More on the dilemma of fall school reopening decisions (why aren't we listening to those most impacted?)
One of the devastating impacts of patriarchy, white supremacy, and other systems of oppression, is the is the unimaginable loss of potential unrealized.
This has always been true, but what we're seeing right now as a result of a global pandemic is how this impact is being exacerbated.
This is not just in the literal lives lost, as though that were not enough all by itself, but in the loss resulting from careers and businesses stalled, and educations disrupted.
This impact is and will continue to be borne disproportionately by women, people of color, and others who already faced more obstacles to, cheesy as it may sound, living to their full potential. Meanwhile, capitalism ensures that a handful of people reap the rewards of everyone else's hard work.
One place where we're grappling with this is in the dilemma of fall reopening decisions. As I said last week, these are important issues to be aware of whether or not you have kids - even if you don't, likely your colleagues, vendors, clients, customers, community members, family members and friends do.
For example, in NYC, schools will re-open with 2-3 days of in person school at most.
What will happen to kids the rest of the time, especially if more and more people are required back at work?
This is a huge question that I believe employers have a responsibility to grapple with.
Offering work flexibility, especially for jobs that can be done remotely, is one way to mitigate the tough decisions involved when working parents are required to go back to the office.
I am in support of the Co-Creating Inclusion clients who talked to their staff to understand their needs and are choosing to keep their offices closed until the end of the year, given the school situation, or even in promising that a return to the office won't be required until June 2021 at the earliest. This is the humane and ethical thing to do, and I believe there is a business case for it too.
Still, even working from home, the math of all the adults in the house working full time while kids are at home doesn't add up. It makes economic sense for the adult who makes the least to scale back their hours or even quit their job if they can, or work all kinds of off hours to make up for time lost during the day with the kids. Pay disparities mean that this often falls to women and people of color. It's a frustrating, self-perpetuating cycle that is tough to break.
Those who don't have the option to scale back hours, either financially or otherwise, are left juggling impossible schedules and responsibilities, or cobbling together other solutions that often mean putting members of the family at a higher risk of contracting the virus. It's another frustrating lose/lose cycle when what is best for health and safety is in direct conflict with economic stability and mental health, forget such luxuries as learning or career development.
Last week I shared some thoughts on in-person, hybrid or remote learning during a global pandemic.
My kids' school at that time had asked us to choose between hybrid (2 or 3 days a week in-person, the rest remote) or full time remote learning. Shortly after, we heard that they have decided to open all grades except for Kindergarten in fully remote learning and slowly phase grades in (and I'm hearing more and more schools and districts across the country are opting to start fully remote). We had already elected for fully remote learning, for a variety of reasons, but I have to admit I felt a lot of relief at this decision - it seems not just smart from a logistics and safety perspective, but also more equitable.
After reading one of the articles I shared last week, Will Parents Send Kids Back To School? Study Reveals Differences Across Race, another article even more pointedly asked, If Opening Schools Is About Equity, Why Aren’t We Listening to Those Most Impacted?
I want to quote the whole article but instead here is a summary of the three main points and conclusion. (But really, just go read the whole thing.)
#1 — Black and Latinx families, and other essential workers, are most at risk for any rise in COVID cases
These families place a higher priority on not dying (ie containing the virus) than on restarting the economy or getting their kids out of their hair so they can get work done more peacefully at home (which is the priority for many white and more privileged parents who are otherwise shielded from the worst effects of the virus).
#2 — The childcare crisis is real for vulnerable families, but it isn’t new
Many low-income families are already used to working non-standard schedules and relying on parents, relatives or a sibling for childcare, often grandparents or other more family members more vulnerable to the virus. Hybrid plans still leave huge gaps in childcare and in fact can make childcare needs more difficult for these families, whereas more privileged parents working from home benefit from the respite provided by just 2 or 3 days of school
#3 — The social-emotional benefits of school are not a slam dunk for vulnerable families
The families who most support reopening — and the ones making these recommendations — are also those most likely to have positive experiences with schools. But for families of color, poor families, and those whose children have disabilities it is more complicated, whether do to with racism or other forms of discrimination or over-policing from teachers, administrators and peers.
Instead of forcing students back to school, we should support them and their families to learn at home
Ok, I'm just going to straight up quote here.
If a majority of low-income, Black, and Latinx parents don’t believe it’s safe to open schools, then our efforts should be directed not towards opening schools but minimizing the negative impacts of school closures.
The drive to reopen schools is not a reflection of a commitment to equity, but an abandonment of it. It is an attempt to once again hide the glaring inequalities that remote learning exposed by closing them safely behind school doors.
The complicated, inadequate, and risky plans being proposed to meet childcare needs benefit employers desperate to reopen the economy far more than they do families. Rather than warehousing the most disadvantaged kids in convention centers and stadiums, why not pay parents to stay home with their children?
Expanded unemployment benefits, enhanced food stamps for families with children who are not receiving meals at school and housing relief would alleviate the most significant stressors for low-income families. They would do the most to address inequities while also keeping the communities that have been most impacted by the coronavirus safe.
These children do not need to be rescued from the presumed deficits of their home environments. They need the structural barriers that our system has erected to exclude them dismantled. And, perhaps first and foremost, they and their families need to be heard.
How are you approaching fall school reopening decisions for your family, if you have school age kids? What is your company or organization doing to support working parents? How can you advocate for working parents, especially those who face the most systemic challenges?
How are you approaching fall school reopening decisions for your family, if you have school age kids? What is your company or organization doing to support working parents? How can you advocate for working parents, especially those who face the most systemic challenges?
Here are some ideas for companies and organizations that you can advocate for or, if you are in the position to, make happen:
We recommend that the first step towards co-creating inclusion is to listen - in other words, to ask people what they need while making sure you are gathering this data from across your organization in a way that allows different voices, and not always the most privileged or the majority voices to be heard. It is particularly important right now to listen to the voices of those most impacted, who face the most systemic obstacles. If you don't, you are in danger of exacerbating inequities, no matter how strong your intentions are to do otherwise.
In the case of supporting working parents and caregivers, consider inviting input from spouses and partners too. Your office reopening plans are going to have a significant impact on them, including, potentially, long term impact on their careers, as well as immediate and long term impact on their health and safety and that of their families.
Whether you do informal or more formal data gathering, make sure you provide different opportunities for people to say what they need, in other words both verbal and written, with options for anonymous feedback too.
Once you have gathered and collated, summarized or analyzed the data, share the results. People need to know that they have been heard, and it is also important that there is a collective understanding for what the needs are across the community. When you leave people to advocate for themselves on a case-by-case basis, the danger is that once again, inequities get exacerbated. Also, it helps to set clear expectations on what will happen with all this feedback from the start - when and how will the results be shared, and what the follow-up will be. You can remind people that not all needs will be able to be met - folks generally understand this but want their needs to be known and considered, and for their to be transparency, accountability and follow-through.
Engage the community in co-creating solutions. Here are some ideas that include flexibility at work, flexibility from work as well as caregiver support.
Continue to make sure the community focuses on the needs of those most impacted. When everyone has what they need to do their best work, it's not just the right thing to do but it's the only way an organization can effectively fulfill their mission.
Other relevant articles:
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Banner by Barry Zhou on Unsplash. Also published on LinkedIn.