Michael Barbour, a professor at Touro University California and an expert on K-12 online learning, believes that more than half of the nation’s school superintendents “should be fired.”
His blistering criticism stems from the fact that, deep into the 2020-2021 school year, many schools are still struggling with virtual learning during the pandemic.
Stories of school districts’ online learning systems crashing are widespread. Teachers complain about not being included in decisions about online curriculum and pedagogy. Alarming numbers of students are not engaged or not showing up, especially in low-income areas and among communities of color.
The chaos is especially concerning given that 76 percent of parents say their children are attending school remotely, either full time or part time, according to a recent nationwide survey. Moreover, a majority of parents, 54 percent, think that improving online learning is more important than figuring out how to reopen schools for in-person instruction.
“Any school leader who didn’t reach out to teachers to ask what had worked well and what didn’t, and then use that CONTINUE READING: Jeff Bryant in The Progressive: Bad Leadership Is Plunging Public Schools Into a Crisis | Ed Politics