{"id":1385481,"date":"2022-03-17T07:38:40","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T11:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1385481"},"modified":"2022-03-17T07:38:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T11:38:52","slug":"covid-restrictions-in-public-schools-might-be-over-but-the-failures-they-revealed-are-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/covid-restrictions-in-public-schools-might-be-over-but-the-failures-they-revealed-are-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid Restrictions In Public Schools Might Be Over, But The Failures They Revealed Are Not"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcovid-restrictions-in-public-schools-might-be-over-but-the-failures-they-revealed-are-not%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1385481&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/50120211808_0381a568c2_k.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s been quite a year for us teachers!<\/p>\n<p>No, not 2020-2021, the first official school <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/05\/21\/even-when-teaching-in-person-it-was-still-a-horrible-school-year-for-my-students\/\">year<\/a> that saw schools <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/health-news\/articles\/2020-12-02\/shut-them-down-why-schools-might-not-be-safe-during-covid-19\">canceled<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/05\/14\/why-online-schooling-should-not-become-the-norm\/\">remote learning<\/a> implemented in the name of Covid, while nearly any in-person learning was limited and made miserable with social-distancing guidelines and mask mandates. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m talking about the current school year when most public schools were reopened, social distancing guidelines were dropped somewhat, and mask mandates were ended. Many students returned to campus for the first time since March 2020. Many teachers had to actually dress up for work and think about what they\u2019d do with the students in their classrooms, while bracing for the emotional and psychological fallout of lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, after the first year of Covid hysteria, it would take more than a return to high school football and standardized testing to bring back any real sense of normalcy. There were those like me who simply wanted to return to the good old days of covering prescribed material, preparing kids for their exams, and resuming all the extracurricular programs. <\/p>\n<p>But there were even more who questioned all of these things and found them absurd in light of the pandemic. Why discuss a book\u2019s main idea or its author\u2019s purpose, when people around the world were dying of Covid?<\/p>\n<p>In a sense, Covid had not gone away but had instead enrolled for the new school year. Whether the threat was real or not, every decision and program was filtered through the prism of Covid. Of all supposed \u201cstakeholders\u201d in public education, this virus was the first and foremost. It didn\u2019t really matter if the other actual stakeholders were harmed, if only Covid\u2019s needs were fully addressed.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"ditching-covid-rules-didn-t-end-their-damage\">Ditching Covid Rules Didn\u2019t End their Damage<\/h2>\n<p>As a result, most schools effectively morphed into daycare centers. Assignments turned into activities; teachers turned into therapists\/supervisors\/web designers; students turned into helpless victims; and the school community dissolved into a senseless, demoralized crowd of people who feared one another. Even after two years, everyone at school is simply trying to make it safely through the day.<\/p>\n<p>Granted, many would contend that schools were this way even before Covid, and in many cases this is unfortunately true. However, Covid certainly made this preexisting dysfunction worse. Formerly reputable schools in affluent suburbs suddenly took on attributes of violent schools in the inner cities, and violent inner-city schools took on attributes of refugee camps. Everyone took a hit.<\/p>\n<p>Before Covid, it could be said that, whatever faults existed in public schools, they were still better than no schooling. After Covid, even the prospect of no schooling seems better than what\u2019s going on at most campuses. If a child spends much of his day binging TikTok videos in his bedroom, it\u2019s still an improvement from the neighborhood school where he would probably be doing the same thing, just while wearing a mask, receiving a <a href=\"https:\/\/quillette.com\/2021\/04\/24\/grade-inflation-is-ruining-education\/\">meaningless<\/a> grade, and risking being <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/12\/02\/dallas-students-riot-amid-rising-violence-in-public-schools-nationwide\/\">brutalized<\/a> by his peers.<\/p>\n<p>Added to the breakdown in order, Covid heightened political differences among faculty. Many leftist teachers felt the need to <a href=\"https:\/\/legalinsurrection.com\/2022\/03\/parents-liare-fighting-a-racialized-equity-audit-in-north-kingstown-ri-and-so-far-were-winning\/\">racialize<\/a> their instruction and encourage political <a href=\"https:\/\/www.graduateprogram.org\/2020\/02\/how-teachers-can-foster-and-encourage-student-activism\/\">activism<\/a>. No longer satisfied with teaching knowledge and skills and taking a balanced approach to controversial issues, they had their students explore their identity, check their privilege, and learn the \u201creal history\u201d of the United States. And if parents were upset that their children were failing exams and lacking life skills, this was only proof that they were <a href=\"https:\/\/amgreatness.com\/2022\/02\/20\/shutting-down-parents-does-not-help-public-education\/\">white supremacists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As bad as these teachers were, at least they did what they thought was their job. Even worse were the teachers who shamelessly cited Covid as an excuse to do <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/01\/08\/us\/teachers-unions-covid-schools.html?referringSource=articleShare\">nothing<\/a>. In blue states infested with teachers unions, teachers successfully kept schools from fully reopening for nearly two years.