Close the in-person opportunity gap
In the last edition of this newsletter, we noted the need for advocates to support leaders who are standing up for students by insisting on the option of in-person education in areas where schools had been closed for almost a year.
Since that time, the debate over how and when to fully open our country’s schools has now become one of those rare moments where a discourse previously confined to education circles has broken into the national political conversation. It has, perhaps not surprisingly, also become increasingly intertwined with partisan politics. Republicans sense they can make in-roads with frustrated parents while the White House has
struggled with muddled communications over their pledge to open the majority of schools in President Biden’s first 100 days.
In fact, a new working paper published by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University finds that “Partisanship was much more associated with district reopening plans than COVID-19 rates.” Writing in the Washington Post, Megan McArdle
observes: “In districts where the schools are run by school boards, elected in low-turnout, union-dominated elections, the schools stayed closed.” Or said differently by the
Washington Post editorial board: “Cities where mayors oversee schools have made far more progress in reopening during the pandemic than those with school boards. That has underscored the importance of school governance not disproportionately influenced by teachers unions.”
Trapped in this tug of war are parents who want options that their schools or districts aren’t providing. A new survey by University of Southern California found that about one in four families are unhappy with the type of instruction they are being offered, with the majority of those families wanting an in-person option that is not available.
Perhaps most alarming, a recent survey published in Education Next reveals large racial and income gaps in who is being given the choice of in-person learning. While 54 percent of white families say they had the option to send their children to school in-person, only 33 percent of Black and Hispanic families say the same. Likewise, 42 percent of high-income families said they had the option of in-person schooling compared to 29 percent of low-income families. If left unchecked, this opportunity gap in in-person learning is likely to expand the achievement gap in educational outcomes.
- The task this week is to stand up for equitable access to education by advocating for every family to have the opportunity to choose in-person learning for their children.
Provide equitable funding for the neediest students
This week, ConnCAN captured attention across the state when Executive Director Subira Gordon, along with her coalition partners, held a press conference to urge the Governor and legislators to adopt a new funding formula that would redirect $420 million to the neediest schools and districts across the state.
“The proposed acceleration to the new ECS distribution formula is about investing in communities of color and breaking down the barriers of systemic racism in education funding,” Gordon told supporters and coalition partners, including Rep. Geraldo Reyes, the head of the Black and Puerto Rican caucus and Rep. Robert Sanchez, the co-chair of the Education Committee.
The disparities in funding pointed out by ConnCAN and their partners are a prescient reminder of the deep inequities that existed prior to Covid-19 and will continue without forceful advocacy. As the country focuses on reopening schools and recovering from the pandemic with an huge influx of new federal education funding, having a framework grounded in equity will take on even more urgency.
- The task this week is to seize opportunities to advance equitable funding systems for schools to help immediately while also laying the groundwork for the future.
