Superintendent: ‘I lose sleep at night’ about the ‘logged out’ kids - The Washington Post

Superintendent: ‘I lose sleep at night’ about the ‘logged out’ kids - The Washington Post

Superintendent: ‘I lose sleep at night’ about the 'logged out’ kids whose top priority is ‘survival’ — not remote learning

Marlon Styles Jr. is superintendent of the high-poverty Middletown City School District in southwestern Ohio. This week, he was one of several superintendents who gave a virtual presentation to the House Committee on Education and Labor during a briefing about remote learning in the time of the covid-19 pandemic. I am publishing his testimony for his portrayal of the challenges his students, teachers and administrators are facing in these times when school buildings are closed.

The Thursday briefing focused on how the school closures that resulted from the spread of the coronavirus have exacerbated long-standing disparities in school funding, curricular resources, school facilities and teacher quality.

Styles introduced himself to committee Chairman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) and other members and noted that he is one of nearly 4,000 superintendents who pledge to use technology to personalize education for all students through the Future Ready Schools initiative of the nonprofit Alliance for Excellent Education. Then he said the following:

I have five key areas of focus in my comments for the committee today: Our obligation to educate, basic needs, closing the equity gap for marginalized populations, funding, and recommendations.

It’s an honor and privilege to serve my community and our students. It’s also a constitutional obligation for our states to provide students with a public education. In the midst of this crisis, we are called to redouble our efforts to fulfill that obligation.

This crisis has demonstrated the critical role of public schools in not only educating students, but also in meeting their basic needs.

Many parents and grandparents are expressing their number one priority is survival. In my district, remote learning is not the priority as many families are trying to figure out how to keep food on the table, pay bills, stay healthy, maintain or find employment all while taking on the stress of assuming the primary role as educator for their children.

Imagine being a grandparent responsible for raising multiple kids right now. You don’t have laptops in the home, and you have no clue how to teach proportions, order of operations, or help the 12th grade student in your home meet all the CONTINUE READING: Superintendent: ‘I lose sleep at night’ about the ‘logged out’ kids - The Washington Post