Are they failing or being failed?

Brooklyn: I have taught in both the NYC Department of Education and charter school sectors for the past seven years. For the first time in my teaching career, I can say that there is a clear distinction between the quality of education that the DOE public schools are providing and the various charter networks throughout the city. The charter school where I teach provides students with daily live instruction and ongoing individualized office hours for students who opt to receive additional help. At the completion of the first semester, more than 78% of the students in my high school’s humanities department were passing.

This is all due to the rigorous planning done by school leaders, who want to ensure that students in our school community continue to learn. So why are 72,000 NYC students in danger of receiving failing grades by the end of this month? I don’t blame teachers, as many people outside of the education system often do. I blame the system. Why are so many students unable to receive the resources that they need in order to adequately access the education they deserve?

In these times, instead of failing students, more consideration needs to be given to which students are struggling the most. Many of these students belong to communities that are English language learners, and also who receive special education services. These students still need and require one-on-one and individualized instruction in the virtual space.

Before schools permanently damage the grades and records of students who are “failing,” there needs to be more accountability around the systems that are failing. Shelly Christian