When it comes to getting the latest coronavirus news, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has become a fixture in our daily routines through his podcast Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction. In his latest episode The Future of Education released on May 12, 2020, Dr. Gupta unpacks the future of K-12 schooling and higher education as he walks through what needs to be done in order for schools to fully reopen. Here are some of our takeaways from the episode:
Will schools actually reopen this fall?
“At a baseline level, I can say this. There will be schools open in the fall from K through 12 level into the college level. The difficulty for schools is the same difficulty facing a lot of people, which is that they have to take a long time to plan what they’re going to do next. But we don’t know what is going to happen next,” says CNN correspondent Evan McMorris-Santoro.
Are there advantages to virtual learning?
According to McMorris-Santoro, “When we went to a full online system, what we learned was that we had problems with things like the education gap. The education gap that already existed became much, much more broad. I spoke to a teacher in LA named Janin Spoor, you know, she can’t even take attendance, absence rates are high.” Spoor also believes there will be a learning gap as a result of virtual learning and predicts that test scores are going to decline in the upcoming years.
How will campus closures impact colleges financially?
Wayne Frederick, President of Howard University, acknowledges that colleges are certainly concerned about finances, but he is quick to shift the focus toward the reality that students are the real victims in this situation. “We are being realistic about the fact that continuing students may struggle to come back because their family’s economic circumstance may have changed very differently over the next three to four months. And the fact that incoming students may find themselves in a circumstance in which they can’t afford it,” Frederick adds.
Listen to the full podcast here: The Future of Education – Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction.
We are in the age of never-before-seen extremes. While the fate of school re-openings is unclear, the best thing we can do right now is prepare for a new normal. Although we don’t exactly know what this new normal will look like, now is a good time to start having conversations with your children and your co-parent about the probability that schooling will be different.
The attorneys at Drury Pullen, A Professional Law Corporation are available to assist you with your family law needs during these challenging times. Feel free to call us 24/7 at (805) 879-7523 and leave a message if you do not reach a live person. Calls will be returned as they are received. You are also welcome to contact us via the Contact Us page on our website. We remain available to our clients and community with remote services such as court filings, negotiations, mediation and emergency services. Please follow us on Instagram @CaliforniaDivorce and come back to this blog for more information.