Revised Op-Ed - Open Schools or Pay for Pods!
For Publication as Opinion Piece
Morgan Barth is the father of rising Kindergarten twin girls in Nashville. He is a former elementary school teacher and administrator. He currently is a small business owner.
Nashville Must Choose – Open Elementary Schools or Pay for Pods
Morgan Barth
The clock is ticking, and Metro Schools should do everything possible to make sure that we are ready to open elementary schools after Labor Day.
I represent 3,000 Nashville parents who have signed this petition: www.change.org/openschools urging MNPS to reopen schools. If MNPS cannot or will not reopen safely then families deserve a tax rebate to off-set the cost of pods, daycare or other educational opportunities. We support fully funding education; and in the case of prolonged closure that means funding the learning that is happening outside of Metro Schools.
Our first choice is that MNPS reopen! Despite the very best efforts of our hard-working teachers, I have now seen three weeks of virtual learning and it’s not good for my young children. I’ve spent fatherhood trying to limit screen time, and now my daughters and their pod-mates are staring at a laptop from 8 AM – 2 PM every day. Virtual learning is making them over-stimulated and lonely at the same time. The tech glitches, bandwidth problems and challenge of managing a class discussion with 20 Kindergartners are painful to watch! And we have it easy – we have laptops, home internet and the ability (for now) to pool resources with other families to hire a Pod teacher. It scares me knowing that there are kids at home without internet, with working parents, with inadequate supervision and with no access to even this meager educational opportunity.
We believe that MNPS should work with urgency to reopen all schools but prioritize elementary schools and special education. Young children and children with some special needs cannot meaningfully access their education through a computer screen. Students with IEPs and 504 plans should actually receive the choice between returning to school, learning online or receiving in-person at-home services.
We believe in the preponderance of data that show the risk of childhood sickness and transmission (including transmission to adults) is very low. The American Academy of Pediatrics[i], the Centers for Disease Control[ii], New England Journal of Medicine[iii] and the National Academy of Sciences[iv] all believe that elementary schools should reopen if protocols are followed; and that the risks to students are greater if schools remained closed.
Our second choice is for families to receive a tax rebate! Education dollars should follow the child. If children are learning from home or forced to choose a daycare or another school, then families should receive a portion of their children’s per-pupil funding to pay for their education. I cannot think of any other good or service that we would pay for indefinitely while receiving a mediocre substitute; and the same goes for the $929 Million in tax dollars which go to MNPS. I worry about my family’s finances if this situation goes on and I do not want to choose between my job, my wife’s job and our kids’ education. More importantly, I’m more worried about families right now who are being completely left behind. Every surrounding county and most private schools are open, but Metro’s decision to remain closed is exacerbating the pre-existing conditions of the achievement and opportunity gaps.
I worry about families who are making the hard choice every morning about whether to go to work or leave their child unattended. I can see that supporting K – 2 online education is a full-time job. Someone should be paid to do it…and if teachers cannot do it from school, then let’s pay parents! Put education dollars in the hands of parents and let us choose whether to homeschool our children, form a pod or send them to a program or school that is open. It’s the only fair thing to do if schools cannot or will not reopen.
[i] https://services.aap.org/en/news-room/news-releases/aap/2020/pediatricians-educators-and-superintendents-urge-a-safe-return-to-school-this-fall/
[ii] https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/506640-cdc-director-keeping-schools-closed-poses-greater-health-threat-to-children
[iii] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms2024920
[iv] https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2020/07/schools-should-prioritize-reopening-in-fall-2020-especially-for-grades-k-5-while-weighing-risks-and-benefits
