There is no doubt that economically
disadvantaged children have suffered disproportionately more during the
pandemic. Kids that already struggle to keep up with learning gains are
undoubtedly falling behind. Those critical of public education point to this as
a failure of public education. Suddenly they care about poor kids? Friends
public ed has been sounding that alarm for years.
Something that has been
ignored by policy makers since there were policy makers and children is children
that live in poverty don’t do as well as a group as those that don’t. It’s not
a secret, everyone knows it, just most of those with the ability to do
something about it ignore it.
Now people like Bill
Gates, Jeb Bush and the Cato Foundation are using the pandemic driven worsening
of the education gap as evidence that public school wasn’t working and nothing
could be farther from the truth.
Jeb Bush looking to exploit
a tragedy says it is time to embrace distance learning, and this despite the
fact those he says he wants to save the most are arguably suffering the most
because of it.
The Cato institute which normally
hates the government unless it wants something is pushing for education savings
accounts or vouchers, you know because parents don’t have enough going on right
now.
Bill Gates despite failure after
educational failure is being recruited to reimagine public ed. Common core,
small learning communities, punitive teacher evaluations, all failures but
since he is rich he gets yet another bite at the apple.
It is sickening.
What do all of these and so many more
have in common? They blame public education for the failures of society. They
say its public ed’s fault that they can’t completely eradicate the debilitating
effects of poverty and even though in their critiques they might not be
specifically blaming teachers that is without a doubt the subtext.
Me I get down on my knees and thank
the heavens for teachers, especially the teachers of our children in poverty
because I know without a doubt their kids would be much worse off.
Society cares about poor kids? Since
when.
It is not public ed, it is not
teachers that are failing children. It is society failing them. The society
that ignores evidence, wants things done on the cheap and listens to those
looking to profit or those who do not know what they are talking about.
For decades we have ignored the plight
of poor children, when we as a society knew better so let’s not pretend for one
second these reimagining efforts are for kids, they aren’t. They are for bank
accounts.
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