U.S. minority children lag whites in classroom learning
WASHINGTON — A much lower percentage of Black, Hispanic and Asian secondary school students are enrolled in full-time, in-person learning in the United States than their white peers, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on Thursday.
“Even when offered inperson options, many Black, Hispanic, and Asian students, as well as multilingual learners and students with disabilities, are still learning fully remote,” Cardona said in a statement.
He said urgent action must be taken at the national and local level to get more kindergarten-through-12th-grade schools reopened full-time this spring and address the inequities that persist as the coronavirus pandemic abates.
Authorities are monitoring the data closely and reaching out to states and school districts that are not offering full-time, in-person learning, Cardona said in an interview with MSNBC.
“We want to make sure that we’re supporting those states, those districts to find out why they’re not,” he said.
Government data shows that 88 per cent of U.S. secondary schools offered some form of in-person learning in March, with 54 per cent open full-time and in person.
According to the Department of Education, 24 per cent of white students were enrolled in hybrid learning — a mix of remote and inperson education — compared with 19 per cent of Black students, 18 per cent of Hispanics and 21 per cent of Asians.
While 58 per cent of white students were enrolled in full-time, in-person learning in March, only 36 per cent of Black students, 35 per cent of Hispanics and 18 per cent of Asians were enrolled, National Assessment of Educational Progress data shows.
Among students with disabilities, 20 per cent were enrolled in hybrid learning and 49 per cent were in full-time, in-person settings.
Cardona said he expected all schools to be open fulltime and in-person for all students by September.
“Quite frankly, I’d rather have it the spring,” he told MSNBC. “Students don’t learn as well remotely. There is no substitute for in-person learning.”