TV: I wonder about the tenability of ascribing a policy like extended school closures to a “laptop class.” Support for school reopenings did not fall neatly along educational lines. The parents most reluctant to send their kids back to school in blue cities in the spring of 2021 were black and Hispanic, research has consistently found, not white. And the most organized opposition to school reopenings, as you know, came from teachers’ unions, who can hardly be considered stormtroopers of the managerial elite. What really drove blue states to impose restrictions on education so far beyond those of red states and Western Europe?
FL & SM: Our argument is that Covid policy was profoundly shaped by class bias. The knowledge workers advocating for pandemic restrictions—public health officials, academics, think tank scholars, and opinion leaders in media and journalism—suffered vastly less from pandemic policies than economically and politically disadvantaged groups did. Pandemic policies, including but not confined to school closures, had profoundly inequitable effects along class lines. Knowledge workers were able to migrate their work online, enjoyed opportunities for travel and remote work, had the time and experience with technology to assist their children with remote schooling or the money to hire tutors, watched their asset values inflate during the pandemic, and never missed a paycheck. It was easy for such people to be blind to the harsh costs being paid by others, including the essential workers, disproportionately low-wage, who had to continue on the job regardless of their age or health status (about 1/3 of the workforce). Single parents defined as essential workers had to keep on working in person even when schools and daycares were closed. Millions of Americans lost their jobs when closures were imposed and, in many cases, had to wait months for their unemployment benefits from overwhelmed state systems. Learning losses were most severeamong poor students, racial minorities, those struggling academically before the pandemic, and those with learning disabilities. Small business owners disproportionately saw their businesses close and close permanently.
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The taxpayer funded Madison School District long used Reading Recovery…
The data clearly indicate that being able to read is not a requirement for graduation at (Madison) East, especially if you are black or Hispanic”
My Question to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Teacher Mulligans and our Disastrous Reading Results
2017: West High Reading Interventionist Teacher’s Remarks to the School Board on Madison’s Disastrous Reading Results
Madison’s taxpayer supported K-12 school district, despite spending far more than most, has long tolerated disastrous reading results.
“An emphasis on adult employment”
Wisconsin Public Policy Forum Madison School District Report[PDF]
WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators
Friday Afternoon Veto: Governor Evers Rejects AB446/SB454; an effort to address our long term, disastrous reading results
Booked, but can’t read (Madison): functional literacy, National citizenship and the new face of Dred Scott in the age of mass incarceration.
When A Stands for Average: Students at the UW-Madison School of Education Receive Sky-High Grades. How Smart is That?
