NEA President: Our Students Must Not Pay The Price For This Crisis
Two months after the coronavirus pandemic forced schools across the country to close their doors, educators and students remain hunkered down in their homes teaching and learning remotely. Everybody is doing the best they can, but the challenges around distance learning are formidable – and will likely remain so until school re-opens. But what “back-to-school” this year will actually look like to students, educators and parents is shrouded in uncertainty.
What is clear is that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the inequities facing our most vulnerable students. According to a just-released National Education Association (NEA) survey, more than 80% of NEA members say that “providing the same level of education to all students” is a serious problem. Educators in high-poverty schools report lower class attendance, feel distance learning will be less effective for their students, and believe that closing the digital divide should be a top priority.
Compounding the current anxieties over distance learning and staying healthy is the widespread apprehension over what comes next. This week, as states begin to relax stay-at-home policies, the question of when and how to re-open schools took center stage. Dr. Anthony Fauci, in testimony to Congress, urged extreme caution in moving too quickly, reminding lawmakers that children are not immune from COVID-19.
The health and safety of students, their parents, and educators has to be main driver of any plan to re-open schools, said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García. “That is the first, second, and third priority.”
“Educators want to go back to school. They’re desperate to be in the same CONTINUE READING: NEA President: Our Students Must Not Pay The Price For This Crisis