A few weeks ago, Jeb Bush challenged the nation to end the epidemic of failure in schools in The Wall Street Journal. He called for parents, guardians, adults, etc. to lean in and help the kids in our lives to overcome education gaps. He also called for voters and policymakers to consider the solutions that help parents by eliminating the barriers to better education. But what Bush didn’t mention were the new obstacles keeping students lagging behind.

From an EEE staff member:

As the parent of two elementary-age children, I have been living in a hole since Labor Day. Life has been far from routine. Both of my children did their best attending school and wearing masks in the 2021-2022 school year. This year, I cheered as my children entered classrooms that looked happily reminiscent of my own school years. 

But what I didn’t expect were the germs. Rhinovirus, a respiratory virus commonly known as the common cold, did an absolute number on our house. My daughter ran fevers of 103 for 8 days. Between Labor Day and Halloween, our children collectively had covid, strep throat turned scarlet fever, rhinovirus, RSV, and a trip to the ER for pneumonia. 

The bills, the late nights holding coughing children, the extended work deadlines, the juggling responsibilities, etc. - it has all felt a whole lot like lockdown. We are tired parents, and our children have missed lots of school. And what is striking about our experience is that it seems to be far too common. It has been pretty universal for parents. NPR reported on the spike in respiratory illnesses in the beginning of October and again recently. In other words, parents everywhere are experiencing extraordinary sickness in their homes, and children all over the US are missing from classrooms.

My teacher friends tell me they aren’t afraid of Covid anymore, but they still find themselves holding their breath in the hallways. They are also trying hard to help their students stay on top of their work, but the constant cycle of missing children can feel overwhelming.

Schools need your support; parents need your support, but not just to overcome past pandemic-related education problems. Today’s children need better education because they are continuing to experience unprecedented health conditions impacting their learning. My children are lucky enough to be in education situations where teachers aren’t overworked and have the time to keep me up-to-date on classroom content we’ve missed. My part-time work opportunity gives me some breathing room to act as a part-time nurse, part-time teacher, part-time housekeeper, etc. But in this situation, I know I am among a privileged minority. What in the world are caregivers doing who can’t take more time off from work and other responsibilities? Some days, I’m afraid my colleagues at work won’t believe my child has a fever again! 

Research also confirms certain neighborhoods were already further behind before Covid. Sure, Jeb Bush, we will do our very best to read to our children more and supplement with elementary level math resources, but we need people to see that parents and children are still in the midst of an education crisis, slipping backwards further. We haven’t begun to recover.

If you want to support education opportunities that work for families, start by trusting that parents want what’s very best for their children. Curious what parents say they want right now? Before April of 2020, 64% percent of parents (every political party included) said they wanted more options for their children’s education than just their assigned school. As of June 2022, that percentage of parents has jumped again to 72%.

If you want to impact the education of a nation, empower the same caregivers holding them in the middle of the night to have a voice in where they should go to school.