An Obscene Excuse
Sorry: The coronavirus cannot and should not be an excuse to give up on teaching New York’s kids. Yet the city Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers are treating it as just that.
As Selim Algar reported in Friday’s Post, many parents are learning that their children’s teachers have given up on direct instruction. Some families say a week or more can go by without their kids hearing from a teacher.
The UFT says it’s not required, with a rep telling The Post that DOE policy “recognizes that educators know their students and families the best and that they use a variety of instructional strategies.” Principals have said union work rules leave them powerless.
One DOE source told Algar that the tech is to blame — or, at least, some teachers’ lack of technical savvy. Others note that, after the DOE banned Zoom for security reasons, many teachers couldn’t make alternate videoconferencing work.
Other educators tell us they’re still working hard and trying to connect with every student daily — but that only a handful of the children actually log on most days, and teachers are powerless to do anything about it, especially since they’re under orders to pass every child this year.
Kudos to the teachers trying to make distance learning work. But shame on the parents who aren’t helping them, and the vast DOE bureaucracy that is shrugging its shoulders.
Why was $723 million spent last year on central administration and district offices for the Department of Education? What are those people doing now?
Why aren’t they getting every kid that needs one a laptop or iPad — and then why aren’t they following up to make sure that distance learning works? Why aren’t they making sure teachers do their jobs — and helping them if they need help?
Teach the kids. And children who don’t log in shouldn’t get credit — or move on to the next grade.
From Chancellor Richard Carranza on down, the DOE has had weeks to get on top of this. With school buildings closed at least through June, they’ve got weeks more. Inaction is inexcusable.