Jack Schneider: How covid-19 has laid bare inequities in public education - The Washington Post

How covid-19 has laid bare inequities in public education - The Washington Post

How covid-19 has laid bare the vast inequities in U.S. public education

There is something about a crisis that has a way of shining light on stark realities — and nowhere is that truer than in education.

The closing of schools during the covid-19 pandemic and the quick switch to distance learning has laid bare the gaping and persistent inequities in educational opportunities that exist across the United States.

This post examines how that looks in the era of the pandemic and how we might look at things differently when schools reopen, which they will — eventually.

This was written by Jack Schneider, a scholar of education history and policy at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and the author of several books, including “Beyond Test Scores.” He is also the co-host of an education podcast called “Have You Heard” with Jennifer Berkshire.

By Jack Schneider

For the past generation, we have been talking about the achievement gap in American public education — the fact that low income students and students from historically marginalized racial groups, on average, score lower than their more privileged peers. Chiefly, this matter has been treated as a problem with the schools. CONTINUE READING: How covid-19 has laid bare inequities in public education - The Washington Post