GLEP: Where’s the Plan for Coming School Year? Teachers, Families Need & Deserve Clarity – Now
Reformers Still Concerned Too Many Kids Could be Left Behind
LANSING – On behalf of Michigan’s parents and students, Great Lakes Education Project Executive Director Beth DeShone today asked Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Education for clarity – and their plan – for the coming school year.
School buildings have been closed for nearly two months, and districts statewide have already submitted so-called “continuity of learning plans” for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, but the Governor and Department have yet to provide any public direction for the upcoming school year.
In her May 7th press conference, Governor Whitmer stated that schools are high risk locations and plans for the fall will need to be made.
“School buildings have been closed for 8 weeks,” said DeShone. “Governor Whitmer and the Department still haven’t offered word one on a plan to get teachers and students safely back to classrooms, to discuss remediation for students who the bureaucracies leave behind, or to address parent and teacher concerns.”
Districts’ continuity of learning plans vary widely. Some districts are feeding students but providing absolutely no academic component, some are providing technology and paper packets to accommodate student needs, some are ensuring attendance and grading continues through the remainder of the school year.
These differences are creating a significant learning gap for students across Michigan, and kids with talented teachers will be left behind because the bureaucracy refused to empower them.
“Reviewing the continuity of learning plans has made it clear that Michigan is full on one hand of incredible, dedicated, and talented teachers and on the other of local school district bureaucracies determined to let kids and teachers down,” said DeShone. “Teachers, parents and students deserve and need to know – now – what the plan is for the upcoming school year so they can prepare to address the learning gaps being created by the Governor’s order to shut down school buildings.”
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