of last week in right under an hour, so hoping we can keep to that pace, and we hope to start wave two inspections about a month, and then, wave three, another three weeks after tha

>>socially distanced classrooms and work spaces.tact and and staff health screenings if you're going to enter school building. ventilation upgrades and monitoring and then a cleaning protocol or least safe and effective cleaning protocol of for covid and then. robust contact tracing but the agreement does not mean schools will reopen anytime soon we don't set the timeline the virus that's the timeline school superintendent doctor vincent matthew says that's because before schools reopen. >>san francisco which is currently in the purple tier, let's move to the red tier. then the initial schools that are reopening we'll have to have their teachers and staff vaccinated which currently isn't happening due to a lack of supply so. >>we need to spread to come down so we get in a at the same time we're going to need definitely a ramping up of vaccination so we can get to the place where our educators are beginning to be back seat here in the city. >>san francisco will open its schools in waves beginning with these early education in element

in chicago, teachers are considering a strike tonight to stay put, to stay out of the classroom. in cincinnati, a judge threw out a teacher's union lawsuit over safety concerns. the politics and health experts here seem to be at odds on some items. we have fox team coverage. dan springer is in the pacific northwest where a pair of states are putting teachers near the front of the line or at the front of the line for vaccines. we begin tonight with mike emanuel and the confirmation for the nominee to lead the department of education. >> reporter: good evening. president biden set a goal of students reopening for in person learning in his first 100 days, but so far unions are not budging. today his department of education secretary nominee said it is still up for interpretation. >> we want to make sure we can get our students back into school safely. >> reporter: he side stepped a question about the teachers union in fairfax, virginia, that all teachers and students must be vaccinated before returning. >> it doesn't require 100% of participants be vaccinated. >> we have examples of

to continue their education even as the pandemic locks them out of classrooms. it may be -- they may be physically no longer in person, but online they can connect and if they are denied that online access, they are truly locked out of learning, not just locked out of their classroom, and that would be a disgrace for this nation. i thank my colleagues for what i hope will be their commitment to continuing american teaching and education online during this unparalleled, uniquely painful and difficult time in our nation's history. we can make it easier for students. we can save them the unanimous t to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president, the federal government has become too big and too expensive. it's been this way for quite a long time. it's not without its impact. you know, it's been borrowing and spending far too much money and doing too many things even before the covid-19 global pandemic. this emergency has really shown how badly we need to return to some semblance of federalism, some semblance of federal

we are approaching a year since students have been in the classroom. some of the main points that the district and union seem to disagree on our exactly when it is safest to bring students back. they want to start welcoming students back as soon as we can. the teachers union has been pressing for schools to wait until we are in a lower tier. we have been pointing to rates in oakland specifically and not just the county. there are some points that the district and union seem to agree on. vaccinated teachers would be asked to come back first and the in person learning would prioritize the younger students. there'd also be opportunities for older students who need more support instruments who disengaged altogether. >> there has been outline proposals that seem absurd. school district made a proposal for reopening for one hour a day. what models do you see proposed that might be workable? >> i think that is a question of the moment. what is hybrid learning look like? and in more suburban districts more wealthy districts they are all doing hybrid. when you

we need to get those students back into the classrooms. it has to be done safely. in the meantime, online learning is going to be critical for them. and yet substantial numbers, most especially in communities of color, lack the connectivity and the devices they need to open classroom doors. in many of those households, working parents simply can't be around to supervise their children. so it's more than just the nuts and bolts and devices. it's learning about how to learn online. but at the very least the nuts and bolts have to be there, and that's why this american rescue program is so critical to the lives and learning of these millions of students. the simple fact is this homework app -- -- homework gap is no longer a gap. it's a chasm. it has turned into a homework chasm and a homework crisis that threatens to set back students by months and even more. the fact is right now, students are estimated across the country to have lost three to five years in communities of color, that loss may be even worse. and once students have suffered that loss in learning, catch

>>socially distanced classrooms and work spaces. reliable testing for students in tact and and staff health screenings if you're going to enter school building. ventilation upgrades and monitoring and then a cleaning protocol or least safe and effective cleaning protocol of for covid and then. robust contact tracing but the agreement does not mean schools will reopen anytime soon we don't set the timeline the virus that's the timeline school superintendent doctor vincent matthew says that's because before schools reopen. >>san francisco which is currently in the purple tier, let's move to the red tier. then the initial schools that are reopening will have to have their teachers and staff vaccinated which currently isn't happening due to a lack of supply so. >>we need to spread to come down so we get in a at the same time we're going to need definitely a ramping up of vaccination so we can get to the place where our educators are beginning to be back seat here in the city. >>san francisco will open its schools in waves beginning with

pushing to have go ahead without governor newsom to reopen schools notch get students back in the classroom. >> and across the bay area, cohn county gives grocery workers a green light. >> and scattered showers, i have a live look coming up. >> this is abc 7 news. >>> i'm a much better teacher in person. hands down. >> tonight, teachers are reacting to a new plan to get children back in classrooms by this spring. good evening. a plan today to resume inperson learning by april. >> the plan doesn't get the blessing. kate larson spoke about the bill. >> the safe and open schools plan for california school districts to rezeem in-person instruction by april 1'5". 2 billion to help reopen schools and 4 billion for in-person learning loss. do you have faith the districts will be able to meet the deadline. >> we have incentives. if schools don't reopen by april 15th, they have to return the billion. >> reporter: if a district is in the purple tier, vulnerable students bhus allowed in the classroom. >> english language learners, homeless children, those that are suffering the most. >> reporter: if a