NYC Schools: Out of the Classroom ... into the Pandemic

 Voices from the Epicenter

Out of the Classroom ... Into the Pandemic

Brooklyn, first day of online instruction. (Photo: Time Magazine)

As Students Move Online, Many Students Stay Logged Out

 By G.L., a middle-school teacher in the Bronx, April 17    

         As “remote learning” has become the new norm, the disparities in the access to internet and technology has become even more marked between low-income and high-income students. The absence rate is higher in schools with low-income students, many of whom do not have wi-fi, computers or laptops at home. In NYC, some students are still awaiting DOE devices that began to be shipped out in late March. Students in shelters or public housing and ELLs were given priority for receiving the devices many of which are I-pads. This trend of increasing absences has concerned educators and the probability of students repeating the school year, having to attend summer school or extending the school year is constantly being talked about. Around the country, some students have not been able to log on because they live in remote or wooded areas that are not serviced by internet providers; this is the case in Minford, Ohio, for example. Other students lack adult supervision whether that is a parent or a teacher. In Cleveland, which has the highest child-poverty rates, many parents who are considered essential workers continue to go to work in sanitation, health and food service. This leaves children unsupervised and struggling at home.

            The achievement gap between the poor and the wealthy will only get wider. Many students will have to play catch-up once they return to school, which for many states will be the new school year. Some regions are considering the possibility of bringing students back to school in waves in order to maintain social distancing. Students that have spotty internet access are unable to go to libraries, which are closed. Teachers are having difficulties communicating with students and families that speak other languages. Some cities have no fixed attendance guidelines.

In NYC, the numbers for online engagement have not been released though they say that they are still working on the guidelines. After all, what does online engagement look like? Does it mean students are present and participate in their teacher’s video conferences, submission of completed work or a post on the Google classroom stream? Even in schools with higher achieving students, teachers are concerned that, slowly but surely, student engagement will decrease. Students are losing family members to COVID-19, some parents continue to work and risk infection while others are out of work and may not be able to pay the monthly internet bill. (Several of my students have lost, uncles, aunts, and cousins in their home countries due to COVID 19.  Yet the DOE has not come out with guidelines for how to support students that are grieving.

From my experiences so far

Before the shutdown, we were told to compile ten days’ worth of work for students. By the end of the next day, we had folders and packets available to students to bring home. During the three days teachers were required to remain in school after the shutdown, we had to prepare technology and call parents and ask them if they had a laptop or tablet, wi-fi, and if the students had access to a cellphone with a data plan.

I myself called about 30 parents/guardians in three hours, filling out their answers to the questionnaire and leaving voicemails. From the survey only four seventh-graders had a laptop or computer at home.  We also started to fill out the DOE device request based on answers we got from parents. Many parents do not have an email and some of them do not have literacy or computer skills, so filling out the application would be difficult for them.

When it was my turn to stay in the lobby of the school to wait for parents or students to come pick up technology, I was tasked to give one student an electric drum set. This student had crossed the border with his mother and sister. They were detained at the border and placed in a detention center in New Orleans. Although they were not separated, what little possessions they had were taken from them. A violin that the student had was taken and not given back when they were able to leave the detention center. The teachers gifted the electric drum set to the student to use during their lunch gatherings to support him emotionally and build a stronger relationship with him. But now the school closed.

We share the building with two public schools and a charter school. As we were leaving for the day, I saw other teachers bring potted plants, photographs and other personal artifacts to their car, not expecting to come back anytime soon. The principal had also sent out an email saying that we should bring any personal items home with us, which caused a bit of a panic since the idea that we might not come back at all was starting to settle in.

