I’m really sick of the posturing about “BUT THE POOR KIDS”. You cannot decide you care about the education of low-income children when you haven’t worked to protect them and their families from the disproportionate effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on them. 1/ https://twitter.com/johnshopkins/status/1346151273251311618

Yes. Schooling is incredibly important and the poorest students have the least access to the equipment needed to succeed with virtual learning approaches. That is a fact that we are reckoning with. But do you know what else they have the least access to? Quality healthcare! 2/

If you care about the impoverished so much, why are all these think pieces about opening schools and not GIVING PEOPLE HEALTHCARE?! Or providing their families with monetary aid to help them survive this pandemic? Or providing housing to unhoused youth? 3/

You can rightly point out that virtual learning has created a barrier to equitable education, but where was this before the pandemic? Where was the concern for housing the unhoused? For ensuring access to internet? Or transportation to schools? 4/

If you think a choppy connection is the biggest barrier to low-income students learning effectively, I think it’s time you actually ask them what makes it harder for them to study. Being hungry makes it hard to learn. Not having a stable home makes it hard to learn. 5/

I’m tired of seeing this debate about “we need to protect the children” from people who don’t actually care. Teachers, the people who dedicate their LIVES to caring for the children of this country overwhelmingly do not support opening schools while cases are EXPLODING. 6/

It’s time to take a step back and listen to educators. They know what needs to be done. Give them the support they need to keep their students learning AND safe. They’ve been doing the work you say you care about much longer than you have. 7/

Lastly, how about we fight for a public health strategy that involves SLOWING THE PANDEMIC. Create the conditions in which it actually IS safe to begin reopening schools slowly. Until then, save me your sudden worry of the low-income kids you claim you’re worried about. 8/

This piece grossly minimizes the problem here, and it’s shameful. In Baltimore of all places, where the public schools don’t even have working HVAC systems. You can’t just put up plexiglass and send kids to school in “pods”. We need to fix the underlying issues. 8/