Boutique Options and the Crowded, Noisy Kitchen Table

Here at "The New World," we've covered the speculation regarding what wealth inequality will look like in the new world.  Recently, an NPR program called "Innovation Hub" looked at impact that the pandemic will have on education inequality.  The format is an interview with two university academics from prestigious education programs, and the news is, apparently, not good.

It will probably come as a surprise to no one that, during the wide-ranging discussion of the future of education, there was agreement that economic inequality in educational quality and opportunity will continue and grow.

School closures during the pandemic, as we know, drove districts to develop systems for online learning, for kids from preschool to graduate school, literally overnight.  In addition to radically overhauling the curriculum on the fly, remote education required that students assemble a rather sophisticated collection of resources - again, overnight.  A reliable internet connection and a computer or tablet were essential, as were a place to work, a relatively quiet, distraction-free environment, and (for most students) some level of adult supervision.  In that regard, our experts agree, the overall approach has been "Everyone's on their own, do the best you can."  We all know how that turns out.

Here's how the text summary accompanying the program sums it up:

...many students were unable to consistently participate and became disengaged because of access issues, including shaky internet connections and lack of suitable devices... Overcrowded housing situations, parents working outside the home and homelessness have made remote learning particularly challenging.

Others had much less difficulty participating in their own education:

...parents with more resources have been able to supplement or even replace their student' public shool education with the help of tutors, learning pods, online activities, and other enrichment opportunities.

Apparently, many families with more resources sprang into action and brought those resources to the task of continuing their children's education and enrichment.  Parents were "shopping around" for educational services to supplement or replace public education.  They organized "a la carte" menus containing online instructional content and enrichment activities, and actually hired teachers to provide the instruction, paying in some cases in the six figures - often enticing these teachers away from their roles in public schools.  Some of these ad hoc consortiums even called themselves charter schools, and have received public funding.  "Boutique options" were there for those who could afford them.

So, in the new world, many middle and upper class children will resume their pre-COVID education as if little had interfered with their progress for this long year.  Poorer students, with fewer resources, will have missed much or most instruction during that year; they will have lost a year and will be even further behind the wealthier kids in their cohort.  

The solution?  Our experts suggest "extra summer school classes and addition tutoring."  And the additional public funding that these programs require.  Anyone who's spent any time in an actual public school understands that these solutions will be too little, too late.

Not good enough.  Welcome to the new world.