The coronavirus crisis shines light on educational inequalities

The pandemic has exposed inequalities as education has moved online — work that can’t be performed at home, exposing usually lower-paid adults to greater risk; lack of access to child care and quality early learning; food insecurity; and a digital divide that prevents online learning during the crisis. Schools have stepped up to provide nutritional meals, computer equipment, Internet access and cover for essential workers, but they should not bear the burden alone. Ameliorating the effects of poverty is a citywide problem and responsibility. The federal and District governments could and should take the lead in closing these gaps, while recognizing that the quality of public education is a long-term driver of them. Citywide solutions to the information divide — an increasingly important source of inequality — must be found so that high-speed broadband can be accessed in a usable form by residents everywhere. The rollout of 5G networks and municipal broadband elsewhere provides examples, as does the work of public charter schools in ensuring students have laptops and reliable Internet during the crisis.

[Ramona Edelin is executive director of the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools]