And The Worst Education news of 2021

● The worst piece of education news: the covid-19 pandemic that sickened and killed countless numbers of our students and members of their families, along with many colleagues at our schools. And it’s continuing to do so as many schools choose to not implement mask mandates — or are legally prohibited from doing so — at the same time millions of people are ignoring the mandates that do exist

● An obviously related piece of worst news has been the threats and attacks on educators and school board members who have been adhering to and/or instituting mask mandates and other safety protocols to ensure the safety of students and school staff. It’s important to note that most of these attacks have come from White parents and other community members as families of color generally have supported school safety efforts.

● Speaking of attacks on educators and school boards, Republican operatives initiated a full assault against schools teaching about systemic racism — and, in some cases, any kind of racism — using the smokescreen of “critical race theory” (which is typically taught in graduate schools, not in K-12). One group even announced a “bounty” for anyone who “caught” a teacher violating state limits on discussing anti-racism. A parent’s voice in education is critical to their child’s success in school. Many educators, like myself, have pushed for years for the increased engagement of parents. Oftentimes, however, these fights against mask and vaccine mandates, and against teaching about systemic racism, have crossed the line into parent bullying.

● One particular element of these kinds of attacks warrants its own bullet point under the worst list — major efforts by conservative Republican legislators, school board members, and/or parents to ban books that offer a different world view on human sexuality, race, or just about anything they disagree with. One school board member suggested burning them. In some areas, students are leading the fight against these book bans.

● Many aspects of the pandemic — including social isolation, school closures, and distance learning — have had major negative influences on our students’ mental and social health. Research estimates that 140,000 children lost a parent or caregiver to covid-19. The past 18 months also have had an impact on what might be expected to be their academic growth in standard school curriculums. Though many schools have been trying to hire more mental health counselors, it has been difficult to find candidates in many places. The same problem goes for a strategy pushed by many to help students “catch up” on academics — hiring tutors.

● Many district leaders see their students and staff through the lens of deficits, not assets. This perspective can result in their missing practical “outside of the box” strategies to combat these challenges, including starting or expanding peer mentors and peer tutor programs and leveraging accelerated learning techniques used effectively for years by teachers of English language learners.

● Teacher and staff morale is suffering across the country. There are so many actions that districts can take to support them and their students, but don’t hold your breath.

● Teacher shortages, bus driver shortages, cafeteria staff shortages, substitute shortages — everybody has a shortage! And, though fears of an exodus from the teaching profession this year have not materialized, I wonder how many veteran teachers, like myself, might be considering how many more years we will be staying in the classroom. If you combine that with one concern that has materialized — fewer young people are pursuing the teaching profession — then the school staffing crisis could get worse. Will district leaders develop career paths for classified staff to become credentialed teachers? Recruit more teachers of color (and better support the ones they have now)? Make teachers genuine partners in decision-making?

● Public school enrollment fell by more than 1 million students since the pandemic began. This isn’t good news for anyone who supports public schools, and it may create a potential major cash crunch for districts whose funding depends on a version of average daily attendance, which is the vast majority of them.

● Gunfire is on the rise at schools. According to one study, there was more gunfire on school grounds this year than during any previous year. But few attempts are being made at making guns less accessible to children. There was one piece of good news in this area: — far-right broadcaster Alex Jones was ordered to pay damages to families of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre for claiming the murders were a “hoax.”

Back to school has brought guns, fighting and acting out

● Requiring standardized tests for the 2020-21 school year was a big mistake by the Biden administration. Many of us in education felt that they were a distraction from the priority of supporting students returning from a one-year absence from physical school; many students didn’t take them seriously, and their results were not effective guides for instruction this year.