The state Board of Education Standards spent time yesterday discussing how to support our public schools as they perform a near-instant teaching revolution amidst a public health crisis. Their plan? Send a nice letter:
South Dakota teachers and other school employees will soon receive a letter of thanks from the state Board of Education Standards for their rapid turnaround to provide classes and other services to students at home during the COVID-19 crisis.
…Secretary Ben Jones said the state Department of Education could distribute the letter to teachers and school administrators.
…Jones said his department’s people are communicating with schools during what he described as “this remarkable time of change.” He encouraged state board members to reach out too. “That’s the first thing that comes to mind,” he said.
…Jones said schools have accomplished “a miracle in many ways” by flipping around their delivery model. “Your public acknowledgement of that would be greatly appreciated,” he told the board [Bob Mercer, “State Board Plans Letter of Praise to Staffs of South Dakota Schools for COVID-19 Efforts,” KELO-TV, 2020.04.06].
Like Secretary Jones, I’ve spent a little time over the past month thinking of things we can do to help teachers, students, and everyone else affected by the coronavirus and the sudden recession. Neither first, second, tenth, or last thing that’s come to my mind has been to send someone a thank-you letter… although I did think the other day that maybe we could start leaving gift cards (fully sanitized, of course) to Kessler’s or Hy-Vee on the windshields of cars in the hospital employees’ parking lots. Maybe some grocery cards (or a card to Best Buy to for better webcams and tablets?) for your neighborhood teachers are in order.
But hey: the Legislature cancelled this year’s standardized tests, so I guess the state board and Department of Education have to find something else to do with their time.
Pffft!
The U of Minnesota is expecting a 20% decline in the freshman class this fall. I wonder if the SoDak schools will be in the same boat? That’s a lot of students.
Decline—that runs counter to the model where a recession drives more students to campus. I wonder: is the 20% decline temporary, as students put off making decisions amidst the current uncertainty, but will race back to campus (or at least online options) when we get closer to fall? Or could it be that many students are repelled by online learning and want to wait until they are sure they can go to an actual campus for the full college experience?
But this isn’t a normal recession so that model doesn’t fit.
I wonder if it’s mostly a question of doubting they’ll have the ability to repay loans or feeling unsure about what the job/career market is going to look like.