Some Parents Are Demanding In-Person Schooling as the Pandemic Stretches On

Shalyse Olson knows there are risks associated with sending her children back to school during the coronavirus pandemic, but the mother of four in Salem, Oregon says virtual learning “has been nothing but frustrating and sad.” That’s why she is among parents in several school districts around the country who are demanding a return to in-person, the latest escalation in the polarizing debate over how to educate children as it becomes clear that the pandemic is not subsiding. Olson, whose children are enrolled in kindergarten through 10th grade in Salem-Keizer Public Schools, says she understood the need for remote learning initially, when the pandemic closed schools abruptly and forced teachers, students and parents to find ad-hoc workarounds from home. “All of a sudden it was like, ‘This will have to be good enough for now.’ And it was for a few weeks at the end of the year,’” says Olson. “But now, others are finding ways to do this safely. And we need to get on board and catch up, or it’s going to be a hard one to recover from.” Courtesy of Shalyse OlsonShalyse Olson stands with her husband, Brian, and four children at the state capitol in Salem, Oregon during a rally. A recent analysis of 106 school district plans by the Center on Reinventing Public Education found that just 10% were in-person at the beginning of September, but 55% of those districts are planning to be in-person by November. A recent Wash...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 News Source Type: news