The heartbreaking news that 15,000 Los Angeles high school students have been completely absent for two weeks is exactly the outcome that advocates for “have not” students feared when the L.A. Unified School District moved to an online instructional model.
Schools and districts across the country have found it extremely difficult to maintain learning opportunities during this unprecedented nationwide shutdown. And near and far, parents, teachers, and administrators committed to preserving continuity of learning for their students are all facing the daunting task of launching new models on the fly, with no time to plan.
Unfortunately, during this crucial moment, a potentially helpful stone remains unturned. For more than 20 years, thousands of teachers have been delivering high-quality instruction to students in online schools across the United States. These schools ran into many of the same challenges with online instruction when they first launched, but they have had two decades to work out the kinks. Why aren’t we being tapped to help?
I have a guess as to why we haven’t seen more requests for assistance. You see, we support a nationwide network of charter schools — public schools that are open to all children in their states and that must meet all the same accountability standards, but have flexibility in their instructional models to try to find ways to teach kids who need something beyond what the traditional public school system offers.
But now is not the time for a turf war over which system kids are in. Now is the time to get all hands on deck to keep all students on track. K12 employs and partners with the largest network of K-12 online schoolteachers in the U.S., most of whom previously taught in traditional schools before transitioning to online learning. And over the next several weeks, these educators are joining together to provide dozens of free videos, lessons, and training sessions for their newly online counterparts. Our goal is to share best practices and provide support, counsel, and encouragement.
As foreign as this new model is for many, we know there are students, much like many of the adults out there who are now working from home, who are realizing that online school isn’t so drastically different than the traditional school they’re used to. They still have classmates. They still have teachers. They can still learn, and they still want to learn.
In fact, the only thing worse than the current situation, where hasty transitions to online models have sadly left some kids out, would be to throw up our hands and shut down this pathway for the kids who are making the best of this situation and still succeeding despite current circumstances. It is not “equity” to deprive one student of his or her education because we haven’t figured out a way to get all of their classmates online.
Now, amid this international crisis, our mission is more important than ever. We are ready to do everything we can to support the teachers and families affected by the nationwide school closures. And as we metaphorically extend our hand, my hope is that, for the sake of our students, more will grasp it.
Kevin P. Chavous, a former District of Columbia city council member, is an attorney, author, education reform activist, and President of Academics, Policy and Schools at K12 Inc.
