Remote Learning is Not Working. How Do We Fix It?

by Dominique DiPrima

It’s looking highly likely that the next school year will mean distance learning for most California children. Governor Gavin Newsom says we will reopen in person school when health officials deem it safe. The L.A. Teachers Union is calling for campuses to remain closed for the foreseeable future because of the pandemic. A similar story is starting to play out in many other states too. Most students I’ve talked to hate remote learning, teachers had to jump into it with little or no preparation, and for most parents it is a nightmare come true.

However if remote learning is what this crisis requires, we will all have to suck it up and get through it. But here’s the thing, our kids education can’t be the sacrifice. Experts are already predicting our children will come out of this experience almost a year behind academically. And if we do it again for the new school year imagine what a huge disadvantage our children face.

We must not allow this disaster to continue to widen the educational achievement gap for African American children and learners of color. We have to find a way to offset the serious mental health challenges that isolation and online school are imposing on our kids. Teachers need more training, systems need upgrading, programs have to be put in place to allow for kids to have safe social interaction and physical fitness. It’s true that we need to protect our elders, teachers, administrators and, yes, students from CoVid and we need to find a way to do it that does not come at the expense of our children. The stopgap measures we used for Spring semester are not effective or sustainable. If it’s an emergency we need to treat it as such. All hands on deck! We must enlist our great tech minds, invest in programs, training and support for students, teachers and parents. It is definitely broken, so we gave got to fix it. Now.

Parents, teachers and children must make our voices heard, call or email our school districts,  governors, and even the White House. It is time to go educational Defcon 1 and mobilize all possible resources on behalf of our kids. Anything less is a dereliction of duty