We Are Being Tested – And We are Failing
“All were unconscious that this experience was a test of character, and, when the first excitement was over, felt that they had done well, and deserved praise. So they did; but their mistake was in ceasing to do well, and they learned this lesson through much anxiety and regret.”
~ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
California did so well at the beginning of all of this, we crushed the curve. At least, it felt that way. I felt sorry for the people in New York and Louisiana and so on. I felt a little smug, actually.
And now, here we are, mid-July, and hospitalizations in my county have tripled since mid-June. Go back 2 weeks before that, and you get Memorial Day. We have been tentatively opening up, which to some of us means that we can now get the fancy coffee pods at the outdoor mall in our area where for the last few months we have not been able to…and to others it means that we are going to go to bars and beaches and church and have indoor parties again, full steam ahead. It’s extremely frustrating.
Kids are suffering, distance learning is not the same as in school learning. Elderly are suffering, even those that stay healthy cannot have a hug or maybe even a visit from their families. Businesses are suffering, employees are suffering, EVERYONE IS SUFFERING. And it is somewhat avoidable. Not entirely, but somewhat.
And right now, the hot button topic is schools. We live in a privileged community. Not our neighborhood per se, but our city. I belong to the ‘families of’ this city group on Facebook, and I see a lot of families posting, wanting to hire tutors or teachers or anyone to hold small group classes for their children this fall, as our schools will be closed and all learning will be remote.
I don’t blame anyone for wanting the best for their child. I don’t blame these families for trying to figure out a solution to distance learning that works for them.
But it reminds me, yet again, of how messed up our school system is. Of how schools are supported by the city they live in, and property taxes, and extra taxes that are voted upon. So if a child lives in an area that does not vote for the higher taxes (by choice or because the families simply cannot afford it), they have so much less than if they attended a different school. Families where there is only one parent, or both parents work, how are they managing?
I honestly do not know the right answer here. I do not think it is to send children back to schools that are unprepared and underfunded. Or even prepared and funded, actually. I don’t think it is right to put our teachers and staff in danger if we are unwilling to be put in that danger ourselves. But kids are suffering. And I don’t want anyone else to suffer either.
We are being tested, and this virus is exposing and laying bare what so many of us understood all along, how unequal our society is. I hope people are paying attention, and will not just do better for the short term, but in the long terms as well.
6 Comments
Ally Bean
Oh I agree, we are failing big time when it comes to coronavirus and when it comes to teaching our kids. Around here the schools are tentatively scheduled to open… but no deets about how that’s going to happen. It’s lousy to think we pay taxes to support something that may hurt children more than help them. Frustrating is right.
J
Ally, yes, the children, the teachers, the staff, and the families of all of these groups. It seems crazy to even try if we can’t get the virus under control.
And of course then I think about the kids for whom school is a refuge, a place of safety and calm. Ugh. We truly need to do better.
nance
In Ohio the schools are entirely funded by property taxes, and this of course, is ridiculously unfair. Posh, white neighborhoods have the best schools that consistently perform the best on state tests. If a district needs more money, they put a supplemental tax levy on the ballot. These levies pass or fail based upon the whim or financial health of the voters.
Interestingly, this method of funding Ohio’s schools was declared unconstitutional about 20 years ago by its Supreme Court. Nothing has been done to change this funding structure, however; it remains the same. Governors have come and gone, and our school funding remains a low priority. Indeed, due to coronavirus devastating our economy, education was a deep cut in the state’s budget.
As usual.
J
Nance, California schools are funded the same way. So yeah, wealthy towns have better schools. And we have parcel taxes that we vote on, which are specific to your district AND you town. So for example, our town has 3 school districts. One, District A, is ONLY in Walnut Creek, elementary through middle school. One, District B, is much larger and goes throughout the county, elementary through high school. And one, District C, is pretty small, just high school, for the kids that go to district A’s schools, plus some other wealthy districts in the area that are NOT B. District B has one high school, one middle school, and maybe 3 or 4 elementary schools in Walnut Creek. They are easily the best schools in District B, because of the property taxes and the parcel taxes, even though they are in the same district as a LOT of schools that get a lot less money. It’s truly disgusting.
Rain Trueax
When I was in college, an education major, we had to visit different schools in the same school district, same tax base in other words. They were not the same even then all those years ago.
Today, the kids who will be hurt by not going back to public schools won’t be the affluent or middle class. It’ll be poorer families that can’t homeschool their children the same way. They are already behind and this will make it worse.
J
Rain, absolutely. I feel for the families that cannot work from home. I feel for the families that WILL work from home, with small children who will need help they will not get because the parents are working. It’s just a crappy situation, and of course the people who have money will figure out a way to make it less crappy for their kids.