Letter to the Editor

Why are we failing our students?

To the Editor,

We need to re-open our schools! Teachers are essential workers who need to be in the classroom teaching our students in person with approved CDC guidelines. If we are able to go to stores, beaches, restaurants, protests, and travel to certain states, then we are able to attend our schools. My job is to teach our students in person and my student’s job is to achieve academic success in person. Success cannot be achieved on a screen for six hours. Our students’ academic education is our responsibility for those who attend our public schools. When you hear the voices of our students crying out that they want to be in school, it is heartbreaking. We are failing our students academically, emotionally, mentally and physically. Why are we denying them the right to an in-school education?

Traditional Classroom Learning Is More effective than online for many reasons:

•Lack of Interpersonal Skill Development.

•Memory and Learning Development advantage in person.

•Lack of motivation.

Additionally, some of our affluent parents are choosing to opt out because they are able to hire a tutor or a retired teacher while our most vulnerable students have only one option – remote learning.  Some do not have a parent at home that can assist them with online learning, so the struggle is real. Last semester a lot of our young students had difficulty attending class, completing assignments and focusing on lessons. How can we ask them to be on screen for this many hours?

Remote learning is causing high stress levels for our parents, teachers and most importantly, our students. It is time we stand up for our children.

Sandra Cassidy Bastianelli

Harvard-Kent

Second Grade Teacher

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