[truthout.org]

"Online Schooling Is Highlighting the Inequality in Our Classrooms.

"If online instruction exacerbates already existing inequalities and makes them greater, it will be devastating for our public school population, pre-K through college ... Right now, the most disenfranchised students are getting hurt the most.” The only way to even begin to make sure their needs are better met ... is for there to be true collaboration between students, faculty, teachers’ unions and school administrators."

"Lack of technology causes difficulties in keeping up ... Homeschooling can’t happen for those without a home — or, at the very least, a place where they can sit, focus and learn ... NPR reported in early April that 47 percent of public school and 18 percent of private school students had not connected to any online learning platform in the first three weeks of the [ pandemic ] transition ... Many teachers are struggling to find the right balance between academic rigor and recognition of the emotional upheaval students are experiencing.

"Nineteenth-century educator Horace Mann theorized that education would be the “great equalizer,” leveling the playing field for rich and poor. This obviously hasn’t happened" ... Cultural critic and writer, Henry A. Giroux, has made the point that "the defunding of education fuels fascism ... Many ways of fighting for equal education must come into play to correct the negligence in America's educational system -- kindergarten through college." [truthout.org]