NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Because of COVID-19, Metro Nashville Public School students have to stay home and attend virtual classrooms, but they are missing out on a wealth of opportunities that students in nearby school systems, without restrictions, already have.
This, according to a group of about 500 parents, students, and coaches who assembled outside in the rain Monday in front of the Metro Nashville Public School offices. They said they’re angry because children can neither attend school in person nor can they play sports.
Metro Nashville School Board member Fran Bush, who helped organize the event, told The Tennessee Star that students are missing out on, among other things, football, soccer, golf, and volleyball. She said she came to advocate for students who will most likely lose scholarships.
Metro Nashville At-large Council member Steve Glover, a former school board member, also spoke.
“Here’s the part that bothers me the most about this. Counties around us are open and doing business for their children. We’re not open doing business for our children. And the one thing I know that has not changed since I was on the board, if you lose months of educational opportunity it takes literally years, perhaps a lifetime, to even bring it back. And that is what is happening right now,” Glover said.
“Is this personal to me? Yeah. Because my first born grandchild was supposed to start kindergarten this year. And guess what. My daughter is homeschooling because she doesn’t feel like the virtual learning is something that kindergartners can do.”
Parents who spoke complained about students using “antiquated computers” and said COVID-19 posed less of an overall threat to students than “having them learn through a screen at home.”
Other parents said Nashville students watch their peers in surrounding school districts play sports — when they themselves cannot.
American Federation for Children – Tennessee State Director Shaka Mitchell said in an emailed statement that his organization supports those parents.
“With MNPS recently announcing that there will at least be another six weeks of all virtual education—and likely many more for some students–we understand the frustration of parents. For most learners, an all-remote policy is not ideal. The district should listen to parents like those who petitioned for Individual Learning Plans at last week’s rally. Likewise the district should offer parents the option of a hybrid plan where students are in-person at least some of the time,” Mitchell said.
“The strain an all-remote learning atmosphere puts on working parents, coupled with technological glitches that were foreseeable, makes it difficult for students to thrive. We urge the MNPS leadership to listen to these parents, and make adjustments to their plan so students do not fall even further behind this year.”
As The Star reported last week, members of the Metro Nashville Public Health Department issued new recommendations to restrict interscholastic sporting events in Davidson County.
At Monday’s rally, Glover told parents not to back down.
“The future of your children is too important,” Glover said.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
CDC says only 6% of total death toll of Covid as only cause of death. CNN of all places gave it a little bit of light, but here is the link from the CDC. You even have to scroll abit to find it.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm
How many of them voted for this mess?
Gov. Lee has a hand in this too. End the dadgum executive emergency orders and remove Mayor Cooper’s ability to authorize this madness. Something tells me that there must be an incentive, like Federal money. Somebody needs to find out and expose it.
Exactly. I’ve not been at all impressed with Governor Bill Lee’s unconstitutional EO. This is not law, it’s tyranny with one man at the top letting mayors run amuck and desperately needs to come to an end.
Thank you Fra Bush and Steve Glover !
You can bet that the radical leftist inspired Tennessee Educators Association (TEA) is behind the scenes working to prevent the reopening of “physical” schools! They have for years been working to dumb down our kids. Now, in the name of “keeping kids safe”, they’ve got the perfect cover to complete their mission, dumb down the kids, and make them all believe that communism is good!
But realistically, why not go to a 100% privately developed, digital curriculum from which parents can pick? Shut the “schools” down, save all of that infrastructure cost. Elimininate all public teaching positions, but develop the business model that will allow teachers to operate as private providers, like with their own YouTube channels. “Classroom size” is no longer an issue. Good teachers who provide good content, will get more “subscribers” and thus get paid more. Bad teachers will get weeded out because nobody will subscribe to them. Also, we could eliminate 95% of the “administrators”. You don’t need all of this support staff when there’s no infrastructure to support!
Kevin – Very interesting business model you suggest. TEA and the bureaucrats would die a thousand deaths if this concept got off the ground.
But the real question is who would feed the starving kids? (Sarcasm)
Good for you, Fran Bush. Where are all the other School Board members? They should be there too if they take their jobs seriously.
And a big thanks to Steve Glover who consistently stands up for decency and common sense in a scummy pool of hack Metro Council members.
It breaks my heart to see those little children in masks.
Good for them! The kids need to be back in school. The politicians need to wake up. After Billy Tauzin (R-LA) helped pass the Medicare drug benefit, and then went to work for the pharmaceutical industry as a lobbyist, everything seems to have changed. We need to go back to where pharmaceutical companies are able to take Doctors to dinner and give presentations as well as golf trips. When our media gets 70% of its advertising dollars from the pharmaceutical companies, and the pharmaceutical companies give untold amounts to politicians, what do you think the result might be? Are we looking at it? Yes we are. This is Rockafella medicine 101.
If I was watching children in private school and other counties thriving and had kids I would be upset too. Maybe we can get another group together to head to Mayor Cooper’s office and ask him to explain Sweden’s data, to show us solid evidence that masks work since they don’t for flu transmission, why 25 patrons in bars is safe and not 30, and why death rates of dying with/of COVID have fallen fast since March. Their only hope to keep this going until Nov. 3rd is the “long term effects of COVID” theme that consists of mostly somatic depressives.
Commie Cooper and his puppet the supposed Director of Schools Dr Black (Dr my backside), sue the hell out of both of them. Neither have the interest of the student’s only playing their little political games and drawing huge salaries. Bad people both of them. Battle needs to be removed as we are the worst school system in the state , she is not a leader she is a puppet for Copper and Commie Cooper is a disgrace. Metro has lower test scores than Shelby County. Cooper is so despicable the general public does not know what an evil person we have in office, he is three times worse than Berry or Briley. A sad situation.
Well done Parents! You’re doing the right thing as there is no better investment than your children. Say no to this madness.