What is the cost of educational attainment and achievement in a distant learning pandemic environment? by Gary A Green II

What does social distancing mean for the future of education– beyond the mask, and beyond six feet of distance? Finding the right metaphor to talk about such an already layered topic is not an easy task. 

We must remember that social distancing is a legally mandated set of social and systemic changes. While these systematic adjustments come as a result of (temporary?) social distancing ordinances, the systems being modified or created in response to this crisis will remain in place as part of our reality long after social distancing orders are relaxed. These system changes occur under the auspices of social distancing, so it is imperative that we take a moment to to reflect and think critically on what social distancing really means for educational equity. For as we are beginning to realize, these innovations have the power to differentially alter the way we experience the world and access resources.  Social distancing allows the economy to remain open, and presumably, the US can be saved from an impending economic disaster. And herein lies the question:

At what cost? And to whom? 

James Baldwin and William F. Buckley’s debate “Has the American Dream Come at the Expense of the Negro?” was a historical clash of ideologies. In the opening statements to the Cambridge University audience of mostly white, suit clad young men, Baldwin astutely argues that America has laid a trap for black people and that trap is that America really consists of two competing “systems of reality”. There is the reality that the system was built for you (if you are white), or the reality that the system was built on you (if you are black). As Baldwin states,

“It comes as a great shock to discover that Gary Cooper killing off the Indians, when you were rooting for Gary Cooper, that the Indians were you. It comes as a great shock to discover that the country which is your birthplace and to which you owe your life and your identity, has not, in its whole system of reality, evolved any place for you.” 

Baldwin’s two systems of reality come starkly into focus with the current reality of distance learning. We see more clearly than ever that in America there are two educational systems; two realities; one that serves the high achieving population, and the other, that shortchanges those lower on the socioeconomic ladder. The reproductive function of education has built a system where the wealthy students continue to be educated and thrive in our society and whereas poor minority students are forced to take low-wage jobs. 

This, finally, brings us to the sad occasion of asking:

What is the cost of educational attainment and achievement in a distant learning pandemic environment, and at whose expense does this achievement come? 

Historically speaking, the costs have been quite significant. When the nation rallies to solve a crisis, people of low socio-economic status (low SES) tend to bear the burden of the solution and lose ‘equity’ in some form (property, capital, life). The VA Loan program (set up in 1944) administered by the FHA helped returning soldiers buy homes after WWII, when the American dream of owning a home became a reality for most white families. The social realities at that time were such that Blacks were not allowed to partake in that surge of wealth creation. 

Similarly, the war on drugs was another legislative initiative that ostensibly served the American people, yet overburdened entire communities with militarized policing and ultimately led to another piece of legislation in the 1990s, a crime bill linked to the mass incarceration of low SES Black and Brown folks in staggering numbers. 

There have been several important pieces of legislation that have differentially affected minority populations, but Brown v board of Education stands out in this case as an important and relevant example. In the sixty years since the historic decision, public schools have struggled to ‘make good’ the ideas of integrated schooling that supports the needs of all students. The hard fought victory for civil rights was years in the making and decades of work have been invested into making equality in schools a reality. Now, with the sweeping powers of emergency legislation, our education system has been upended and we are in grave danger of losing equity in our educational investment.

When schools were ordered shut down and families became responsible for creating an educational environment at home, although temporary, this may have effectively constituted a form of educational legislation. Do social distancing ordinances, by restricting the operation of schools, deny some students access to certain parts of school (such as classes that are only offered online and the student does not have internet access at home)? This civil rights issue seems to be a question we may want to pose to experts at the intersection of race, technology, and constitutional law. 

Some of the questions being posed when distance learning measures went into effect were: Do all children have access to the Internet at home? A computer? A quiet space dedicated solely to learning? The answer became a resounding ‘no’. And as the months went on, a phenomenon of learning pods forming in neighborhoods began to emerge. Parents who could afford to hire private teachers formed small groups in backyards and spare rooms, creating insular pods of learning. And this is where the nature of the true distance between student outcomes becomes evident.

In September the stories began to emerge about students in online learning environments receiving very few hours of instruction and parents struggling to try and make up the difference. The difference in this case being clear: the access to resources such as technology, tutors, and extracurricular activities, which in these times may be a bridge to weathering the challenges of pandemic learning. What is also becoming evident, is that some students will come out of this experience more prepared for the future, while others will be suffering the effects of this pandemic for a generation to come.

Unfortunately, Baldwin’s two systems of reality analogy is still applicable today. The dual education system creates one (virtual) reality for students who come from higher resourced backgrounds, and another for students who are suffering from devastating conditions of the pandemic. 

But what is to be done?

While social distancing may represent a solution to America's need to get back to business as usual, a certain section of the population will not prosper, but will be harmed in administering the solution. These are the burden bearers in the two systems of reality. In a distant learning environment students without resources are in an educational desert, stripped of all resources and electronically segregated. Thus, with the passing of pandemic measures instituting six feet of social distancing, we may be inadvertently unravelling six decades of legislation.