“Flexible learning day” is a new term in our community. Throughout the school year, there are scheduled days - different from vacation or a snow day - where students stay home and are assigned lessons to complete on their shiny, new COVID chromebooks. These days do not include days missed when covid cases were too high. This week, The Wall Street Journal pointed out a similar pattern across the nation as they followed national data on school closings beyond closings for infection. The WSJ wrote:
Before Covid, school shutdowns happened on snow days and for genuine emergencies such as natural disasters, school shootings and occasionally outbreaks of infectious disease like flu, E. coli or, decades ago, polio. But without remote learning as an option, districts had to resume class as quickly as possible, or teachers and students would have to make up missed class days at the end of the year, cutting into summer vacation. Now school officials have an easy out—but one that comes at a huge cost to students. States could cut this option off by forcing districts to meet instructional-hour mandates only with in-person learning, but few have done so.
Many, many classrooms feel the burden of being overworked and understaffed right now. So, it is understandable for attempting to make “ends meet” by supplementing with technology. But I am concerned, like The WSJ, that this is a pattern with staying power, an easy answer to problems rather than doing the hard work to solve problems with more student-centered solutions long-term. Screen-time concerns, lack of quality supervision and accountability at home, etc. - the list of reasons goes on and on of why districts should not make “sending kids home” the standard fallback alternative for problems that school systems encounter. And, sure, there are certain students who thrive in a digital learning environment at home, but making it an option for families rather than the norm seems important.
This “school-from-home” culture may feel like something that many people are just accepting. But even if adults who moved to a work-from-home role during the pandemic have found that their productivity increases, the same cannot be said for children. Below the high school level, learning the art of focus, commitment to task, etc. is an essential part of attending school and is embedded in curriculum and classroom management. Sadly, where I live, flexible learning days have added up to at least an entire week of missed school days.
In another part of the article, The WSJ mentioned mental health days for teachers. And though taking good care of teachers right now is important, there’s a balancing act between caring for the customer and the employee in every industry right now, not just education. As a country, we are tired and working long hours. Many families are grieving the loss of a loved one or grieving the loss of normalcy. But, as harsh as it sounds, “the show must go on.” We should take a page out of pandemic history and consider the advice of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. “Open schools were a boon to public health,” according to health commissioner, Dr. Copeland, of NYC at the time.
Low-income communities, in particular, are being handed laptops and sent home rather than being given in-person teachers, and they are suffering. Without accountability and choice, equal education opportunities are becoming an illusion.