Many parents are still working either in construction or in food-related jobs. If I call them during the day, they are unable to answer, or they left their cellphone at home with their child because they had to cancel the child’s phone plan and they don’t have a landline or wi-fi for the child to use in case they need to communicate with someone. Many of my students live in shelters and the School Community Director was actively trying to get them wi-fi with Optimum. When a technician had gone to install internet, the shelter manager refused to let them in. In other cases, a representative from Optimum had stated they do not provide wi-fi to shelters. Other families that share boarding were unable to get service because previous tenants had an outstanding balance that had to be paid. Many students had to wait two to three weeks before they were able to get a DOE device (I-pads) and had to work on the packets in the meantime. Some parents can’t afford to pay for service, because they have lost their jobs or because they are working less hours. In other cases, families that have more children in school are sharing one device to complete schoolwork.

Since the beginning of remote learning, I had been using Zoom to conference with students.  In many of the conferences, students don’t have headphones, they are carrying younger siblings or relatives on their laps, there are crying children or cameo appearances of family members. One student that I regularly speak to, in my video conferences she is either in a closet or under a table, and her younger sister is constantly trying to look at the screen or yells out questions. Another student in my class has her bed in the kitchen and she has several younger brothers that drive her crazy; she usually carries one of them on her lap during our conferences and must tell them to be quiet.

Another student lives in a shelter with several family members and often sits on the floor because there isn’t a place for him to sit and work. He sometimes can’t even participate verbally because there is so much background noise. Although our attendance has ranged from 86%-100%, not all students are doing all the work for their classes. Some students that cannot read in English do not know what to do because they can’t even read the instructions, they can’t type emails asking for meetings with their teachers and I am sure this has been very demoralizing to them. Trying to accommodate students that have IEPs [Individualized Education Programs] has also been difficult and many of them need one-on-one emotional support, which is hard to do.
                                                                  

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Frustration, Exhaustion, Trauma, Resilience

By K.J., a high school teacher in Brooklyn, April 15 

Frustration, exhaustion, and trauma have been the frequent and repeated words of educators, parents and students alike as we try to articulate the words to describe these unimaginable circumstances resulting from the pandemic of COVID-19. I have been so amazed at the resilience and strength that my students and colleagues have demonstrated amidst all the challenges, sadness and uncertainty that the pandemic has generated. As an educator working with students from marginalized communities, it is nothing new to be concerned about students’ health and well-being or students’ access to technology and other resources needed to succeed academically. However, the circumstances of many students from historically oppressed communities have been intensified and have been more prominent in the public eye as seen through the numerous online publications, radio talk shows, television interviews and other mainstream media.

By the end of the first week of school closures, my school loaned out computers knowing that many of our students do not have access to laptops and other devices at home. We were able to distribute 40 laptops, a number far below the amount needed for our high school with approximately 480 students. During the same week, the DOE announced that they would distribute iPads to students who filled out an online form, but a month later many students are still waiting and the mayor suggests that it won’t be till the end of April that another 200,000 devices will reach students. After one month of waiting, many students across the five boroughs are still waiting for a device that may not even be compatible or practical for the variety of assignments they are being tasked to complete.

In the early days of the quarantine, it was announced that the responsibility of educators was not to recreate the regular school day. But, within the first few days of remote learning, some administrators were pushing for strict online teaching schedules that would have teachers and students online and tied up in virtual meetings all day with no time for lunch. Administrators were quick to collect Zoom links to join and listen in on Zoom sessions, at a time when teachers were trying to create a safe virtual environment and deal with the challenges of learning a new platform, as well as provide instructional activities consistent with the subject content standards of their respective classes.

Teachers were quick to learn the ins-and-outs of Zoom and other teleconference platforms in an effort to reconnect with students. Within days of using Zoom, there were countless reports of “zoombombing,” security and privacy issues. Intruders would log in as students and reveal inappropriate content or make recordings of Zoom sessions to edit and later publish as videos or images of teachers in compromising positions. While Zoom and other similar platforms have privacy and security settings, none are one hundred percent safe. There are a number of things that are unpredictable and cannot be controlled. In many cases, students are asked to use their cameras or microphones to participate and engage in face-to-face interaction. While these digital platforms can be valuable and allow for beneficial interactions between students and teachers, it is extremely invasive as it allows all participants to see and hear everything in the person’s surroundings.

