The Memories of March

We predict that from here on out, on all forms of media, March is going to be the month of COVID reflections, with people sharing photos of last nights out, first days at home, store shelves depleted of toilet paper, and handwritten schedules made by parents forced into homeschooling. Part of winding down the emergency phase of COVID means we’re moving into a period where we try to untangle exactly what we all just went through and what it means—not only for us, but also for our kids.  

Education experts have been studying this since basically the day schools closed, and the early results are starting to come in. You’ve probably heard that academically, they aren’t good. The most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), given to fourth and eighth graders (and often called “the nation’s report card” for the depth of its data), showed steep declines in both reading and math since 2020. And like many things we learned during COVID, the impact was uneven, with students “already in need of academic help” affected more than others, according to a report in The 74. The New York Times shared a new analysis this week showing that longer school closures led to kids falling further behind and did little to reduce COVID’s spread, a lose-lose situation if there ever was one. 

Further complicating things for school districts—including CCS— is the coming end of ESSR funding in fall of 2024. This federal money supported nearly 650 district positions such as building subs and counselors; more than half of these will be cut next year according to the district’s levy information sheet, despite the initiative’s passage. These cuts are already igniting difficult conversations about resources to stem further learning loss, support kids’ mental health, and provide coverage for staff absences (with some experts questioning the decision to spend the money on staffing in the first place).  

Regardless of the choices made four years ago, we are all living with those consequences now, and into the foreseeable future. While it’s easy to point fingers for the failures, it’s also prudent to remember that most education leaders (including the caregivers leading education at home!) were doing the best they could with very little support or information. As Conor P. Williams argues fiercely in this op-ed, “There was no educational and public health playbook that could have wholly averted the pandemic’s impacts on kids.” He maintains we owe ourselves some grace after what we’ve been through. So on this all-too-unfortunate anniversary, we hope you are allowing yourselves, and your kids, a moment of rest, even as we regroup and figure out what comes next. 

☑️ Actions to take

😎 Prepare for the eclipse. The countdown is on, and eclipse mania is in full swing. Get your family a pack of free glasses from any Columbus Metropolitan Library branch so you’re ready for safe viewing. COSI has all kinds of info to help your family prepare for the day, including a short film called Eclipse: The Musical that we’ll be putting on the second our kids start complaining they’re bored during spring break.

🙋 Join a CCS School Board committee. Ever wonder how and why district decisions get made? Want to be involved in those discussions yourself? CCS is accepting applications for community representatives on four committees: Policy & Governance; Academic & Facility Alignment; Equitable & Transparent Resource Management; and Community Engagement & Advocacy. Learn more and apply here by March 27.

🇺🇲 Take a short election survey. Chalkbeat, one of our favorite publications, is asking teachers  and high school students about the 2024 election. Help inform their coverage about how the election will be taught in schools.    

📰 News to know

🦠 More on the longer-term impact of COVID: teachers are absent more often, with fewer subs available to cover for them—with CCS’ (temporary) investment in building subs getting a shout-out as a solution to this national problem. And Cleveland is another Ohio district that is going to be hurt by ESSR cuts (New York Times & The 74). 

💵 High school students in Ohio will now be learning about “free market capitalism” thanks to a bill recently signed by Governor Mike DeWine. They may also be learning that having a child outside of marriage is “bad for them, their child, and society overall” (Cleveland.com & Columbus Dispatch). 

⚔️ Researchers at OSU found that schools that are more focused on grades and test scores reported higher levels of violence against teachers, as opposed to those focused on learning for knowledge’s sake. This may be an argument to extend the celebration of SEL Day (Ohio State News & EdInk).

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