<\/p>\n<p>Like the bad student who\u2019s lectured to behave by his teachers and principals but goes back to class to misbehave once more, Covid continues to make an already bad situation worse. There\u2019s now even less learning, less safety, less community, and plenty more paranoia and hypochondria.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"parents-have-noticed-how-bad-schools-are\">Parents Have Noticed How Bad Schools Are<\/h2>\n<p>Fortunately, there\u2019s a light at the end of this dark tunnel: Schools have finally become bad enough for people to notice. No longer can parents drop their kids off at school and blithely assume the best. They know something has to change.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, many things have to change, almost too many to count. To their great credit, parents around the country have taken to protesting school boards over some of these things, like <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/08\/03\/a-guide-to-long-term-strategic-thinking-for-parents-who-oppose-crt-in-schools\/\">critical race theory<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/08\/20\/gender-ideology-a-boon-to-big-pharma-and-threat-to-parental-rights\/\">leftist gender ideology<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/articles\/why-texas-parents-want-to-ban-books\/\">pornography in school libraries<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/us\/parents-protest-end-of-gifted-and-talented-program-in-nyc-public-schools\/ar-AAPqwGv\">eliminating Gifted and Talented programs<\/a> for the sake of equity.<\/p>\n<p>School choice advocates are making inroads with audiences, showing the public school monopoly resists all kinds of reform. But is this enough?<\/p>\n<p>No doubt school choice would improve the situation at most schools \u2014 although at this point, any change would be an improvement \u2014 but it\u2019s unlikely that they would improve enough for any kind of educational golden age. Moreover, they probably wouldn\u2019t improve enough to make up for the damage done by the country\u2019s Covid response.<\/p>\n<p>Choice and sanity are key, but so is a proper understanding of how schooling works. Parents can pull their kids out of a bad public school and use a voucher to enroll them in a private school, but a new school may not be much better (see elite Dallas prep schools <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/03\/09\/texas-private-school-defends-political-violence-tells-white-people-re-educate-yourself\/\">Hockaday<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/01\/27\/dallas-private-school-lies-to-parents-about-teaching-students-racism\/\">Episcopal School of Dallas<\/a>). And sure, people can rest a little easier knowing that American children aren\u2019t being indoctrinated with leftist propaganda (at least at school), but there\u2019s no reason to think they\u2019re learning much else now that it\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-the-purpose-of-education\">What Is the Purpose of Education?<\/h2>\n<p>To effectively address public education\u2019s array of challenges, it\u2019s necessary to reexamine the purpose of school. If it\u2019s about educating children and preparing them for the adult world, what does this look like? What is a good education? Is there an objective standard that applies to all people, or is the standard relative and dependent on each individual?<\/p>\n<p>Should we clad all young people in blazers and slacks and have them read and study the classics? Should we ditch the books and have their students learn by doing and train them for a future career? Should we inculcate students in America\u2019s founding principles and make them model citizens? Or should we offer as many options and paths as possible?<\/p>\n<p>The catch-all approach to schooling (multiple paths, multiple definitions of success) is what schools have operated on for a very long time. But, in trying to please everyone, most public schools are pleasing no one.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to expanding options, academic and moral excellence must become the primary goals for any reform effort. This entails a holistic approach to the project of public education, touching on safety, instruction, culture, and discipline. <\/p>\n<p>I remain optimistic that we can have better schools, and we can get past the virus and the accompanying fallout. But for that to happen, it\u2019s up to all of us to get informed, get involved, and make our voices heard.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher in the Dallas area. He holds an MA in humanities and an MEd in educational leadership. He is the senior editor of The Everyman and has written essays for The Federalist, The American Conservative, and The Imaginative Conservative, as well as the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. Follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MeyratAuguste\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been quite a year for us teachers! No, not 2020-2021, the first official school year that saw schools canceled and remote learning implemented in the name of Covid, while<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1385481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1385481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1385481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1385481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1385481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}