A little more context on my comments (i.e., what didn’t make it in): As a parent, I empathize with the no-win situation we’re all facing in this fall. We all want what’s best for our children and for the students we serve. Each option comes with major disadvantages... 1/n https://twitter.com/MinnesotaCEE/status/1291774881726640128

but as a parent with substantial privilege, a school psychologist, & scholar, I recognize that the disadvantages are most pronounced for families from economically & racially minoritized backgrounds. 2/n

Families with the means to do so may see learning pods as a way to provide the best opportunities for their children, but learning pods are a threat to equity and social justice. Here, I’m not talking about child care collectives... 3/n

so much as the micro-private schools of families joining together to hire teachers and tutors to work exclusively with their children. In a context of COVID, it is an extension of white flight & opportunity hoarding that reflects families of class (and often white) privilege 4/n

using their means to escape a flawed system rather than using their social capital to demand and facilitate change in that system for the greater good. This will further harm students who have been and will continue to be marginalized by ineffective educational systems. 5/n

On its face, it might seem to be an ex of banding together, but the insidious side is the extraction of resources & preservation of flawed system for others who can’t afford other options—often bc they are the very same essential workers we depend on for our own wellbeing. 6/n.

Learning pods are likely to be implemented in a way that is inherently exclusionary. For example, will families of means invite in children of low-income essential workers? No--creating significant differences in opportunities to learn & widening of gaps over time. 7/n

This will present yet another example of the Matthew effect operating in education-that is, the rich get richer, poor get poorer-as well as furthering ed segregation. As this article shows, learning pods may be utilized by diverse families, but I’d predict most will be white. 8/n

What’s a parent to do in this extremely difficult time? First, stay enrolled in your public schools. Then, use the time, money, and energy you would have put into planning and operating a pod to advocate for socially just policy and school change at all levels. 9/n

Contribute to collective action to fight oppression and support the most marginalized among us & help your children to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. Involve them! That’s a much more meaningful lifetime ed experience for them than a learning pod. 10/10