At a time such as this...

Dear Readers,

It has been a while since my last post. There have been a few personal hurdles along the way, but we are here again providing some reflection and insight into the topic of education. After many months of reading and observation, now more than ever we are experiencing an increase in the number of IEPs and 504s along with more extensive needs to evaluate students in the areas of social and emotional well-being, dyslexia, and autism. While these topics and areas are not new terms for those educators who have been in the field for the past 10 years, what is new is the gap that COVID-19 created and society neglected to understand. What do I mean by society neglected to understand? You may be asking yourself,. Well, let me explain: Social and emotional learning was always something an individual experienced through social interactions, whether intentional or forced upon them in social settings or through the desire to connect and create relationships, which was primarily established in school settings. As a result of school closures and factors within home environments where learning had to occur, we are now forced to address these needs within schools and across developmental ages, as this was time that was taken away from many of our students currently attending our schools. We also now more than ever see the equity gaps and impacts on our children from various socio-economic backgrounds, and if we don't address it through intentional interventions, IEPs, or more time blocked out within the school day, it will hurt students for a lifetime. To address these missed foundational reading skills, they will continue to face challenges and miss out on job or career opportunities due to these disparities. I write about this because I will not shy away from having difficult conversations and ensuring we take action as part of our duty as educators to ensure our students are referred to and part of educational supports that will help them find success on their educational journeys. We also know and understand many families have and some do not have opportunities for school choice, and those who do still face barriers as school choices, which are often charters, seem to be less willing and unequipped to meet those needs for students. What we have also observed is that charter schools thrive off parental feedback but lack the pool of highly qualified teachers to implement and comprehend the importance of meeting students where they are. Charter schools, as I have stated before, are narrowly focused on their models and lack the educational leadership to implement well-rounded learning environments for those who seek them out. With that being said, I have found minimal research to support states who have the highest number of charter schools ranking better than those states who have chosen to strengthen their public schools for their constituents in lieu of providing school choice have made the collective decision to strengthen their educators and offer higher pay and more professional development to ensure students have a highly qualified and well-trained teacher in every classroom. As the school year comes to an end, we must take time as always to reflect on our teaching or current professional development and understand that we all have an important role to play in the lives of the students of our schools and local communities.