Earlier today I posted a chart showing that in-person classes were canceled at higher rates for poor kids compared to richer kids during the early days of the COVID pandemic. The same was true for Black vs. white students and for students with high-school educated parents.
My assumption, naturally, was that this all happened for the usual reason: we just don't care that much about poor Black kids, so they get the short end of the stick. But it turns out that probably isn't true. The real reason for the difference is that poor parents—and Black parents and non-college parents—actively preferred remote learning. They didn't want their kids returning to classrooms during the pandemic.
To a large extent, classrooms were re-opened in richer, whiter schools because that's what parents pressured administrators to do. Likewise, they were kept closed in poorer, blacker schools because that's what those parents pressured administrators to do.
I don't know the reason for this, though I've read anecdotally that many Black parents were relieved to get their kids out of schools where they were anxious and troubled. They reported that their children were calmer and happier once they were away from their toxic school environment.
There's more detail about this here. The upshot is that different rates of school closure don't seem to be the fault of unions or Democratic governors or woke activists. Those might play a modest role, but it mostly seems to be the simple result of parent preference. When parents wanted the schools open, they stayed open. When they wanted them closed, they were closed.
The simple answer turns out to be right. The conservative buggaboos are wrong.
Again.
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Anecdotal but I know two black folks who lost relatives during the pandemic and one white person. I think the mortality discrepancies that were reported made black folks more hesitant on schools--Could normalize the school hesitancy data by differences in mortality?
Yeah, it's been a while since I've looked at numbers, but early on in the pandemic, certain minorities had higher risks with Covid (whether due to differences in care or something biological is anyone's guess.) Combine that with a certain amount of distrust of the government, and that could explain the difference. Also, urban areas were more cautious about the pandemic, for a lot of reasons.
Look at who gets a disproportionate number of the shitty jobs that require you to be physically present - and more exposed.
It should also be pointed out that many school buildings in urban areas are old and not very well ventilated compared to newer schools in the suburbs or exurbs. That was a factor as well.
The other thing is that in wealthier schools you could expect better air handling, mask availability, etc. Indeed, some of the expensive private schools showed off their newly installed HEPA filters, etc., to show they were ready for re-opening.
Not to mention that the consequences of getting sick are greater for poorer people - they don't have as much (or any) paid sick leave, their healthcare benefits through work suck or are nonexistent, and so on.
Having their kid bring home a highly contagious illness with potential for a hospital visit (or death) that could severely negatively impact the family's finances is a powerful motivator to keep schools closed.
Usually when this subject comes up, I offer the following anecdata. I am a teacher in the Los Angeles schools. In March 2020, I was teaching in a middle school with a student population that is ~95% Mexican American. In the days before schools were closed, attendance in my classes was down about 50%. Many students who were in school were wearing masks.
In spring 2021, when school re-opened, six students came the first day. One of my jobs was checking for fevers at the gate each morning. At no time between opening and the end of the school year did we ever have more than 50 students. This is a 500 student school.
Word was that parents were waiting for vaccines.
In no particular order, these are the reasons I think explain the different attitude:
-A larger share of white parents is MAGA, and in MAGA land, you wanted schools opened for no other reason than that is what every nutjob you listened to said.
-Higher mortality among the black community than the white community probably made black parents to feel more cautious.
-High income schools, and a higher proportion of predominantly white schools, were more likely to have better protections at school. Things like smaller class size and bigger classrooms. Better ventilation. Better access to mask, disinfectant, etc.
-Also related to economic status, if you feel more confident with your Healthcare access (ie higher income and better insurance plan), you are more likely to feel less scared in case of infection.
-Black families are more likely to live in smaller homes, and have larger number of family members in that home, so there was probably more fear of bringing the virus home and wrecking havoc within the family.
-Black families are more likely to use public transportation, particularly in urban areas, which adds an extra layer of exposure.
I think the fact that many families have older relatives living with them or depending on them to help care for them was one of the biggest factors. The thought that a child might kill their grandma by infecting her with covid is horrifying.
The mainstream “liberal” media has mostly ignored the fact that black families were more supportive of school closing, preferring to criticize school closing because they hurt black kids more than most other demographic groups.
I suggest the other factor is social influences. For kids, their peer network is more influential than parents and for many parents, they are less than enthused about some of the peers their children are schooling with. This is also what propels parents into charter schools - they are more likely to be filled with kids who are there to learn vs there to be babysat while their parents are at work.
Since many of the parents in the article mention "toxic environment", I'd bet this is exactly what they are referring to.
You covered it all.
Indeed.
Iirc it is a little more complicated than that, if you look at changes over time. What people preferred was whatever their school was, remote or in person. When school changed to in person, parents preferred that(or when they stayed remote), and it was more often the case in whiter districts that they had in person instruction. Mostly people trust their teachers and local schools and think whatever they are doing is best. (Whether it is or not).
Q: Does the data separate rural vs suburban vs urban? Is the demographic breakdown more to do with D vs R? Meaning: people who believe the treat of COVID vs people inclined toward COVID denial?
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