Coronavirus & Schools: Over-Regulation Hampered Response to Shutdowns

This spring was a dismal one for America’s schools. The Center for Reinventing Public Education looked at 477 school districts and found that, even as the school year was winding down, just one in three expected all teachers to deliver instruction. Education Week has reported that teachers say more than one in five students went absent without a trace when schools closed.

At the same time, there were occasional bright spots. The Silicon Schools Fund, which supports more than 50 charter and private schools in California, reported that 85 percent of its schools were taking attendance, 100 percent were providing online instruction, and 70 percent were grading student work. In New York, the acclaimed, 45-school Success Academy Charter School Network offered another inspiring example. As author Robert Pondiscio has documented, two months after shutdown, Success Academy was “close to replicating itself remotely, with full days of instruction.” CEO Eva Moskowitz has noted that Success Academy’s average daily attendance held steady at 97 percent during the shutdown.

About the Author

Frederick M. Hess

Frederick M. Hess is the director of education-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

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This spring was a dismal one for America’s schools. The Center for Reinventing Public Education looked at 477 school districts and found that, even as the school year was winding down, just one in three expected all teachers to deliver instruction. Education Week has reported that teachers say more than one in five students went absent without a trace when schools closed.

At the same time, there were occasional bright spots. The Silicon Schools Fund, which supports more than 50 charter and private schools in California, reported that 85 percent of its schools were taking attendance, 100 percent were providing online instruction, and 70 percent were grading student work. In New York, the acclaimed, 45-school Success Academy Charter School Network offered another inspiring example. As author Robert Pondiscio has documented, two months after shutdown, Success Academy was “close to replicating itself remotely, with full days of instruction.” CEO Eva Moskowitz has noted that Success Academy’s average daily attendance held steady at 97 percent during the shutdown.