Thursday, November 16, 2023
PMT: The Costs of the Pandemic (part 49)
A recent Washington Post piece brought me back to a familiar subject: the costs of the pandemic on American students. Here are some of the things reported there:
-- 88% of public schools in the US went to hybrid or remote learning in the 2020-2021 school year (so, from the Fall after the start of the pandemic through the Spring of that school year)
-- More than 25% of schools resorted to using teachers who did not have teaching certificates.
-- 39% of middle schools did not offer algebra; which is pretty much where those students should be if they are on track to go on to learn higher math.
-- Many schools had a security guard... but not a counselor.
-- Racial disparities persisted.
The cost of that period (and our poor response to the pandemic generally) will be paid by an entire generation.
