I feel like a ping-pong ball when reading/hearing all the opinions on school reopenings. So many valid points, yet so many varied conclusions. I’m discovering that the opinions that don’t rush to a given conclusion feel the most honest and helpful to me.
Can we step back and try to get some perspective? And can we keep the focus on the schools, the teachers, the children (and the parents!), in an honest, open fashion?
Nothing is Normal Anymore
The most important perspective on school reopenings, it seems to me, is probably obvious, but I’m not sure we’re remembering its implications: These are unprecedented times. Understatement alert! We are in uncharted waters, trying to navigate a perfect storm of negative events without a compass. So, when almost nothing is normal anymore, long-assumed truisms can no longer be relied on to help us.
Thanks to the pandemic, the economy and the work force are in shambles. Parents need to get back to work. (Or they need support if children are home.) Children need to be back in school. Children and teachers need to be safe. Schools and teachers need to be able to protect their charges. And schools need the support/funding to accomplish that.
We’ve never had to try to balance all these contradicting forces at one time. How can we hope to have clear-cut answers? We need to work our way to bold, creative solutions. They may not be win/win, but they can at least minimize lose/lose.
The Questions
Related to school reopenings, it seems to me there are three key questions that force themselves to the surface, desperately needing consideration and answers. Quickly stated, they are
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- Have all contingencies been considered?
- How can schools (and parents!) be supported (financially and otherwise) as they face expensive and previously unanticipated expenses?
- Who should make these crucial decisions?
A Partner – Not a Taskmaster
Concerning Questions #1 and #2, schools and states are getting NO HELP (or worse) from the Federal level, which seems anxious to force things haphazardly in one direction, for reasons that seem only political.
Betsy DeVos (and her Boss) seem criminally unwilling or unable to discuss these questions meaningfully (I don’t consider ‘astronauts take a risk’ a meaningful answer). Nor do they provide any leadership whatsoever. For this situation in these times, it is a travesty to try to force uniform national open/close decisions on unbelievably varied and chaotic local situations. Especially with no support! Schools need a partner, not a taskmaster.
(FYI: An excellent piece on questions that need answers: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/7/13/1960412/-22-questions-Betsy-DeVos-hasn-t-answered-about-reopening-schools-during-COVID-19-pandemic?detail=emaildkre )
Looking Local
Looking to Question #3 then, it makes sense that these educational open/close decisions should be encouraged to be made as close to the local level as possible, and no higher than state level. DeVos is already illogically pressuring schools to get open physically, but then handle everything else on their own. So why not (same logic) encourage them to make the original crucial decision on their own? what’s the hidden agenda? (Rhetorical?)
Schools districts know best their own Covid19 situations. They know how equipped they are to proceed safely with creative solutions that also protect teachers and students (and parents!). And they have the creativity/flexibility to think outside the box. They should make the ‘lesser of two evils’ decisions themselves. And if the choice is not to reopen, it should be supported, knowing these are unprecedented times.
Yes, those tough local district decisions could play some havoc with state and national consistency, but doesn’t that pale next to life/death decisions about risk, health and safety that are only best made at the affected level?
We all desperately want normalcy again, but it appears that ship has sailed for a while. In the meantime, schools need partners in these troubled times, and support for their unprecedented difficult decisions.
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