Y’all, this education stuff is a hot mess! I was on a call with the Education Committee, a State BOE member, and folks from State Dept of Ed. to discuss the rules the State Board plans to approve on 2nd reading.

One of the rules says student grades will be frozen as of March 20th. This is nuts. Not all kids were able to participate in distance learning. It is incredibly common for high school kids to get things in last minute. How can we penalize kids for a pandemic?

The kids who won’t be caught up are the kids who don’t have internet, who have family responsibility, who work at the grocery store. This is a serious equity issue. They are expecting locals to fix it, but this won’t happen for many kids!

Every challenge that hits society hits poor folks hardest. How can they penalize these kids when school wasn’t in and they had no internet, no computer, and no access for whatever reason?

We have students who are headed to the military, jobs, apprenticeships, etc. who now may not have a diploma. They can’t do credit recovery and they can’t do summer school.

As @JMW_TN41 said, “If you fail these seniors, you will reap a firestorm.”

The solution is simple. Every child passes. No child should be punished because of this pandemic. No child should lose their opportunity because of this pandemic. We certainly shouldn’t increase barriers for those with economic challenges.

Call the Governor, Ed Chairman Rep White, and every state BOE member and let them know #EveryChildPasses

I have already talked to parents whose kids are set to go into the military but are failing. One because they got mono before Spring Break. We can’t hold these kids back because of the pandemic and inequities that kept them from distance learning.