How COVID-19 impacts public education in low income communities

By Brittany Sincox, B.S.

Source: Pixabay

In the midst of a global pandemic, how students are educated has drastically changed. While zoom meetings, google classrooms, and online exams may seem accessible during this high-technology age, COVID-19 has created even more educational barriers for low-income students. In low income neighborhoods in Washington D.C., school administrators struggled to get online access for all students for nearly six weeks. Across the entirety of D.C., 11% of students do not have access to high speed internet at home. However, a 2019 general household study revealed an astonishing difference between internet access in DC’s wealthiest and poorest wards. Ward 8 has the lowest median income at $31,954 and only 46% of Ward 8 homes have high speed internet access, while 86% of homes in Ward 3 with a median income of $122,680 have high speed internet. While adapting to online learning presents a challenge for teachers and students everywhere, these issues with attendance and technology accessibility are not as prevalent in higher income neighborhoods. 

Aside from technological access issues, teachers are increasingly worried about the holistic impact on a low income student’s life after converting to online schools. Even when students have access to online school platforms, attendance is less than 50% in low income schools according to teachers surveyed by the Washington Teachers Union. Some teachers reported that their students work in restaurants or landscaping to aid families during the financial crisis COVID-19 has caused, leading to less time in classrooms and higher infection risk to these families. Food scarcity is yet another area of concern. While Food and Nutrition Services offers a “Pandemic EBT” program similar to SNAP benefits for children on free and reduced lunch programs, DC didn’t begin distributing benefits to these families until May 22^nd, more than 2 months after schools were initially shut down. Additionally, special education and ESL teachers have concerns for the lack of individualized attention and schoolwork help these students are able to receive due to conversion to online platforms. Nearly all areas of student life have been impacted due to COVID-19, and low income families are being stretched thin to accommodate this new era of online learning. 

With a second wave of COVID-19 infections and lockdowns becoming imminent, schools need to prepare for continued online learning. However, the cost of the pandemic on schools alone makes it difficult to further invest in advancing online education platforms. Edweek.org estimates that Washington D.C. faces an additional $24 million in costs for the 2020-2021 school year due to time lost this previous school year, not including the potential need to supply materials like laptops/tablets to student to access online learning easily. Teachers are adapting to online learning without increased funding by increasing community through online platforms such as Facebook groups, Reddit forums, and online teaching resources. The goal is to share tips, lesson plans, and train each other through technological hurdles. However, teachers are quickly becoming overwhelmed and burnt out as these low-cost methods of distance teaching simply aren’t enough. Some schools have considered adding specific positions for distance learning management and buying better online resources for students, but with an economic recession on the horizon and a greater need for public school funding one can only ask: where will this money come from?

            D.C.’s Mayor Bowser proposed a $15 million budget cut to the metropolitan police department for the upcoming fiscal year following recent protests from the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement is calling for reallocation of police funding to public schools, healthcare, and housing opportunities for black and low income communities. This has been partially achieved in Los Angeles, when the LA Unified’s Board of Education cut $25 million from school police forces to instead support the needs of black and low income students in the upcoming school year. However, it is clear that the current budget reallocations will not be able to meet the high projected costs of COVID-19 on public education. It is difficult to foresee how a simultaneous global pandemic and historic civil rights movement will continue to impact the educations of low income students, but it is urgent for schools and local governments to adapt and enact new policies to increase accessibility to prevent these students from falling further behind.