July 30, 2021
Across our nation, families and students have struggled during the pandemic to keep up with their educational progress. For many families, this pandemic forced them into a crisis-induced distance learning that they, and their local school districts, were not prepared for. For students of color, this crisis-induced distance learning demonstrated to the nation the significant gap that they face in equally accessing education opportunities.
While certain communities easily negotiated this process, far too many neighborhoods across our nation saw families struggle with key distance learning components such as access to high-speed internet and having key technology tools like laptops and tablets readily available.
The result of this chaos is the reality that a significant amount of our nation’s students are preparing to return to school this fall with significant learning loss and gaps in their education. For students of color, the learning loss has been far more significant. In a study published by McKinsey in December 2020, it was estimated that the learning loss for students of color in math was 12 to 16 months. The issues and challenges that await teachers, students, and families this fall are serious and require the entire focus of our elected officials.