Open letter to our Department of Ed

We were asked by our union what we wanted them to share with our department of Education and Governor. This is what I wrote:

We are working 10-14 hour days and through the weekend. We will do everything in our power to reach and teach our students. 

But it may not be enough. Never has the disparity in our student's family's access to resources been so apparent or so impactful.

Our state doesn't have the digital infrastructure to support this. Final mile barriers and low income are preventing students from equitable access and this is not a problem schools can solve well, even if they are trying hard, like ours is. What can the Governor and Department of Education do to support us in solving this problem?

The socio-emotional well being of students must be our primary concern. I had a video chat with a 12 year old and her 5 year old sister the other day, because she is now the de facto parent's helper as her single parent tries to work from home. Another, 16, told me she is cooking, cleaning and watching her 10-year-old sibling while trying to maintain her own classwork because her mother is a nurse and must work outside the house. Students have told me about their parents getting laid off. Students are moving out of our district, yet we know that if we stop serving them they have a high risk of not recovering this entire year. 

Our students are experiencing a collective trauma, and the research is pretty clear on how this impacts their ability to learn. The most insulated from this trauma are doing o.k. Those who were already struggling are in danger of falling off the cliff. All of our lofty standards will not help them if we place them in a position where it is impossible for them to succeed.

The State needs to be realistic in its expectations for schools and SU's. It needs to be cognizant of the challenges of the short time frame and understand that mandating speedy changes may prompt burdens on teachers that push them towards burnout or increase the amount of grievances and stress between administrations and employees. 

Our state is full of dedicated, hard working, capable educators. Listen to us. Support us. Our students need us to be as healthy as we can be so we can do our work of supporting them.

Submitted April 03, 2020 at 02:34PM by liberlibre https://ift.tt/3aSuDAV