With that said, teachers everywhere are spending an immense amount of time adapting or recreating lessons and materials appropriate for remote learning, calling homes and writing messages to check in with students’ families, spending long hours in front of their screens delivering lessons in real time and providing students with quick feedback on assignments.

A look at time-stamps from emails and Google Classroom reveal students turning in work or teachers responding to communications well past or before our regular professional hours. While it has been stated on the UFT webpage that, “Schools should not try to replicate a regular school day schedule in a virtual environment,” teachers and other personnel have been working around the clock to ensure the best possible outcome for students’ learning and support.

It is not uncommon for households to have many school-age children. At this moment, each of them is receiving daily assignments, correspondence and virtual classroom/teleconferencing schedules to follow. It is, in another sense of the word, “virtually” impossible to expect every school-age child to have their own device readily available to them to continue the school curriculum. It was recently announced that Regents examinations were canceled. While this has eased some of our end-of-the-year concerns, it has raised others. The Regent waivers are contingent upon whether or not a student passes their classes terminating in a Regents exam.  Therefore, a student who is not regularly participating or submitting assignments is unlikely to receive a passing grade and will not be entitled to the Regent’s waiver. Again, this puts students with little or no access to technology at a huge disadvantage and can ultimately impact their likelihood of graduating on time.

Numerous reports confirm a reality that has always existed within New York City’s public education system and throughout the U.S., that class and race intersect. The hurdle of providing remote education via online platforms is just one of the many disturbing inequalities revealed during this tragic time.

            On April 3rd, the mayor and his schools chancellor, Richard Carranza announced that not only would Spring Break be canceled, but Passover and Good Friday as well. The reaction of many teachers was mixed, in part because many feel that it is our duty to be supportive at a time when doctors, nurses, first responders and other essential workers are putting their lives on the line. While there wasn’t much opposition to this decision, it raised many questions about the remaining school year. Does this mean there is a possibility, teachers will be expected to work through the summer? And as we make tremendous efforts in supporting and teaching our students, are we simultaneously paving the way for the further privatization and charterization of public schools? Now that we’ve faced the challenges and have overcome some obstacles, will this be the new expectation for the future of public education?

It is sickening to think that big business could take advantage of such a tragic situation. But it wouldn’t be the first time. After all, Hurricane Katrina paved the way for privatizers to scoop up real estate and displace the historically disenfranchised and marginalized communities of New Orleans as well as replace public schools with charters. While some administrators are charging on like business-as-usual, so are the wealthy. Businesses want to stay open as long as possible and ignore hazardous working conditions in order to profit off the poor and working-class.

            As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the United States, it is hitting many sectors of the working class. Workers are being forced to work in harmful conditions with few protections or no safety measures against the coronavirus. It is disheartening to see so many subjected and forced to accept such terrible conditions because their livelihoods and the well-being of their families depend on it. This comes at a time when unemployment, homelessness and limited access to resources is at an all-time high. I deeply sympathize with workers worldwide who have now taken courageous actions to demand humane and safe conditions.

The week of school closures, teachers and other school personnel were expected to attend three days of professional development in distance learning. There was such a lack of concern for all city employees as reports of busy hospitals and doctors’ offices flooded the media. There were many teachers who called out because they didn’t have enough time to get childcare or didn’t want to run the risks of taking public transportation and entering a crowded building. Despite contacting their school to express their concerns, days were deducted from their CAR (accumulated sick days). Many, out of fear of being singled out, went in and risked exposure to themselves and others.

Class Struggle Education Workers (CSEW) is part of the fight for a revitalization and transformation of the labor movement into an instrument for the emancipation of the working class and the oppressed.  See the CSEW program here.