More parents join call for in-person learning

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — Jennifer Dale’s activism began when she watched her third grade daughter struggle with distance learning, kicking and screaming through her online classes.

The mother of three initially sent emails to her local school officials with videos of the disastrous school days for her middle daughter, Lizzie, who has Down syndrome. Over time, she connected with other parents and joined several protests calling for schools to reopen.

Now she helps organize events and is a voice for what has become a statewide movement of parents calling for children to return to school in Oregon, one of only a handful of states that has required at least a partial closure of schools as long as local infections remain above certain levels.

“This just isn’t plausible anymore. It’s not fair to the kids, who I am afraid aren’t getting an adequate education,” Dale said in an interview at her home as she juggled her work and helping her children. “Something needs to change. It is not working, and our kids are the sacrifices.”

In debates nationwide about opening schools, parents unhappy with distance learning are growing increasingly vocal and calling for in-person instruction through grassroots organizing and legal challenges.

As the surge in coronavirus cases brings a new round of school closings, parents have issued lawsuits in New York, California and Pennsylvania, arguing that remote learning is falling short of state education standards and causing harm to students.

In many communities, parents have demonstrated for school reopenings, often greeted by opposing protesters including teachers and their union supporters demanding improved safety measures before students return.

The movement has gained substantial traction in Oregon, where parents have organized protests across the state. They have submitted petitions with thousands of signatures, posted anecdotes on social media and written to state officials.

A coalition of parent groups in the state is demanding that Oregon officials remove statewide barriers to in-person learning by Jan. 6 — the 300th day since the vast majority of students were last in a classroom.

Based on data from the state’s education department, about 9% of Oregon public school students have returned for in-person school or a hybrid schedule.

Initially, schools weren’t eligible to reopen their buildings, with some exceptions, unless the state’s positivity rate remained below 5% for three consecutive weeks — a number the state has not met since early July.

New reopening metrics were announced in October, allowing counties to transition toward in-person learning once they have fewer than 200 new infections per 100,000 residents. But still, state officials said only about 20% of Oregon students would be eligible for in-person learning.

Similarly in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio set one of the strictest metrics in the country — schools would close citywide if the city reached a 3% positivity rate. But as businesses in the city reopened, parents argued that the metric should be revisited and that students should begin returning to the classroom.

Last Sunday, de Blasio abandoned the 3% threshold, announcing that students pre-K through elementary school who have opted for in-person learning will return to school buildings Monday.

Dale’s daughter Lizzie began attending a portion of her classes at her school in Oregon in October, as part of an arrangement for special education students. She wears a face shield, and as the only student in the classroom she does not get to see any friends, but said she prefers it to “computer school.” Dale’s other children are still distance learning.

Cline is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative, a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.