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Important findings from @JessicaCalarco's survey of parents about their kids' education. She offers some good explanations for why so many parents (especially with a BA) are likely opting for in-person. I'm interested in the other side of the story. A 
. https://scatter.wordpress.com/2021/02/09/whos-in-person-and-who-can-be-families-access-to-and-decisions-about-in-person-instruction-in-the-wake-of-covid-19/
. https://scatter.wordpress.com/2021/02/09/whos-in-person-and-who-can-be-families-access-to-and-decisions-about-in-person-instruction-in-the-wake-of-covid-19/
This is the graph that interests me: Parents of color without a BA are the LEAST likely to opt for in-person instruction. Why? Here are my thoughts, based on our qualitative research with poor and working-class parents around the United States.
These are the essential workers -- healthcare workers, grocery store workers, teacher's aides. They have the MOST to lose by keeping their kids out. They're less likely to have paid leave or a financial cushion, and their jobs are less likely to have a remote option.
When they keep their kids at home, these parents lose their jobs. All of the jobs lost in December 2020 were by women. That month marked the steepest drop in Black women's employment since April. https://www.thecut.com/2021/01/all-jobs-lost-in-december-2020-were-held-by-women-report.html
And despite this, Black and Latino/a/x parents without a college education are opting for remote school more than other groups. I interviewed a Black single mom in rural NC today who made that choice. She worked as a healthcare aide.
When schools started in the fall, she couldn't take the risk of sending her daughter, and didn't have anyone who could watch her, so she quit her job. She scraped by on some savings & by carefully budgeting. But she experienced food insecurity (which is what our study is about).
"Reopening schools" won't help this mom. She won't take the risk. (And given that essential workers of color are exposed to more COVID risk and more likely to know people who have been hospitalized or died from COVID, of course this makes sense).
What she needs is money. Money that can give a bit more of a cushion while she cares for her daughter. When I asked her what the government should be doing, she said they need to "pull together, push harder to help people. DO something."
