The Pandemic’s Effect on Low Income Schools

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No one would have thought that 2020 would be a year defined by a global pandemic that would shut down America, leading to an upheaval in workplaces, families, and schools. This shutdown was exceedingly shocking for students. Across the country, they were launched into an online learning environment where terms like “Zoom” and “asynchronous learning” became the new normal. The thought of talking to a teacher or fellow student in person became a foreign concept. Though this transition to remote learning was difficult for students across America, it was especially difficult for low-income students, given their limited access to the materials necessary for online learning. The federal government needs to give low-income schools additional funding and change state funding policies, in order to close the educational gap that it allowed to widen in 2020. Moreover, with proper vaccination and health measures in place, schools should return to in-person learning in order to promote the most equitable education for all students. 

Throughout the pandemic, the aid provided by the government was not enough to help citizens holistically amidst growing unemployment rates and school shutdowns. Many students began to fall behind in their education, especially low-income students, as the government was not providing adequate funding for their school systems. After the vaccine came out, many schools returned to in-person learning, but it was still tremendously difficult for these low-income students to bounce back from the educational, emotional, and social struggles they faced during complete lockdown. 

Fast forward to October 2021, low-income students are still being hit particularly hard without access to the technology or resources necessary to online learning. As our society becomes more and more technology-driven, the improper funding for low-income students is widening the education gap between the upper and lower classes of society. Districts of color receive $23 billion less in funding than white districts—despite districts of color being larger and more populated. Moreover, about 41 percent of low-income parents are concerned that their child will fall behind amidst the pandemic, whereas only 21 percent of middle-income parents and 17 percent of high-income parents worry about this issue. This concern by families of lower socioeconomic status is largely due to the lack of internet access that low-income families have. In fall 2020, 40 percent of low-income students still did not have reliable internet connections in their homes; this large portion of low-income students with unreliable internet connections led to a gap in the education of these students in comparison to their more privileged counterparts.

A large portion of low-income students also face literacy struggles, as their families are not native English speakers. This makes online learning a confusing pathway to navigate, both in cases when they do and do not have the technology necessary for remote learning. Remote learning is difficult for students with literacy struggles due to the replacement of verbal instruction from teachers with an expectation of students being able to comprehend lengthy, online directions. The online learning issues low-income students face, coupled with difficult home lives, make these children more susceptible than ever to falling behind in their education. It is important for federal and state legislatures to adopt measures to keep English learning students on track with their wealthier counterparts. To assist with this, professors and researchers at Vanderbilt University have advocated for emphasis on literacy initiatives to support multilingual students who deserve a more equitable education and access to resources. Kevin Leander, a professor of teaching and learning at the Peabody College of Vanderbilt, emphasizes the need for  “holistic literacy intervention programs” that would allow for more meaningful aspects of language, comprehension, reading, and writing to be taught to English learning students. This would be one essential step in trying to get low-income students back on track in an online learning environment.

Although measures can be taken to make online learning better for low-income students, an equitable education cannot be given to all in an online-only learning environment. Vulnerable students are seeing a rise in failing grades amidst remote learning. And even more, students in low-income areas are going “off the radar,” as they are absent such a significant amount that it is as if they are not even students. In fact, the chronic absenteeism rate for English learners doubled to a whopping 36 percent of students from 2020 to 2021. And, unfortunately, attendance in school systems is linked to state funding, so the disproportionate amount of absenteeism that occurs in low-income schools has led to less funding for low-income students during the pandemic.

 Remote learning has also caused a rise in mental health issues among students. An astounding 75 percent of students who receive mental health services obtain it through their school. The switch to remote learning by school systems not only hurts these students in their struggle to efficiently find mental health resources, but it hurts all students' mental health. The isolation of remote-learning and inability for students to make deep, meaningful relationships with their teachers and peers takes away a key aspect of education: social interaction. Moreover, the continuation of a semi-remote learning environment, and the push by some schools to adopt a fully remote option moving forward, is detrimental to students; this wide scale adoption of remote learning that two in ten schools plan on—or are considering—initiating would harm student’s mental health.

Furthermore, even with a return to in-person classes, these low-income students will continue to face the inimical effects of the inadequate funding given to them during the pandemic, as they will be behind the curve in their education compared to their wealthier counterparts. It is up to the government, at both the federal and state levels, to increase funding for low-income schools. An enrollment-based funding model, one that would not take absenteeism into account but would instead take school population into account, should be adopted by state legislatures. Due to extenuating circumstances, low-income students may not have the stable internet connection or balanced home life that would permit remote learning. Requiring the presence of these struggling students in a remote learning environment is unrealistic; moreover, funding school systems based on a factor that is as complex as attendance is not just.

It is essential that America returns to in-person learning. The inaccessibility of remote learning for all students, the problem remote learning causes for student attendance, and the detrimental effects that remote learning has on mental health makes in-person learning a much more stable environment for children. Furthermore, in-person learning will help low-income students because it will make the technology barrier that these students face less of an obstacle. Returning to in-person instruction as well as adequately funding low-income school systems is indispensable to the well being of K-12 students. The pandemic has already taken away from American citizens' familial, social, and sporting events; the government must not take away a proper and equitable education from a whole generation of students.