EPIC IN THE NEWS
School closures create inequity, often don’t match virus rates, face political influence
DATE: February 8, 2021
Michigan’s longest school closures have happened more often in economically disadvantaged districts than wealthy districts and reflect local political leanings more closely than COVID-19 infection rates, according to a Detroit News analysis. About 16% of the state’s 833 districts primarily offered virtual instruction only this school year through January, according to plans filed each month with the Michigan Department of Education. The remote-learning districts average significantly higher rates of minority students and economically disadvantaged students than the state.
Those facts concern education experts and policymakers, who argue face-to-face instruction is the preferred teaching method and are worried about the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the extended closures of some Michigan schools that have gone without in-person learning since March 13.
Read the full news article here.
