Betsy and I Speak on Schooling

With the normal opening of school only a bit more than a month away, the topic is getting a lot of press these days.  In national news, the U. S. Secretery of Education, Betsy DeVos, is giving voice to the federal administration's wishes by threatening to withhold funding from any schools that do not reopen normally, on schedule.  It's not clear, however, how this could be done, since funding for education comes mostly through state government--not national government.  This scholarly writer*,whom I've come to trust a great deal, believes that DeVos sees in the pandemic an opportunity to privatize education entirely.  In her home state of Michigan, many "regular" schools have been replaced by charter schools, presumably privately run. 

I find some common ground with DeVos, but am simultaneously horrified at what seems like an effort to effectively dismantle public education.  I do wish for schools to function with  less top-down regulation, but have little hope that across-the-board privatization will offer a good solution to the problems in education.  As I see it, that would make education one more capitalistic experiment, open to manipulation by anyone who has the money and power to call the shots in a specific locality.  I see this as not only diluting the nation's will to prioritze the common good above the ideals of efficiency and productivity, but leaving many vulnerable families underserved. 

Many in my reading audience will wonder why what happens nationally in education should make any difference to us, since private schools are exempt from many government regulations.  Others will see in DeVos' ideals hope that private schools will be able to use government money as a funding source.  Those who are heavily invested in conservative politics will applaud DeVos, no matter what she does.

What I do like about DeVos' ideals is that she is interested in empowering parents to make choices for their children's education. 

I know that not all parents have the means or capability to provide academic instruction for their children, and these parents will need help from others.  The model in Scripture for child training is clear, however, in that the primary responsibility belongs to parents.  This is why our models should start there as well.  In my estimation, both public and private schools have in most cases moved far away from this ideal.  When parental roles are considered, what is most familiar often looks more like abdication than delegation.  Institutional roles often look more like asking to be served rather than serving.  The pandemic offers us an opportunity to reorient our group education efforts around the Scriptural model. 

One of the few things that almost everyone seems to agree on is that spread of disease is most likely when people spend lots of time in enclosed spaces with infected individuals in close proximity to others.  With Covid-19, a major complication is that people who are infected may not know that they are infected.  Infections jump from one person to another most effectively in the days before symptoms develop.  If people knew right away when they become infected and were conscientious about staying home, life would be much simpler all around, especially for those planning for group schooling.  I simply know of no way to insure that infections are not transferred inside typical classrooms, given these complications--if community spread is occurring, and people are moving about freely outside the classrooms. It is these complications that set Covid-19 apart from "regular" flu. 

"Normal" schooling, as we know, always involves lots of time with other individuals in close proximity in enclosed spaces.  The things that people know to do to minimize the hazard of inhaling the virus particles are not easy to accomplish inside classrooms.  Everyone wearing masks?  Possibly, but not likely, given the fact that parents of students are sometimes unwilling to comply even when mandated, not to mention the built-in resistance to being inconvenienced that most immature people have.  Staying at least six feet apart at all times in the classroom?  Possibly, but classroom size and number of students per classroom are limitations.  Bringing in fresh outside air constantly, while exhausting indoor (potentially contaminated) air?  This would require major retrofitting of the ventilation systems in use, and would make the utilities costs skyrocket, if outdoor air varies too much from 70 degrees.  Frequent hand sanitation?  This is the probably the most doable aspect of infection control that could be implemented at school, if done upon entrance and exit to the classroom, every time.  None of these measures are necessary in a normal homeschooling environment.

Nearly all of the burden for implementing and maintaining these safety measures would rest on school personnel.  I seriously question whether it's possible for them to manage the task AND teach academic content besides.

I know that what happened last year when the school year was abruptly upended was not easy for anyone.  The teachers especially have my heartfelt sympathies.  Their already-heavy workload increased, and few of the rewards of teaching could be experienced.  Frustrated students and parents added to the burden for teachers.  Just managing to stay in touch meant navigating a technological jungle. 

At least at our local Christian school, I believe that teachers did not need to worry about students having enough food or being exposed to abuse while at home, or having the students left to fend for themselves during the day without parents at home.  This was not true in all schools.

Increasingly, I believe it's becoming a necessity to have a church-based education structure that maximizes the effectiveness of schooling at home.  At a minimum, putting such a system in place now would greatly streamline things if reverting to it would become a necessity, either by mandate, or by the necessity to protect people's life and well-being.  I'm hearing from friends who live elsewhere that their chldren will not be attending school away from home during the coming year because they believe that their children would be in harm's way if they did so. 

At least one local public school district is asking all patrons to choose either virtual schooling or classroom schooling, with no option to mix the two--that is, they will not attend school only on certain days or for certain classes, and plan to do the rest at home.  They will either go to school every day or work from home every day.  Plans are in place to provide laptops for each student, so that the virtual program provided by the school is accessible to all who choose this option.  I lament parents needing to make this hard choice, but I completely understand the necessity from an institutional perspective. 

Virtual schooling is not necessarily synonymous with homeschooling.  I won't go into all the differences, but you should at least know that the main feature of virtual schooling is that, with the aid of technology, it attempts to duplicate a classroom education without needing to enter a physical classroom.  The main feature of typical homeschooling that varies from this is that the school is self-contained, without curriculum materials, lesson plans, instruction, or equipment being provided by the school, or reporting to the school being required. 

For our local Christian school, and for communities similar to ours, I believe that the homeschooling model is more workable than the virtual school model.  But wait.  I'm actually not saying that every family should be abandoned to their own efforts to educate their children, or that it would ideally all happen at home, or even that a laptop should be provided for each student.  If it had to, school could happen at home.  If circumstances allowed, schooling could be a hybrid between family-based  and community-based schooling.  The hybridization could take several forms. 

In an earlier post, I talked about small one-room schools involving cooperative efforts between several families.  While it would be easiest to see this as a win for homeschoolers, I believe this could be the first incremental step in hybridization as well. For those who are poised to go back to "normal" school as soon as possible, the curriculum in use at the "normal" school would be used in a one-room school model.  Getting this model up and running before the school year starts seems wise.  This one would work--minimally at least, regardless of what happens to "normal" schooling. 

The next step could possibly involve bringing smaller groups of students to a central gathering place for shorter amounts of time.  I haven't developed this line of thinking very far, but perhaps it would be possible for multi-grade classrooms to bring in no more than one grade per day, to insure that there would be adequate space for the students to spread out in the classroom.  Students would work at home on the days they are not in class.  Note that since this is a grouping of age-mates rather than family units, the risk of exposure to infection is significantly greater--because each student potentially brings along whatever microbes are present in their family home--some of them no doubt brought there by individuals who are present in the work world away from home. 

Classrooms could be completely aired out at least once a day, and surfaces could be disinfected beween student groups.  During nice weather, some classes could perhaps be conducted outside.  Teachers could see more of their students and students could see their friends. 

If spacing of classroom days were sufficiently distant (one day a week, or at least 3 days apart? ), anyone who is infected but pre-symptomatic--someone needs to help me with this thought . . . . I was thinking that it would be less likely for spread to happen between students because infected people would have time to develop symptoms on the "off" days and stay home when they're sick, but I'm not sure. . . .

I'll need to come back to this topic in a later post.  Duty calls elsewhere for now.

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 *I urge anyone with an interest in hearing a careful and well-crafted reporting of news, with limited ideological spin, to follow Heather Cox Richardson on Facebook or on one of the other platforms she uses.