March 18, 2020
By Matt Beienburg
U.S. News & World Report declared
just a few years ago that policy achievements in K-12 education had once “stood
out as a shining example of bipartisanship in an ever-partisan, log jammed
political system.” By 2017, however, the epitaph read: “Bipartisan education
politics a thing of the past.”
But now, in the midst
of the rising coronavirus pandemic, perhaps we can see a renewed glimmer of
this spirit shining through the storm clouds.
Sure, we seem far from
national unity when, as Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) observed
early on, forums and discussion boards are “filled with frustrated complaints
about the idiocy of school leaders. When schools close, critics fume that it’s
an irresponsible overreaction. When schools don’t close, it’s a failure to take
the crisis seriously.” But regardless of one’s take on the containment
measures, one thing is clear—the coronavirus has forced together decision-makers
of all stripes to help address the well-being of students and families. In
Arizona this week, as elsewhere around the country, the announcement
of statewide school closures came in remarkably apolitical language: a joint
statement by Republican Governor Doug Ducey and Democrat Superintendent Kathy
Hoffman.
Meanwhile, educators,
parents, and the public have stepped forward to meet an unprecedented situation
in innovative ways, and their efforts deserve our recognition. As Governor
Ducey observed, for those whose lives have been upended by school closures, “we
are coordinating with partners in the nonprofit, faith-based, and education
communities, including the Boys and Girls Club and YMCA to make available child
care options to families who need it,” while organizations of various types
seek to ensure students’ continued access to meals.
At the same time, news outlets have noted
“the Governor ask[ing] that school officials make every effort to provide
continued education learning opportunities through online resources or
materials that could be sent home.”
Of course, for the
nearly 2 million students
in the United States who are homeschooled normally, this mode of education may
seem reasonably familiar. But for the rest, we see individuals and institutions
stepping up to help light the way. From Kerry McDonald at the Cato Institute
compiling a list
of free resources (ranging from the Smithsonian to Khan Academy to TED-Ed to
gently reminding us of the power of books and offline media) to larger
providers reportedly
gearing up to share their remote learning plans nationally, there is much to be
encouraged by. Indeed, as the Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke similarly wrote
this week, while many public places may have temporarily closed their doors to
field trips, over 2,000 museums—such as the National Gallery of Art and the
British Museum—have created virtual tours for families to access from home.
Perhaps more important
than even the catalogs of resources, however, have been the responses of individuals who have stepped up not only
for their own kids, but to offer advice and reassurance to others. Reports of
parents sharing
homeschooling tips with each other, infused with small
doses
of humor and humble expectations, have helped give vitality and hope from the
ground up.
Of course, even with
all of these encouraging actions, there is no doubt that difficult, costly, and
politically charged decisions lie ahead. But as AEI’s Hess
put it, “fiscally prudent policymakers shouldn’t treat this as a moment to
grandstand or nickel-and-dime schools and colleges. It also means, though, that
school leaders and advocates would do well not to treat this crisis as a cash
piñata.”
Whatever trials the
next weeks or months hold, perhaps we can embrace the resilience and
educational creativity of our communities and reclaim a small piece of the
bipartisanship of days gone by.
Matt
Beienburg is the Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute.
This is part of an ongoing series of posts analyzing America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. For more on this topic from Goldwater Institute experts, click here.
