As the lockdowns and mandates designed to end COVID-19 enter their third year, one of the biggest question marks about government’s response to the virus has been their impact on the mental health and academic performance of students.
In some states, teachers unions have been able to lobby successfully for primarily online learning, keeping kids out of the classroom and far removed from anything approaching normal. The justification has been to protect teachers from being exposed to COVID-19, but at what cost?
New research is emerging to indicate the impact in left-leaning California, where Democrat governor Gavin Newsom has adamantly supported teachers unions over students and parents, has been tragic. From Fox News:
California students suffered academically during the 2020-2021 school year amid COVID-19 lockdowns — especially in math, according to a new report from the California Department of Education (CDE).
The results stem from a student performance assessment conducted during the 2020-2021 school year when most public school students were partaking in remote learning. The majority of California public schools returned to in-person or hybrid learning by the spring of 2021.
To make matters worse, the impact has been uneven — significantly impacting minority communities:
Minority students fared worse academically, with more than 60% of Black and Latino students not meeting English standards and about 80% of minority students not meeting math expectations. Various U.S. studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic and school lockdowns put lower-income and minority students at a significant disadvantage due to a lack of available resources such as computers and WiFi.
While most California school districts have returned to in-person or hybrid learning, the impact of these decisions cannot be undone. Parents who want to protect their children can take action to move school boards in a positive direction that puts students first.
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Read the full article on FoxNews.com.
