Conflicts over Education to Come in 2022
2022-01-18
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1At school board meetings across the United States in 2021, parents physically fought each other.
2Others shouted and threatened school board members.
3These disagreements even entered state politics, like the 2021 Virginia governor's race.
4The issues included how race, racism and transgendered student rights are taught.
5Most of the media attention last year also centered on critical race theory.
6For some, critical race theory, or CRT, is a way of understanding how race has shaped American society and public policy.
7For others, CRT creates division and conflict between white people and minorities.
8The theory, however, is not being taught to public school students in the country.
9Kate Phillippo is a professor at Loyola University in Chicago.
10Joseph Ferrare teaches at the University of Washington.
11These two researchers said these conflicts are likely to continue into the new year.
12And they shared their observations on the website The Conversation.
13In 2022, conflicts over online education are likely to increase with the spread of the Omicron variant and the required vaccination for all students.
14The issue is whether parents should have control over how public money is spent on educating their children.
15This could lead to risks of moving money away from public schools to others like religious, private, and charter schools.
16By last autumn, schools in the U.S. largely returned to in-person classes.
17However, demand for home-schooling and online schooling has risen.
18Parents have discovered that those choices offer more control over the use of time, what their children learn, and safety from the coronavirus.
19In Washington State, the number of students choosing online education has greatly increased at for-profit schools that receive public money.
20One company, Washington Virtual Academies, saw a student body increase of about 85 percent from 2020 to 2021.
21Schools across the country saw a similar movement.
22And school choice supporters argued that parental demand for online education would continue.
23Ferrare and several others studied the effects of online education compared to in-person classes among students.
24They found that students who switch to online schools experience considerable learning losses in reading and math during each of the three years after switching.
25That evidence has forced policymakers to consider greater control over online schools.
26Some American universities consider the race of a student along with other qualities like economic status for college admission.
27In 2022, legal cases involving affirmative action will likely create more disagreement on education in America.
28Affirmative action is a practice or policy of helping individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously.
29This year, the case of Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard University will reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
30The group argued that Harvard held Asian Americans to a higher standard to give preference to black and Hispanic students with lower grades.
31Harvard says it uses race as one of many things it considers in admissions decisions.
32It believes considering race can help create a mixed community "where students from all walks of life" can learn with and from each other.
33In 2022, teachers' unions may continue to exercise their power even with ongoing efforts by parents and other groups to limit it.
34A union is an organization that represents the interests of teachers.
35Last year, teachers' unions effectively negotiated increased health safety measures against the spread of COVID-19 in cities including New York and Los Angeles.
36In January, a dispute over the COVID-19 safety measures kept 350,000 students from in-person classes in Chicago for five days.
37The teachers returned after school officials agreed to expand COVID-19 testing and establish rules for when to close schools during outbreaks.
38These wins signal the ability of teachers' unions to negotiate on issues like working conditions and pay.
39With shortages of qualified teachers, unions' negotiation power may intensify.
40American school systems usually have gifted education programs for students that show a high level of success.
41Many programs began as efforts to keep white families from leaving racially diverse public schools in urban areas.
42They were created to compete with high-performing private schools.
43Such programs have been under much criticism in recent years.
44Critics say they worsen racial divisions and inequality in the country's education system.
45An Associated Press study of recent federal data found that nationwide, 8.1 percent of white and 12.7 percent of Asian American children in public schools are considered gifted.
46But only 4.5 percent of Hispanic and 3.5 percent of Black students are identified as gifted.
47In 2022, gifted education may become a national debate.
48So far, it has been centered in New York City, but it may spread.
49In early October, the outgoing mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio announced plans to end the gifted programs in the country's largest school system.
50However, Eric Adams, the new mayor said he plans to keep gifted programs in place.
51In California, policymakers plan to group students of different mathematical abilities in the same classroom.
52Only in their last year of school will students be able to choose an advanced mathematics class.
53Other efforts are also launched in Boston, Massachusetts and Seattle, Washington to end the gifted education programs.
54I'm Gregory Stachel. And I'm Caty Weaver.
