When Will They do What it Takes?

Peruse social media and you will find a variety of discussions related to COVID, masks, vaccinations, and schools reopening. These “discussions” often devolve into political dumpster fires as participants hold on to their positions with death grips, refusing to consider alternatives to what they believe. Increasingly, it seems that medical necessity and public health have been reduced to political tools of manipulation being used against our children. It’s hard to judge the accuracy of COVID related information being disseminated. Are the current CDC stats and recommendations legitimate or just a means to an end of someone’s agenda? What’s certain is countless students are not learning. Many students are falling farther behind and may never catch up.

The question every stakeholder should be asking our education gatekeepers is what are public-education administrators willing to do to ensure our children’s education is not forfeited to politics or whatever is going on with COVID? How long will education decision makers juggle balls while riding a unicycle as they plan education services for our students? To suggest education dollars are insufficient to adequately meet learners’ needs during the pandemic is nonsense. Dollars for everything else are being plucked from trees and printer trays, so cash for our children, schools and education could and should be a priority to our education policymakers.

As we begin our second school year with no solid education plan in place, we are not remiss in our expectation that education services be in place despite the current public health conditions. To continue to excuse inefficiency in our education services sets up everyone for a lower education bar when COVID has moved on. Public education officials may have already played their best hand. Their next move may be to fold. While the system still plays catch up with no plan executed, parents must explore all education options available to their children. At this point, no students can afford to lose another year of instruction.

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