Senate Education Committee Chair Launches Survey – Make Your Voice Heard
Sen. Lana Theis (R-Brighton), chair of the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee, has launched an online survey to hear from educators, parents and students about the impact of COVID-19 on education. The survey is meant to gather “first-hand accounts, feedback and recommendations [to] help lawmakers evaluate where we are one year on and help identify what we might need to improve or adjust to ensure Michigan’s children are receiving the quality education they deserve,” according to Sen. Theis’s Facebook page.
“The survey seeks to ascertain how school districts have responded to the coronavirus in terms of in-person versus remote learning; how effective remote learning has been or not been in student development; and how informed and involved parents have been in school districts’ decision-making, among other questions.”
MEA is encouraging members across the state to heed Sen. Theis’ call for feedback and participate in the survey.
I think we need all schools to be in live instruction or gave a option. Also I believe we need to look at what we are going to do to try and catch learning up after the loss.
I have 3 children in school. My freshman is at Farmington High (public). My 5th and 7th graders are at (private). My freshman has not been educated to a level of what I’d expect in high school. 1st semester her classes met 2 times a week for 1.5 hours. My daughter would be working independently during much of that time. There was very little instruction in many classes. My 5th grader did more reading and writing than my freshman. I believe the students in public school were maintaining what they already know. FPS is now hybrid. My daughter goes to school 2 days a week and has half days virtual days on Friday. Even while in school 2 of her classes are on zoom. One of her teachers just didn’t come to school the first day. The discrepancy in education between the districts doing it right and the districts like Farmington are going to be huge. I believe you need to have the same educational hour expectations as you’ve had in the past. Education is essential. Our state has been treating it as if it isn’t for the past year. This is unacceptable. Please contact me for more information.
I am a teacher too- I have been teaching my students F2F since August. 5 days a week All Day everyday. It can work.
We are now 10 months into this pandemic. My sons school closed their doors on March 13th and have only just returned on a limited capacity. The Farmington Public Schools decided to keep our K-5 kids home until Jan 11th and are now only back 2.5 hours per day (8am – 1030am). I chose to keep my son remote because that schedule will not work for any working parent. So my son is still not able to attend class in person. The 6-12 students just went back Jan 25th with 2 full days per week.
As for the schedule itself its not the same for the whole district. Some schools in the district do more video calls, some do all individual work with only 1 video call per day. This is causing insane stress on the parents and teachers because they are not teaching the same things. Some kids in our district are so unbelievably behind.
In our most recent board of education meeting they informed us that enrollment for 6-12 was down enrollment by 290 students between the 2 high schools and the average GPA in the 2 high schools is a low C. Not only is this bad, but our superintendent quit and 3 board members quit right before Christmas because they could not get along.
Our district is completely failing us!!! Please help us.
My district has done the best they could in a bad situation. I appreciate the caution taken to protect students, their families, and educators. Remote learning has been a challenge at times, and the lack of social interaction is detrimental. But at the same time, my kid is still learning and still developing. And doing so without having to worry if the kid in the seat next to him just has the sniffles or if he’s spreading something worse. I’ve had friends lose family, I’ve had family seriously hospitalized with Covid. We need to be careful and not rush back into large gathering until it is near certain that we can do so safely.
My district of Grand Ledge in Eaton Co linty has done a wonderful job with providing robust virtual education for my children. They are safe and still learning grade level content. The staff has focused on essentials and student mental health during this difficult time. They are providing small group in person for at risk students and have a plan for returning more students once covid safety metrics are met. They will still provide robust virtual instruction for families like mine that are not comfortable sending unvaccinated children back to school. The return to learn plan allows for the mitigation efforts that the CDC deems essential for returning to school safely. I appreciate our elected school board and the administration for the time they have spent creating this plan for learning in unprecedented times. I would hope that the government would not try to override local plans with their own mandates and will let the local schools make their own learning and safety decisions. We certainly don’t need politicians making decisions that should be made by educational experts!
Grand Ledge Public Schools teachers and staff are doing an amazing job of virtual learning. They work hard everyday to engage their students and hold them accountable for the work that needs to be done. We should not be in school until it is safe and science tells us that we can safely return to in person learning. Grand Ledge communicates with parents and does not keep us in the dark. Virtual learning is not what is best for all of our students, but it is what is safe right now. We need to focus on our students mental health and not so much on their academics right now. They are learning how to live during a pandemic. They are learning how to roll with the punches and how to control things in a world that is out of their control. Instead of focusing on just returning to school, let’s focus on providing our kids with a safe environment and acknowledge the teachers and school staff who are working long hours. As a parent with kids in Grand Ledge and staff at a neighboring district, I know that school is not what we are used too, but the teachers are still giving all of their hearts to our kids.
This situation has gone on months longer then it should have for the well being of these kids! I have 3 in elementary school and they are struggling big time to not only stay on task but survive mentally. My husband and I are fortunate enough to be able to work from home but it is never easy or struggle free. This is awful and my kids need in person learning ASAP!!! If teachers don’t want to go back then they need to find a different job in my opinion
My child is 6 and she has struggled with remote learning. She thrives in the class with other kids. Watching them succeed and also seeing other kids fail. It makes her realize you can get things wrong and it’s okay. I have noticed a huge change in her compared to when she was in person. I am very disappointed in grand ledge school district. I understand it’s scary but we have to put these kids education as a priority along with their mental health.
As a parent, I have not been impressed with the content expectations rolling out. My child is sitting at home on the computer for a few hours a day, but left to complete tasks posted after whole-group time on his own, and with very little grace shown. No one to remind him that questions are multi-step processes and he missed the second piece; no one to tap their finger on the desk when he zones out; no one to help in areas he is struggling with; no one to help him thru the links that won’t connect or with the buttons and shortcuts on the LMS that his district has chosen. I’m not impressed with the inequities of special education students. Those who have disabilities in reading, writing, coordination, reasoning, math computation are not given extra time nor other avenues to do the work-just on a keyboard. Not sure how that strengthens the already low area of ability. All special education students should have touch-screen device.
As an educator in a different district, I worked hard to provide extended time, multiple ways to connect and show work, being available many hours of the day for helping students in small group or 1:1. As an educator, I am also not happy with the tech inequities. I had students with no access, broken devices, but even just the knowledge of usage of their devices was difficult to teach. Small students (PK, K) and special education students and at-risk students need to be funded MORE than a general education student, but everyone needs MORE for the next school year to help with the gaps that are inherent to missing a year of school. Let’s spent more money on education than we do the prison system.
I had no say as a parent or educator in any of these decisions about devices, timelines, schedules, or reopening.
Grand Ledge Schools have not been in person at all this year. The community is very upset, and the schools have made it abundantly clear that they do not care. Mental health in the community is at a low and students are struggling. So sad.
As a result, we have pulled our four students out of school and are homeschooling for the year. We are planning on looking into school of choice options for the next school year, or continuing to homeschool.