Schools Closed Until November 4th

The combination of powerful teachers unions, along with democrat-controlled cities and states, could only lead to one sad finale: schools will not re-open in most of California this fall. There is a very good chance they will not resume until after the election in November.

In mid-March, many schools sent their students home. Extending Spring break from one week to three weeks is not an ideal plan for educational standards, but somewhat understandable. Then the three weeks turned into six weeks, and that turned into two months, which crept on until the end of the school year. The final blow is that no student will be permitted to return in the fall. How has this been allowed to happen?

Within the first month of school closures it became evident that little, if any, instruction was going on in the public schools. Excuses of no computers or slow internet speed have been cited as the reason, a justification that does not stand up to the facts. A more acceptable reason would have been to acknowledge that children parked in front of a screen for five hours a day just does not work. However, if the unions and districts were to admit that, it would be that much harder to continue the charade of unsafe classroom environments.

There is no reason to cancel the start of the fall semester. If so, why have schools opened in Germany, France, Sweden, and all of Europe? The same information about the effect of Covid-19 on children under the age of eighteen is available to all the teachers unions and school boards. They have it. They have read it. The sad fact is that it does not fit their political agenda to open schools.

Teachers say they are scared of getting the virus. These are the same people who, in the past, went to work every day and were exposed to a menagerie of virus, colds, flu, and assorted other pathogens. It is one of the perils of life in a classroom. Yet we do not shut down schools every winter when colds and flu are rampant.

What seems to be left out of the argument for keeping students at home, is the extreme detrimental effects that far outweigh any slight risk of virus transmission. The loss of months of education is by itself reason enough to reopen schools. However, that is only one part of the problem. Children need socialization and a structured environment. A very small percentage of students might be lucky enough to have a parent who can teach all the course work, arrange for interaction with schoolmates, keep up with the homework, and all the other daily activities that are now missing from that child’s day. But what about all the other students? It is doubtful they have had any instrution since mid-March.

The isolation has taken its toll on countless young people. I shudder when I think of children who have been locked inside abusive homes for the past four months. The special needs children have been particularly hurt by the lack of assistance that they would have received at school.

If the teachers refuse to do their job, the taxes we pay for the schools should be refunded. It seems every two years another measure or two is passed increasing our taxes by hundreds of dollars. Some other day I might go into the deplorable state of what is actually being taught here in the Golden State. Rather, what is not being taught. At this point, I really do not care. I only want the kids back in the classroom.

Parents need to stand up and let their voices be heard. But that will not happen in a town where free speech is not allowed, in a state where anyone who questions school closures is labeled as in favor of death.

My question again is, how has this been allowed to happen in the United States of America?

The 4th of July in Crazy Town

4^th of July 2020

I took a walk today and wondered if I would see even one American flag. Shockingly, I did. The lone flag was not on the street in front of the house, but tucked away behind a fence and down a path. My neighbors must have known as well as I that an American flag, even on the 4^th of July, will invite vandalism. That is how far downhill this city has gone.

In contrast, every other house has some sort of Politically Correct poster proclaiming that they are not racist. We Support….  We Stand Against Hate, All Families Welcome. In fact here in Crazy Town, if you do not display such signage, then you are obviously a racist.

Our less-than-patriotic city council has just cut over 9 million dollars from the police budget to pay for reforms with the goal of transforming how public safety is achieved, and to reimagine what public safety looks like.

I must have missed something about our fabulous men and women in blue and why they need to be transformed and reimagined. They are the ones who are told to stand down when hoodlums wreak havoc and loot. They are the professionals who must endure vile verbal assaults. They are the ones who have had tear gas and pepper spray removed from use. They are not, and have never been, anything but the best.

As a teenager, I saw lots of problems with the United States. And I still do. But what really made me aware of just what a fantastic country I live in, and when I truly became a patriot, was after having served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the late seventies.

Try living in a country where it is illegal to speak up against the government. Or where if you are born in poverty there is nary a chance in hell that you will be able to rise above it. Hear the stories of friends' relatives who were disappeared at midnight in government raids. These examples and many more, made me thank my lucky stars I had been born American.

So where are our leaders standing up for our country and the American way of life on this 4^th of July? Where are Nancy, Diane, and Kamala? These gals are actually from San Francisco. Why do they remain silent while mobs intimidate, loot, vandalize, and exhort the public? By staying quiet, they are endorsing the lawlessness. Why are they bowing down to Marxist anarchists groups? They are all old enough to have been in school when they used to teach history. A question, ladies: when did Marxism ever work out?

As much as I would like to attend a City Council meeting and stand up for the police and voice my objection to many of their measures, I cannot. This is not a free city.

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I am, unfortunately, stuck here, and I hate it. My plans for escape have not been realized. I honestly thought that if I wrote some great, light, fun books, I just might be able to make enough money to leave.

Up until recently, I’ve stayed away from politics in my professional writing career. In my younger days, I read all the heavy books and attended enough political speeches to last a lifetime. There is enough death and destruction in the real world that I would never make it part of a novel. Along with that, I have always felt that my mission in life was to make people smile. However, times have changed. I now feel emboldened to speak up, especially since the local city and state politicians are staying silent.

For any of you out there who would like a fun, enjoyable, trip inside a book to take your mind off the present situation in our country, why not try one of mine?

Happy 4^th of July out there to all of you who realize just how fortunate we are to live in the best country on earth.