Here we go again

I am going to say it. Racism is playing out in front of our eyes in my school district. And most people are missing it.

Last week, our district and teachers’ union reached an agreement to bring Kindergarteners and first graders back to school in-person through a hybrid model. The decision was reached after many plot turns including high pressure tactics from the Superintendent and a lawsuit filed by the union.

Representatives of the union stated that the school board has been laser-focused for months on discussing one, and only one, issue: the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding – basically a contract for working conditions) for K-3. In other words, in weekly negotiation meetings, they have been adamant in the need, above all else, to bring back the younger grades to in-person schooling. 

Why? Pressure from families. Parents want schools open.

So what – What does this have to do with racism?

A parent from a community Facebook group said this: “…the loudest voice gets the most attention. The Board has made clear that the community has let them know this is what they want. I am still not clear why k-1 took precedence over those most at risk, but perhaps that’s what the majority wanted.”

THIS. This is what happens in the United States of America. Over and over and over again. 

Let me explain what is going on here. My school district resides in a mostly middle to high socioeconomic area. While EVERYONE is impacted by this pandemic, not everyone is impacted in the same way. 

Virtual learning works well for some kiddos, while others are struggling. There are groups of students who, historically, tend to struggle more in school. We say that these students are the furthest from educational justice, meaning racist policies or other factors have put barriers in the way of their education. These groups include: students receiving special education services, students experiencing homelessness, ELL (English Language Learner) students, and students of color, particularly Black, Hispanic and Indigenous. 

The parent quoted above pointed out that certain groups of parents attend school board meetings consistently and have banded together in letter-writing campaigns to demand that schools open. “The loudest voice gets the most attention.” 

Whose voice gets the most attention, historically, in our country? The voice with the most power. The White voice. The voice with financial resources. Who do you think is writing these letters to the school board?

Let us review: For whom are we opening schools next week? For any students in Kindergarten and first grade whose parents choose it. Which students are furthest from educational justice and potentially in most need of in-person services? Students receiving ELL or special education services, students experiencing homelessness, students who are not White. We are not prioritizing these students.

Let me make it clear that students within a certain group do not all have the same needs. Not all students receiving special education services, for example, are struggling at home. Some, in fact, may be faring better in online learning due to factors such as less noise distraction. Similarly, many students of color have actually avoided the pervasive racism of school campuses and classrooms by staying at home during this pandemic. 

On the same token, since people of color are more likely to be affected by the health risks of COVID-19, in-person schooling is not necessarily the best option or family preference for BIPOC students, even if they are struggling academically in the online environment.

Is this whole situation complicated? YES!

But the point is, my school district has chosen to prioritize bringing back entire grade bands of students over the most marginalized groups. They have done this because of the loud, dominant voices of certain parents. Parents, I can only imagine, who have the time, resources and knowledge of school district inner workings to advocate on their own behalf. Parents, I can only imagine, who are mostly White and/or socioeconomically advantaged.

The excuses sound plausible. At the school board and union meetings, the question has been brought up. Why not bring back students experiencing homelessness first? Why not start with ELL students? Their justifications sound sincere and compassionate. Yes, we have been discussing this. Yes, we are deeply concerned about this. Yes, this is next on our agenda.

Yet, they are still starting with K-3. Which includes many in these marginalized groups, but also includes many families of privilege who are managing well enough at home.

It is not enough to say you care. You must actually do something. It is not enough to say you are “discussing” it. You must actually do something. As Ibram X. Kendi states in How to be an Antiracist, America’s struggle with racism is not about morality. It is about policy. And unless you act through policy, the cycle of racism continues. 

Willfully choosing to prioritize the demands of angry, wealthy, White parents over the needs of students and families most deprived of educational opportunity and justice perpetuates a system of racism.

There is something worse, however. What is worse is using the plight of marginalized groups as an excuse to propagate your personal agenda. 

The school district, the school board and parents have used students of color as an excuse for demanding that schools open immediately. 

They have argued that students of color are “at risk” for academic learning loss, and that this is one main reason we must open schools. You cannot argue that students of color are at risk academically while ignoring the fact that their lives, their bodies, are at risk of death and illness from COVID-19 if we open school.

Articles coming out of New York have pointed to the irony of opening schools in the name of serving marginalized students, only to wind up in a situation where more White students have opted for in-person services while more students of color opt to stay remote, thus causing a potential widening of the educational opportunity gap.

The cycle of racism is playing out again, in plain sight. Do we see it? Do we care?

If we care, will we do something?

How dare we use students of color as pawns in our demands to open schools, only to serve our own self-interests as White parents. Our desire to have our kids out of the house so we can more easily do our work. Our concern for our children’s “mental health,” which is a word being brazenly misused and manipulated these days.

I do not mean to diminish the difficulty of trying to work from home while simultaneously overseeing your child’s online education, nor the mental health of any child or parent truly suffering in this pandemic. But as a White parent of socioeconomic and educational privilege, I must step up. I must guide my children through this season, fostering a mindset of resilience and going the extra mile in my duties as a full-time career person and mom. I can handle it. I have the support and financial stability others do not. While I understand that each person’s situation is unique, I cannot shake the notion that many of the parents screaming for schools to open are not the ones in true crisis.

Do I really care about equity? I will write the school board and demand that other people’s children are afforded the opportunity to return to school before my own, should they choose. Does our school district really care about equity? It has been their main initiative for the past five years, the topic of every teacher professional development day. They must prioritize those furthest away from educational justice regardless of the backlash and noise of angry, White parents.

We cannot continue to say we care about equity, then turn our back when our own self-interests take priority. We have to actually do something to disrupt this cycle.