Racial disparities have been accentuated throughout the pandemic. Blacks and Latinos have been stricken, and, in too many cases, died from COVID-19 at higher rates than their white counterparts. Meanwhile, educational equity, one thing that can narrow the gap between communities of color and their white counterparts, has been hampered considerably by the public health crisis. I see it in my majority-minority community of Camden, at the school I founded, LEAP Academy University Charter School.
Children from schools with mostly Black and Latino backgrounds have lost, on average, two more months of learning than students in white-majority schools this year, according to a study of standardized test scores by McKinsey & Company. Despite schools like ours returning periodically to our buildings and classrooms, our efforts have been undermined by the necessity of hybrid schedules, missing teachers and reduced classroom capacities. To read the full story.