by Alycia Ramirez
It’s been over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic upended much of life as we knew it. We’ve not only had to drastically change how we live, work, and play but also how we provide an education to our kids. With public schools across Washington just returning to a hybrid model after months of remote learning this school year, there have also been calls demanding that school districts open immediately for full-time, in-person instruction. However, these calls often ignore entirely the inequitable effects the pandemic has had on Black and Brown communities.
The demands for full-time public school reopening increasingly come from white parents who say remote learning is disproportionately harming Black and Brown families and who claim a full reopen would benefit Black and Brown kids the most. At School Board meetings, on social media, and elsewhere, I have heard white parents repeatedly professing their concern for the widening education gaps facing Black and Brown children and insisting the remedy is to offer five-day-a-week, in-person instruction — now.
Continue reading OPINION: Dear White Parents, Stop Using Kids as a Political Weapon Against Schools