This is our daily update following the reopening of NYC schools for Wednesday, October 28th, 2020.
Here's the latest:
- In Major Shift, NYC Will Offer Public School Families Only One More Chance To Opt Into In-Person Learning
- De Blasio Promises Staffing Will Be In Place For New Round Of In-Person Learning
- Do you have a tip or story to share about schools reopening in NYC? Send us an email at [email protected] (we can keep you anonymous)
A new poll from an education policy think tank finds that New York City parents of color don't believe remote learning is going as well as it should during COVID-19. They also found that most minority parents surveyed have not considered switching their children back from remote to hybrid in-person learning, and say their children are not being well served.
The fourth poll on schools reopening by Education Trust–New York surveyed 352 parents across the city, with 40% identified as white, 35% as Hispanic, 13% as Black, 12% as Asian. They found that just 37% of parents of color have confidence in remote learning, with parents concerned about disparities in live instruction, a lack of affordable and reliable Internet access, and no options for multi-lingual parents.
"One of the things that's been most interesting is that many of the same issues have been top of mind for New York families since school buildings closed first in the spring," said Ian Rosenblum, executive director of The Education Trust–New York. "These include the availability of teachers and the amount of live remote instruction, access to technology, like personal learning devices, and high speed internet, and student attendance and engagement. Particularly because students of color and students from low-income backgrounds are disproportionately relying on remote instruction this fall, it's crucial from an educational equity perspective that the education system get it right."
They also found that 44% of Hispanic and Black families -- demographics largely impacted by COVID-19 -- intend to keep their kids at home as opposed to 10% of white parents who will do the same. Those responses were largely aligned with low-income parents, where 50% of them plan on keeping kids at home, as opposed to 28% of higher-income parents. Pollsters found 40% of minority families with fully remote students continue to show little confidence in school safety during the pandemic, which is what's informing their decision to keep their kids on the remote only track.
Other findings included in the report:
- 60% of parents are worried their child is falling behind academically. This is most concerning to parents of high schoolers, where 64% of them worry their children aren't on track to attend college.
- 62% of parents say that feedback from school teachers would be helpful, but only 32% of parents say that teachers are actually doing so.
- 61% of parents surveyed say want their children to feel safe and emotionally at ease during this time.
"One of our hopes is that hearing this directly from parents will lead to our education system ensuring that more data gets into the hands of families," said Rosenblum.
The survey comes amid even more changes imposed by the city Department of Education, which announced on Monday that it plans to only offer parents a one-time option to enroll their children into hybrid learning this year. The opt-in window runs from November 2nd through the 15th and closes for the remainder of the school year.
This has outraged Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers union, who said the decision "violates the plan New York City filed with the state."
"It breaks faith with parents," said Mulgrew in a statement released on Tuesday. "Families were told they would have an opportunity each quarter to decide whether their child returned to the classroom or remained fully remote. Such a decision undermines parents' trust in the system."
