A global pandemic. and a generation of lost students

As a result COVID-19, we face a crisis that could last generations unless we fully invest in recovery. Right now, there is a child who is not achieving educational benchmarks we know are critical to future personal, social and economic success in adulthood. How we, as a community, work to help these at-risk students will be a defining legacy for generations to come.

The community impacts of COVID-19 are being evaluated through the lens of infections, hospitalizations and, sadly, deaths; accessibility to economic relief programs; the number of businesses who have shuttered or, like residents, are facing bankruptcy; efficacy of work-at-home strategies; and, inter-personal relationships. As a mayor and as a teacher, we know the ripple effect of this pandemic and our national, state and regional response will last long beyond re-opening businesses or when the food distribution lines are no longer necessary.

Already, COVID-19 has shifted the trajectory of education from the “brick and mortar” schoolhouse to a virtual instructional landscape. For our students and their families, they are being asked to adopt new educational strategies and accept post-pandemic educational realities.

We are already seeing the impact on children, from those who lost months of early learning supports to high school students, particularly in households where educational discipline may be challenging. While teachers and schools systems are struggling to ensure their students are engaged, reported increases in absences hint of the socio-economic differences in families asked to transition to virtual learning. Despite efforts of the School Board, in a soft survey of Broward Public School colleagues, decreased attendance and, more importantly, challenges in measuring actual virtual participation spotlight a deeply concerning trend. It may be months before verifiable data is available to provide the necessary clarity of the long-lasting impacts.

Long term studies have proven why early education strategies and achieving reading benchmarks by third grade make a difference in the success of students as they get older and into adulthood. An oft-cited study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation concluded students who lacked reading proficiency by the end of third grade were four times more likely to drop out of high school; 88 percent of students

“who failed to earn a high school diploma were struggling readers in third grade.” According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “third graders who are not reading at grade level are among the most vulnerable to drop out of school later.” The consequences of high dropout rates include criminal justice interventions, unemployment, inter-generational poverty, and impaired social and emotional development.

Although state standardized testing has been waived this school year, the loss of direct instructional time will adversely affect some or many at-risk students. The absence of summer reading camps which generally accommodate students heldback due to reading deficiencies will have a negative impact on those students. In other settings, COVID-19 has and will have profound and disproportionate impacts on the working poor, the unemployed, those with inadequate medical health coverage and the middle class. These disproportionate impacts will be exacerbated in our post-pandemic educational environment unless we act with determination.

As a teacher and a mayor, we know that lost “days” this school year are not remedied, as in a post-hurricane setting, by just simply making up days at the end of a school year; this lost time equates to potentially lost years in educational development. To overcome the predictable consequences, we will need an all-hands-on-deck strategy to include innovative and community-based tutorial programs, a commitment to strong instructional remedial efforts now and during the next school year, and additional and dedicated funding for additional teacher supports and guidance counselor and social worker resources to provide wrap-around services to those students exhibiting high-absentee conduct and families trying to provide intervention techniques.

The success of our recovery will not only be measured by our ability to get our economy re-opened; it will also be how we work together to lift those who have fallen through the cracks. Our children deserve a meaningful and full-fledged commitment to get them, and us, back on track towards a more positive and hopeful future.

Mike Ryan is mayor of the City of Sunrise. Rick Hoye is Broward County Public School teacher and president of Florida Future Labor Leaders