There's Much Good in Our Schools Too!

There’s Much Good in Our Schools Too!

Observations from Tammie Workman, Educator in Chief for Connect with Kids Network and Consulting Producer on the documentary Defining US, slated for early 2022 release.

I can agree that there are areas of disagreement between parents and schools. I’ve worked in schools and I’ve worked at district level, so I understand the daily ebb and flow of human interaction. And I, like most of us, also follow the daily news cycle and know about the current issues, including what to teach related to historical accuracy, types of books and content students have access to, how or even if race and identity topics should be covered, and of course, the ongoing debate about COVID-19 guidance and protocols that are in place for schools across the country.

But not all is doom and gloom. In a recent EdWeek article highlighting an Ipsos poll for news organization Axios, parents actually seem to think their schools are doing a fairly good job, at least with Covid-19 protocols anyway.

Respondents were asked to think back across the entire COVID-19 pandemic (since March 2020 to now) and rate whether local schools have done a good or poor job balancing health and safety with other priorities. Seventy-five percent of parents and 71 percent of respondents overall said local schools were doing a very good or somewhat good job.

So I’m putting a stake in the ground, at least for this week, that there is much more goodness happening in our schools than we acknowledge. I’m not naïve. We are not in a perfect, return to normal situation. Nor should we be as there was still much that needed fixing pre-pandemic when it comes to equity and access issues for more students than we sometimes care to admit. But this I know: many (many) districts were on the track, either beginning or in the middle or way down the line, in trying to address the longstanding issues around race, poverty, identity, and more. And those same schools and districts have been there virtually, and now have shown back up, in person, to continue on for students, parents, and each other, sometimes against quite large odds. You can find many of these organizations on our Network page but there are many more out there than can be named. None are perfect and none claim to be, but all are working diligently toward getting it right for their kids and their families every day. Let’s not forget that.