Thread by @Theresa_Chapple

Pre-covid, my work was on maternal mortality, and 1 way to decrease MM rates is to listen to women. What I notice in #returntoschool debates are that we are not listening to families we claim are most negatively impacted by #virtualSchool.

This article is one of the first to detail and predict that when given the choice, Black parents won't overwhelmingly send our children to school in the middle of a pandemic
hechingerreport.org/why-black-fami…

Municipality after municipality showed similar data.
chalkbeat.org/2020/9/11/2143…

yet, we have well meaning (non black?) people, advocating for schools to reopen so our children won't be left behind. hmmmm. Makes me wonder why.

I read this article this morning that offers many thoughts on why. I found them compelling. jacobinmag.com/2020/10/neolib…

This quote expresses why my Black children won't return to in-person school.
"The reluctance of parents of color to send their children back to in-person school is likely driven by the fact that the virus has hit low-income Americans and people of color, ...

...who also are more likely to live in multigenerational households, much harder than their white and upper-income counterparts."

Also, I've found virtual school of the fall to be completely different than crisis schooling of the spring.

When I asked Black families what they like about virtual school, I got answers that will outlive the pandemic. Things like "no microagressions", "my kids don't get overly punished", "my kids can learn in a loving nuturing environment."

Thank you @htubbscooley_RN for sharing that very thought provoking article with me.

Because with the pandemic, the same thing has to be proven over and over again, I'm adding a recent article from NYC to the list.
nytimes.com/2020/12/08/nyr…