1At school board meetings across the United States in 2021, parents physically fought each other. Others shouted and threatened school board members. 2These disagreements even entered state politics, like the 2021 Virginia governor's race. The issues included how race, racism and transgendered student rights are taught. 3Most of the media attention last year also centered on critical race theory. For some, critical race theory, or CRT, is a way of understanding how race has shaped American society and public policy. For others, CRT creates division and conflict between white people and minorities. The theory, however, is not being taught to public school students in the country. 4Kate Phillippo is a professor at Loyola University in Chicago. Joseph Ferrare teaches at the University of Washington. 5These two researchers said these conflicts are likely to continue into the new year. And they shared their observations on the website The Conversation. 6Online education 7In 2022, conflicts over online education are likely to increase with the spread of the Omicron variant and the required vaccination for all students. 8The issue is whether parents should have control over how public money is spent on educating their children. This could lead to risks of moving money away from public schools to others like religious, private, and charter schools. 9By last autumn, schools in the U.S. largely returned to in-person classes. 10However, demand for home-schooling and online schooling has risen. Parents have discovered that those choices offer more control over the use of time, what their children learn, and safety from the coronavirus. 11In Washington State, the number of students choosing online education has greatly increased at for-profit schools that receive public money. One company, Washington Virtual Academies, saw a student body increase of about 85 percent from 2020 to 2021. Schools across the country saw a similar movement. And school choice supporters argued that parental demand for online education would continue. 12Ferrare and several others studied the effects of online education compared to in-person classes among students. They found that students who switch to online schools experience considerable learning losses in reading and math during each of the three years after switching. That evidence has forced policymakers to consider greater control over online schools. 13Affirmative action 14Some American universities consider the race of a student along with other qualities like economic status for college admission. 15In 2022, legal cases involving affirmative action will likely create more disagreement on education in America. Affirmative action is a practice or policy of helping individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously. 16This year, the case of Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard University will reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The group argued that Harvard held Asian Americans to a higher standard to give preference to black and Hispanic students with lower grades. 17Harvard says it uses race as one of many things it considers in admissions decisions. It believes considering race can help create a mixed community "where students from all walks of life" can learn with and from each other. 18Teachers unions 19In 2022, teachers' unions may continue to exercise their power even with ongoing efforts by parents and other groups to limit it. A union is an organization that represents the interests of teachers. 20Last year, teachers' unions effectively negotiated increased health safety measures against the spread of COVID-19 in cities including New York and Los Angeles. 21In January, a dispute over the COVID-19 safety measures kept 350,000 students from in-person classes in Chicago for five days. The teachers returned after school officials agreed to expand COVID-19 testing and establish rules for when to close schools during outbreaks. 22These wins signal the ability of teachers' unions to negotiate on issues like working conditions and pay. With shortages of qualified teachers, unions' negotiation power may intensify. 23Gifted programs 24American school systems usually have gifted education programs for students that show a high level of success. Many programs began as efforts to keep white families from leaving racially diverse public schools in urban areas. They were created to compete with high-performing private schools. 25Such programs have been under much criticism in recent years. Critics say they worsen racial divisions and inequality in the country's education system. 26An Associated Press study of recent federal data found that nationwide, 8.1 percent of white and 12.7 percent of Asian American children in public schools are considered gifted. But only 4.5 percent of Hispanic and 3.5 percent of Black students are identified as gifted. 27In 2022, gifted education may become a national debate. So far, it has been centered in New York City, but it may spread. 28In early October, the outgoing mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio announced plans to end the gifted programs in the country's largest school system. However, Eric Adams, the new mayor said he plans to keep gifted programs in place. 29In California, policymakers plan to group students of different mathematical abilities in the same classroom. Only in their last year of school will students be able to choose an advanced mathematics class. 30Other efforts are also launched in Boston, Massachusetts and Seattle, Washington to end the gifted education programs. 31I'm Gregory Stachel. And I'm Caty Weaver. 32Joseph J. Ferrare and Kate Phillippo reported this story for The Conversation. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 33_____________________________________________________________________ 34Words in This Story 35board - n. group of people who have been chosen to learn information about something or to give advice 36transgendered - adj. of or relating to people who feel that their true nature does not match their sex at birth 37opportunity - n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done 38variant - n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind 39switch - v. to make a change from one thing to another : to start doing or using something that is different 40admission - n. the act or process of accepting someone as a student at a school 41affirmative action - n. the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, or something else 42union - n. an organization of workers formed to protect the rights and interests of its members 43diverse - adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other