A Clarifying Moment for Choice in Education
This episode shows why families in America need more educational autonomy, not less.
By now, nearly everyone in America knows about the infamous “pandemic pods.” If you haven’t heard of them or their associated controversy, here’s a quick rundown:
Families who are either uncertain of physically sending their kids to school next year or dissatisfied with last year’s online learning, are joining with other community members and putting their children in groups to receive professional instruction from private tutors or teachers each day for the upcoming year. They just have to be able to pay for it, which is no small ask; most of these arrangements will cost families hundreds of dollars per child each week.
This is where the controversy comes in. Because many families can’t afford these personalized services, there has been a great deal of discussion concerning the “equity” of these arrangements, or lack thereof. It feels appropriate to quote Nikole Hannah-Jones, a current taste-maker in progressive thought, as relatively representative of the pushback to the pods:
We have all these parents who say, ‘I know it is unfair, but I’ve got to do what is right for my child.’ Well, that is the story of school segregation and inequality in public schools all the time. If they were demanding that an actual federal plan come about and actual federal resources go into schools to ensure that the kids could go to school safely, think of the power of that. But they are not going to do that. They are going to do what they have always done, fight for their own kids.
Keep that framework in mind—if parents weren’t so worried about their own kids and instead, for the greater good, focused on actionable steps to get all kids going to school in person, we could chip away at some of this country’s inequality—while we take a detour.
What do the teachers unions (an unparalleled political force—and in certain respects more powerful than legislatures—in some states, as well as the organizations in control of the terms under which educators in states or localities perform their jobs) have to say about this physically going back to school idea?
A recent American Federation of Teachers resolution established “that the AFT declares that school buildings can be open in places only where:” among other things “The average daily community infection rate among those tested for COVID-19 is below 5 percent and the transmission rate is below 1 percent.” Additionally, the resolution noted “Nothing is off the table when it comes to the safety and health of those we represent and those we serve, including supporting local and/or state affiliate safety strikes on a case-by-case basis as a last resort.”
The second largest teachers union in America is essentially conditioning physical reopening on a requirement that we are unlikely to see in large chunks of the country until a vaccine is widely available. And they support strikes on this front, to enforce their position. This certainly deals a blow to the idea of parents “demanding that an actual federal plan come about and actual federal resources go into schools to ensure that the kids could go to school safely.”
However, if one was feeling charitable, they could say “Look, these folks are just trying to protect their members.” and conclude that this is just good-faith, unions looking out for teachers.
“Wait!” you say, “What about Tennessee?”
On July 27th, Nashville teachers union, Metropolitan Nashville Education Association, organized a “Die-In Vigil” to be held as a “caravan/funeral procession” protesting school re-openings. The Facebook page for the event titled “Dead Students Can't Learn. Dead Teachers Can't Teach.” lists six demands, including: “We demand that all education stakeholders call for ONLINE instruction until there have been 14 days with NO new cases in our counties.” Even aside from all of the theatrics, this is where we start heading to Crazy Town. It is nearly impossible to imagine any time in the next year, perhaps longer, where there are fourteen straight days in any mid-large-sized population center without a new coronavirus case.
“But we haven’t even reached the West Coast yet!” you yell.
In July, Los Angeles teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles released a policy paper titled “The Same Storm, but Different Boats: The Safe and Equitable Conditions for Starting LAUSD in 2020-21” in which they list what they believe to be the preconditions for reopening Los Angeles schools. It’s an astonishing document that goes from suggesting things you’d expect like “Close monitoring of the transmission rate…to ensure it does not rise above 1” to things that make you say “Huh?” like “No standardized testing infringing on instructional time,” before degenerating into the Democratic Party Platform, listing but not limited to:
Medicare for All
Wealth Tax
Millionaire Tax
Defund Police
Financial Support for Undocumented Students and Families
Charter Moratorium
It’s not even just a select few unions that are trying to weave progressive political ideology into reopening stipulations. The website for an event called “National Day of Resistance” has a list of demands that includes:
Police-free schools
Moratorium on new charter or voucher programs and standardized testing
Massive infusion of federal money to support the reopening funded by taxing billionaires and Wall Street
Their listed coalition includes: Chicago Teachers Union, Boston Teachers Union, United Teachers Los Angeles, Massachusetts Teachers Association, St. Paul Federation of Educators, Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, National Educators United, Racine Educators United, Little Rock Education Association, and Oakland Education Association, among others. The page for the event explains:
This event is in response to an organization of educators across the country who are calling for a national day of resistance on August 3rd to DEMAND that the safety of our STUDENTS, EDUCATORS AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WILL BE AT RISK IF SCHOOLS OPEN IN THE FALL is the TOP PRIORITY!
I’ll let you decide how the aforementioned demands have anything to do with COVID-related reopening measures.
The purpose of all this is not to bash the unions. The purpose is not even to bash these particular unions for using school reopening preconditions as a Trojan horse to advance their political preferences.
It is simply to note that educators across the country are members of these unions. And these educators may not have all the same political prerogatives as the unions themselves, but they do receive a great deal of literature and information from them and for many, their understandings of these topics are greatly informed by the union perspective. Furthermore, many unions have and will exercise their power to ask educators to strike for any reason they deem necessary. It is not difficult to envision strikes being tied to the demands of the activist wing of the Democratic Party in the future. They’re currently showing their hand.
This is one huge reason why the education pods are important. As our politics get crazier, school curriculums take on even more leftist political influence and Democrat-controlled unions become more activist, sensible parents of all children are going to have to run for the hills. While the pods are borne out of necessity, it may be the first time many families have understood the importance of choice in education—undoubtedly, an instinct they are going to need to develop for the future.
This is not to say that education pods are an optimal arrangement for everyone, able to scale, or that they come without negative externalities. However, when placed in this kind of situation, parents should do what is best for their kids and not feel bad when elite media institutions (often overwhelmingly populated with individuals who exercised their right to choose a private education) try to guilt-trip them. No, don’t feel bad, just think about how we can help all families exercise the same ability that you have to choose what is best for your kid’s education.