The Bottom Line | Page 21

Debra J. Saunders is right to say, “there’s an antidote to this problem. Schools.” The specific problem she is referring to in the Public school closures may be a big Mistake is that caused by school closures. Namely, some children lack supervision and others are simply not participating in online alternatives.  Just last month the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that 21 percent of students enrolled in Clark County schools had no contact with the district after schools were shutdown.  We cannot expect students to come back with the knowledge required to be successfully in today’s world. Even before the coronavirus mayhem arrived at our front door, the U.S. ranked 27th of all developed nations in overall education proficiency of our Read More ›

The Coronavirus has upended nearly every aspect of our lives—forcing thousands of businesses to close (many permanently), shuttered most schools until next fall, and skyrocketed unemployment. Add to this the social and emotional cost. I can only wonder how the children and families who were already experiencing hard times are now handling this. While this crisis presents a near-term national challenge unlike any other, we need to also think about the future beyond the virus. This leads to an educational concept we should consider: year-round school. While current educational schedules may meet the needs of some, it’s clear that some children need to more hours per day and more days per year in class in order to achieve even today’s Read More ›

Amidst the educational difficulties the coronavirus has spurred, one Idaho charter network has thrived. Gem Prep, a K-12 free public charter school with four on-campus locations and an online school in Idaho, is using the opportunity to adapt and fine-tune their educational model.  Gem Prep schools have only one high school at this point—the online school. The physical schools are K–8. However, Gem is planning to add a new grade each year moving forward to make all of them K–12. With the arrival of Coronavirus, Gem was prepared to shift to full-time online.  Gem’s approach is to provide educators the specific training they need to teach effectively online. Laurie Wolfe, the network’s Chief Academic Officer, comments that “we [have] trained Read More ›

Thanks to Jim and Fawn Spady, the creators of the Washington Charter School Resource Center (WCSRC), for highlighting the novel concept of Washington’s Impact Public Schools (IPS). The Spadys are perhaps best known for their leadership of the Seattle area’s beloved Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants. But they are also long-time, stalwart advocates of education reform. IPS operates a charter public school in Tukwilla and will open another one this fall in South King County. The school serves 280 students in grades kindergarten through second grade, comprised of 83% students of color, 67% low income, and 32% English learners. IPS effectively pivoted to distance learning in early March and are now sharing their technology and lessons learned with everyone interested — whether Read More ›

Getting computers into the hands of students has become imperative in this time of Coronavirus school closures. Yet according to The Seattle Times, SPS delivered only 1,000 laptops to their nearly 52,000 students. By comparison, just to the south, Highline Public Schools gave out 12,000 to their 20,000 students. SPS officials mentioned that they don’t know which families are without internet or laptops. This is unacceptable. Even Los Angeles, the second largest school district in the United States, is monitoring this. Dahlia Bazzaz of The Seattle Times, writes, “In a 2019 survey of 42 districts in Washington state, many of them large, Seattle was one of six that reported that it didn’t give laptops to students of any grade level.” In one Read More ›