Big Changes Ahead

From March — September of 2020, I taught high school virtually while my two children attended school virtually. Asynchronous schooling was difficult but by bouncing between rooms, my 120 students and my 2 children had their needs met.

In September, both schools implemented synchronized schedules. Each of my kids has a different daily schedule and my schedule changed every day. Three people, in one house, trying to zoom from 8–3 was not possible. We tried WI-FI extensions, direct connections, and upgrading the router. Verizon insisted the network was too overwhelmed and there was nothing we could do. My youngest son began sleepwalking, crying in frustration daily, and becoming a shell of himself. Enough was enough and I made the difficult decision to take an unpaid leave of absence from my job.

During the last six months, I have sat next to my children, listened to their teachers, and reflected on my own pedagogy. I will not hold their teachers to my personal standard, as even I can’t live up to it. But I am really sad about the state of our education system. Spending hours reflecting on why my 5th grader is still doing models and why my 7th grader is spending half his time watching videos has led me down a road I did not expect.

After another example of needs not being met, we began seriously discussing homeschooling. A few days ago, Ian took a pre-test for math. He got a 100. Before learning the lesson, he received a perfect score. After a couple of days sitting in class, being bored, he asked if there was something different he could do instead of the worksheets. His teacher said he could do an extra credit assignment after he finished his worksheets. I asked if he was going to and he responded, “No. I have a 97 in her class. Why would I want to spend 2 hours on something when it’s not going to affect my grade?” Seems to me that his math skills are just fine.

I don’t begrudge the teacher. She’s a cog in the machine pushing the product further down the assembly line. Teachers keep telling ourselves that we’re educating the next generation and shaping the future of society. That’s true in the most generous of perspectives but the system has become too corrupted. So many of my own students are casualties of the school-to-prison pipeline, broken by adults, and shamed for not immediately conforming. I’m tired of being part of the system, I’m tired of my children receiving an education that does not meet a fraction of their needs and I’m tired of watching their spirits fade away.

A year ago, I didn’t have these thoughts. But I’ve spent a year as a parent with remote students, a teacher with remote students, and as a support for the two students in my house. When Jeff Riley said that the goal was to return to pre-pandemic schooling, something in me shifted.

We have 60+ days of school left. I hope I see something that changes my mind. Otherwise, we’re out.