COVID-19 and the Eight Cities
Welcome to the new and improved EightCities.org. The stories of eight cities’ school system improvement journeys, originally written in 2018, have been updated for 2020, based on feedback we heard from readers last time around. Every page on the site has been refreshed. We’ve added timelines and new data for each city, more background on the improvement strategy in these cities, and new information about each pillar of systemic school improvement that these cities shared. We are excited to offer this additional information for leaders working to reshape education in service of students.
We initially planned to relaunch this site in spring 2020, but world events intervened. The COVID-19 pandemic closed schools across the nation, and several cities featured on this site became epicenters of the virus.
The pandemic threw the fractures and fault lines of our current system — known well to advocates and parents — into stunning clarity. For example, within the Eight Cities:
In Chicago, parents reported that services and accommodations for students with disabilities were a particular weakness in remote learning plans.
In New Orleans, 28% of educators surveyed said they did not receive development support to deliver distance learning this past spring.
In Oakland, a family survey found that access to technology and reliable Wi-Fi was a barrier to remote learning for about 20% of students, and access was notably lower among Latinx families.
Communities already struggling with poverty, health disparities, and the long-term effects of systemic racism have borne the brunt of the virus. In addition, the death of George Floyd and other Black Americans at the hands of police ignited widespread protests and renewed national focus on systemic racism and its impact on Black communities — including in urban school systems serving disproportionate numbers of Black and Brown students.
The impact of COVID-19 on schools and communities has been enormous, and continues to unfold. In fall 2020, and indefinitely into the future, schools will likely look very different in order to protect students and staff from the risks of viral transmission. Beyond the direct impacts of the virus, school systems must also contend with huge economic fallout from the pandemic. High unemployment and ongoing economic instability are affecting millions of students and families. In May 2020, the national unemployment rate reached 13.3%, compared with less than 4% a year earlier. As state and local revenues plummet, experts project that school budgets may see large cuts, with some urban school districts projecting 15-25% cuts, barring additional federal intervention.
As researchers and analysts interested in city-level reform strategies, we must ask ourselves whether and how the models and practices featured in this project will serve schools in the midst of these crises. For example, school-level autonomy means that educators closest to children can make decisions based on students’ needs and respond quickly as conditions change on the ground. On the other hand, in a pandemic, decisive top-down action in the interests of public health can save lives. Which school-level decisions make sense in a crisis, and which should be handled by districts, states, or the federal government?
In another example, school performance frameworks designed to differentiate high- and low-performing schools will likely be put on pause due to lack of data and extraordinary circumstances. But can the school performance framework concept be temporarily remodeled to support data-driven decisions during the educational recovery?
Talent strategy will also be critical: Will districts with a well-developed talent strategy be better able to staff physical and virtual classrooms, recruit and retain teachers, support development and skill-building, evaluate performance, and otherwise adapt quickly to the needs of the current moment?
Despite these important unanswered questions, and the constantly changing situation on the ground, the stories and resources on this site demonstrate that with bold leadership, community involvement, and a relentless focus on providing students with an excellent education, school systems can change for the better. They also show the pitfalls of forging ahead on ambitious plans without sufficient community buy-in. Those are important lessons for the year ahead.
Header photo by Flickr user Phil Roeder.