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Hard times call for difficult sacrifices. Across Colorado and America we have made sacrifices we never imagined less than a year ago. Parents have kept their children out of the few remaining social events to protect a sick grandparent. Young children have foregone birthday parties to make sure they can still attend the one or two days a week of school the union will relent to. Parents have given up their jobs to stay home and teach their children during the day when their teachers are not logged in for virtual instruction.
The Colorado Alliance for In-Person Learning surveyed its members on the effects of COVID-19 and mandated remote learning on their K-12 children and families. Eighty-eight percent of respondents (approximately 1000) of our parents reported their children's mental health has become distressed, distraught, angry, or disconnected as a result of remote learning. To address this shift in mental health, more than 30% of these parents have utilized mental health resources for their children. Compare that to the 7% of children receiving mental health treatment prior to COVID-19 in the nation according to reports by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Family Physicians and you can see that our children are in a state of crisis. This mental health disaster is driven home by the third of our parents reporting that they know of a child who has attempted suicide during mandated remote learning.
Not only are our children in crisis, so are our parents. Our families are reporting that over 57% have lost a job, been required to reduce hours, or take a pay cut because of COVID-19. And over half of our families have had to reduce their work hours or leave the workforce because of the need to assist their children at home with remote learning. We can have an immediate impact on flattening these curves right now: we can get our kids back in school.
Mandated online learning for public school students does not provide educational equality for all children in Colorado. Some families are better equipped to handle remote learning than others based on their child’s adaptability to the online learning model, a parent’s ability to pay for additional tutoring or childcare during remote school days, or a parent’s time in which to help with online school administration. Online school has a unique set of requirements that not all K-12 students have had previous experience with or are equipped to navigate effectively--use of an iPad for the majority of teaching instruction, use of various apps that aren’t integrated cohesively, and navigation of video conferencing technology. Furthermore, throughout Colorado asynchronous learning days have become a cruel joke as students receive minimal, if any, interaction with their teachers. Families have taken to assuming that work will not be possible on Fridays as they indefinitely deal with three day weekends.
The Colorado Education Association, or CEA, released a statement on October 20th, requesting that Governor Polis implement more restrictions on Coloradans. The CEA acknowledges that children are not contributing to the spread of COVID-19 from the classroom, while further highlighting that childcare centers do not drive the spread of this virus. So why does the CEA push so hard to use the community infection rates as the primary basis for keeping our schools shuttered and our children isolated in increasingly mentally harmful situations?
The Colorado Alliance for In-Person Learning originally proposed the #PledgeForKids campaign on December 2nd, and response was clear: parents will not ask their kids to sacrifice more than they already have. Then last week, the CEA along with other partners, launched a similar campaign asking families to avoid holiday gatherings, stay home, and further isolate our children with “online playdates.” Additionally, the CEA has adopted the demands of the radical group Refuse to Return demanding an arbitrarily chosen “clear threshold,” and agreeing to return to work “only when it is safe.”
Our group has supported COVID-19 social distancing efforts from the beginning. Ninety-seven percent of our families report practicing social distancing measures, a reduction in social interactions, and following constantly changing health guidelines in an effort to curb community spread. Our parents are abiding by the guidelines in place so that our children are not contributing to the spread of COVID-19 in the classroom.
Children and families have done their part: sacrificed our businesses, our children’s educations, our mental health, and our friendships. We have stayed home, we have masked-up, and we have tolerated the petty behaviors of partisan actors using this crisis for advancement. We have suffered politicians advocating we live in constant fear while they continue business as normal. We have watched as unions use the crisis as a negotiating tool to achieve long sought concessions. The anecdotal evidence of hypocrisy from the teacher’s union is galling—they have repeatedly encouraged their members to send form emails to school boards, superintendents, and other government officials highlighting their refusal to return to school and teach. And our children continue to suffer.
Why is the increased rate of mental health issues among our children considered safe? Why is the increased number of suicides among our children and community safe? Why is the stunning decline in educational equality between the haves and have nots safe?
The community and our children have done their part and asking them to do even more without asking the same from officials and the union is insulting. Our children are not contributing to the spread of COVID-19 through schools or childcare centers. Our public servants have shown they are overwhelmed by a real crisis. We should help them out! I ask Governor Jared Polis, the CEA President Amie Baca-Ohlert, and the superintendents of our school districts to tell us the personal actions beyond the minimum they plan to take to help get our kids back in school. So, what do you pledge?
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Colorado Alliance for In-Person Learning is a parent-led coalition of district advocacy groups representing over 6000 families, advocating to have a public full-time in-person learning option for students.
Dan Maloit is a single-father of three children from Erie, CO, who currently works in the healthcare industry and previously served as an Army Special Forces Officer.
