Some Students Should Go to School, Most Should Stay Home
by Shayla R. Griffin, PhD, MSW
THE PROBLEM
Currently, the U.S. education debate is stuck in an either/or trap — either we open schools for face-to-face instruction, or we pursue only online teaching and learning. People from both camps say their thinking is informed by a commitment to equity and social justice. Those who think schools must open argue that Black, Indigenous, Latinx, low-income and disabled students are at severe risk in terms of academic achievement, access to food, access to supervision, and access to services if schools do not open face-to-face. Those who think it is medically unsafe to open schools argue that Black, Indigenous, Latinx, low-income and disabled students and families are those most likely to contract and die from Covid-19 should there be an outbreak. In the past few weeks, this national debate has come to a head as the Trump administration and some districts have demanded that schools open, while many educators, their unions, and other school districts have pushed back.
Who are you?
I am a Black woman, a researcher and educator with a doctoral degree and MSW, and a mother of school-aged children — one who has a disability — trying to balance work with no schooling or childcare relief since March 11, 2020. I have written two books about race and schools, Those Kids, Our Schools: Race and Reform in an American High School and Race Dialogues: A Facilitator’s Guide to Tackling the the Elephant in the Classroom. For the past decade I have worked as a social justice educator and consultant in schools across Michigan. My work has largely focused on issues of racial and economic justice for Black, Indigenous and other students of color as well as low-income students, LGBTQIA+ students, and students with disabilities.
What do you know about the consequences of not opening schools?
My professional role in education means that I am very concerned about CONTINUE READING: glen brown: Some Students Should Go to School, Most Should Stay Home by Shayla R. Griffin, PhD, MSW