Texas’ students, teachers need more options
The next big challenge from COVID-19 is looming. A recent University of Texas poll found that 65 percent of Texans think it is not safe for students to return to school. Understandably, parents are looking for more options for their children to be both safe and well educated this fall.
Unfortunately, Texas has among the fewest educational options available to families in the country..
Under a 2013 Texas law, full-time virtual education is only available in six of the state’s 1,254 school districts. While the rules have been temporarily bent to keep children learning online in this pandemic, this law made sure Texas was unprepared. The state lacks the infrastructure we need to make real virtual learning a viable option for many families and our teachers have not been given the training they need to maximize learning online. Too many students have had too little of the sort of interaction with their teachers — the questions, the coaching and the encouragement — that fosters real learning whether online or in person.
Meanwhile, many highperforming public charter schools have long waiting lists of students seeking a better education, and very few students are given the chance to transfer to a higher-performing public school district next door. Furthermore, Texas does not offer the chance for students to attend private schools with public support. While most other states provide their students with these options, in Texas these options are severely limited and even under attack at the time when they are needed most.
But parents aren’t the only ones looking for more educational options, many teachers are as well. National polls have suggested as many as 20 percent of the country’s teachers will not return to teach on the first day of school often because they have someone whose immune system is compromised in their household. These teachers should not be forced to choose between their family’s health and their job.
We can provide our children with a highquality education and keep them safe if we expand the options available to families. Similarly, we can keep teachers teaching who live in households with people vulnerable to the virus if we increase their options as well.
First, we must change the law that limits fulltime virtual education to just a handful of districts. We should completely transform the Texas Virtual School Network, train our teachers on how best to use it and equip our children so all of them can reach it. Great teachers who have health concerns in their household should be given the chance to teach students all over Texas through this network.
Second, we should end the waiting lists for high performing charter schools by lifting the restrictions on their growth.
Third, we should make it easy for families to choose to attend a different public school than the one they have been assigned if they think they will be safer or better educated there. This will reward public schools that prioritize both safety and educational quality.
Fourth, we should give some families the chance to attend a private school with a smaller number of students where both safety and educational quality can be maintained.
The clock is already ticking to accomplish this task but this is a challenge which must be met. Parents and teachers need more options for a safe and high quality education now.