As you would expect, education groups are stepping off the curb to respond to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order ending face-to-face K-12 education in the state for the balance of the academic calendar year. Education Trust-Midwest and the Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers were the first to respond.
The Education Trust-Midwest recognizes the difficult decision that Governor Gretchen Whitmer made, noting that through this unprecedented time, the priority for all Americans and Michiganders must be the health of children and families, while also continuing teaching and learning for all students.
That organization says state and local plans for how schools will continue teaching and students will continue learning are evolving. In the meantime, it is critical that Michigan policymakers and school leaders do everything they can to ensure all students in the state have access to consistent, quality distance teaching and learning through the end of the school year. This is particularly true for Michigan’s most vulnerable students, including those with disabilities, English learners, students from low-income families, students of color and those living in sparse, rural communities.
State leaders also should ensure state and any forthcoming school districts’ plans for continual teaching and learning are accessible and transparent, and shared on all district websites through the school year. Making parents real partners in this historic educational effort will be critical in the weeks to come. Beyond the immediate challenges, preparations for the upcoming school year and recovery should begin now.
Amber Arellano is Executive Director of the nonpartisan Education Trust-Midwest, which is a research, policy and advocacy organization. She says, “Michigan’s leaders – including policymakers and school leaders – must swiftly develop and invest in a comprehensive educational strategy to address COVID-19’s disruption to teaching and learning,” and adds, “The time to do so is now. Just as it will take months or possibly years for the world’s families, health systems and economies to recover from COVID-19, the educational recovery for students also will take months and probably years.”
Arellano warns, “Indeed, just as summer leaves a learning loss, COVID-19 will leave a significant learning loss that requires an educational recovery that is just as important as immediate health concerns. For thousands of Michigan students, future academic outcomes are at stake, as well as life outcomes such as lifetime job earnings.”
Already COVID-19 is magnifying the profound differences between what schools and districts can offer their students. During this crisis, many of the schools serving students with the largest gaps in opportunity and achievement have struggled to provide consistent, high-quality distance learning. Long-standing inequities in access to books, broadband and other at-home learning supports have been highlighted over the past few weeks.
To address these profound inequities, state policymakers will need a comprehensive Marshall Plan-like strategy that should prioritize providing the resources to meet the unique educational needs of every Michigan child. This can begin through investing adequately in a weighted student funding formula as leading education states such as Massachusetts have done in recent months. To not do so is to ensure too many districts will continue not to have the resources necessary to properly address the educational recovery of all of their students.
Arellano concludes, “We look forward to working with leaders across state government, school districts, business, nonprofit organizations and foundations to use proven, data-driven strategies and policies to ensure all Michigan students can continue to learn and grow to meet the workforce needs of today and tomorrow.”
The Education Trust-Midwest is a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization dedicated to improving outcomes for all Michigan students, especially for African American, Latino, American Indian, and low-income students.
Also responding to the Governor’s decision today is the Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers.
Noting that the Governor’s decision requires all public schools to develop plans for remote instruction, and that each school’s plan will be approved by its local intermediate school district or, in the case of public charter schools, by the school’s authorizer, the group says they are directly involved in developing a statewide planning tool for all Michigan charters to use in submitting their remote learning plans.
Rob Kimball, Chair of the Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers, says this morning, “We applaud the Governor for her determination to protect students and families during this unprecedented time in our state’s history,” and adds, “The Governor’s commitment to ensure all students—regardless of their socioeconomic status—have access to the tools they need to keep learning is especially inspiring. We look forward to working in partnership with her to implement this Executive Order.”
Kimball wants the public to know, “Public charter school leaders teachers have been rapidly innovating and adapting their practices to keep learning moving forward. They are our heroes. We look forward to sharing best practices for online and remote learning across Michigan’s entire K–12 community,” and concludes, “The next few months are going to bring extraordinary change for all our state’s families. For us, job number one is keeping our students connected to academic content so they can continue their progress toward becoming the talented, skilled Michiganders of tomorrow.”
The Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers is a collaborative non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to providing quality charter school oversight. Its members share best practices, updates, and helpful resources for boosting K–12 performance and advancing educational choice across Michigan.
