Some are panicking as they think about the fall with regards to school. They are panicking because they don't want to get ill, or worse, die. They are panicking because they want their children to attend school as they normally would. They are panicking because they are unsure about their own jobs, income, and health.
Others are seeing this panic as an opportunity. An opportunity to sign people up for newly created or existing online schools. An opportunity to work as an educational consultant by teaching one or two families of children. An opportunity to change jobs. An opportunity to take children out of school and travel.
As I think of the myriad of responses, I am reminded that it is best to take the long view.
There is so much that is right about public education--the opportunities to educate all of our citizens in high quality schools where children learn with and from one another and skilled educators is awesome. Do schools always live up to that opportunity? Of course not. Due to multiple factors mostly related to fair wages, safe communities, adequate health care, and equitable laws and supports, public education quality across the country differs. Yet, what we do have is quite good, and what we can have based on the idea of free education for all of America's children is awesome. Let's not give up that tremendous opportunity and potential.
Some, like Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos, appear to want to hold most Americans back with poor social supports and lack of accessible, quality education. Their disinterest in funding quality health care or education demonstrates their will to have an uneducated, unhealthy, and unsupported populace. After all if the people are weak and ignorant, they will be easier to manipulate for their own gain and fame.
Most, I believe, still value an equitable, accessible, quality education for all of America's children. Like me, many more believe that free education should begin with pre-school and go right up through a college degree. I'd like to see Americans well educated, and I'd also be fine with educating most Americans for their professional and career degrees too. A well educated population is generally a more peaceful, prosperous, and healthy generation. I want that.
Now, however, with the pandemic, we have to think differently about education. I believe that we should put our education efforts into creating quality, accessible, child-friendly remote education until the pandemic passes. I also believe that we should support families' child care needs with a family "bail out" that gives families enough money to either stay home and support their children or hire help that will support their children. The mix of at-home quality child care and remote learning will spell success for both family and education. Later, when COVID-19 is under control, we can think more about how we will continue to support good family life and child care as well as how we might reimagine education to include both remote learning and real time learning. This is a positive long view to take.
Generally quick fix, reactionary responses do no one any good. Take Trump's "successful" economy--basically it was a quick fix solution to quickly elevate the economy so that it looked good, but like most quick fix solutions that "good" economy was built on a shoddy foundation of rollbacks of environmental protections, a widening wealth gap, debilitating deficit, and elevation of wealth mostly for the wealthiest Americans. That quick fix Trump economy fell to pieces quickly when COVID-19 came because like any quick fix, thoughtless solution, it didn't have a strong foundation.
The same will be true for education. Do we want to waste millions of dollars on uncomfortable PPE's, education models that treat children as lifeless robots, and petrie-dish schools where COVID-19 is likely to spread quickly from one person to another resulting in loss of educators and students? Obviously, I do not support wasting resources simply for a solution that looks good, but is actually a poor long term decision with dire results. Instead support families with needed child care money and support education by helping educators put together the best possible remote programs until this virus is under control. We can do this.
