Some people are more risk-averse by temperament. The guy wearing a mask alone in his car represents one end of the spectrum. The close talker at a crowded bar chatting sans mask represents the other. The rest of us fall somewhere in between. This spectrum of risk aversion likely helped give our ancestors an evolutionary edge. A group needs someone who challenges the tribe to see what’s beyond the hill and someone who says let’s not eat those mushrooms.
I’m not terribly risk-averse; even so, as I prepare to head back to class this fall I’ve decided to buy a face shield to add to my masks. I’m also thinking about how I’ll space students across the room. I just celebrated my 40th birthday for the eleventh time so I need to be prudent. Transmission from young children to adults is infrequent but I’ll be with college students. They’re not known for their exceptional social-distancing skills.
I understand why many teachers are concerned about returning to the classroom. The risks have been overstated by the union; however, the risks are real. Moreover, teachers as a group are more risk-averse than other professionals, researchers at the University of Arkansas have found.
Fortunately, there is a way to accommodate teachers, parents, and students who want online education and those who want in-person instruction. Diverse needs require diverse solutions. Forcing everyone into an online education format until Colorado has no new COVID-19 cases for 14 days, as some teachers insist, would be unfair to parents and students. Some parents cannot homeschool because they work or cannot provide education assistance for other reasons. For single parents, not opening schools will create significant hardship.
Mandatory online education is also unfair to students who do not learn well in an online environment, students from low-income families who rely on library and computer access, and special education students who cannot gain access to the in-class learning support they need.
Students lost academic ground this spring when schools closed and students were forced into online classes. A study by researchers at Brown and Harvard universities found students’ math progress decreased by roughly half after in-person classes ceased. Losses were greater in low-income areas. Other data analyzed by Dr. Megan Kuhfeld and Dr. Beth Tarasawa, “suggest students will return in fall 2020 with roughly 70% of the learning gains in reading relative to a typical school year. However, in mathematics, students are likely to show much smaller learning gains, returning with less than 50% of the learning gains and in some grades, nearly a full year behind what we would observe in normal conditions.”
Districts are working to make the school environment safer. The federal CARES Act sent $13 billion to states to help reopen schools. Nevertheless, some teachers and some families will not be comfortable returning and will prefer an online option.
But for students who need to return to school there must be an open door. State and local governments spend on average about $8,500 per student according to the Colorado Department of Education. The state should give a portion of the per-pupil amount to parents whose neighborhood public schools are closed so that they can send their children to an open private school or hire a tutor or teacher for a learning pod. Such a model of direct student funding already exists in Colorado; students can take a higher education voucher to a Colorado public or private college or university.
The present crisis can create an opportunity to diversify education. Teachers, parents, and students across the state have different concerns and needs. A one-size-fits-all system will fail to meet them all.
Krista L. Kafer is a weekly Denver Post columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @kristakafer
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