BATON ROUGE, La. (WVLA/WGMB) —Education has always been a major setback for blacks. Just being given the chance to learn was a challenge during slavery. Now, the Coronavirus pandemic is shining a new light on inequities and shortcomings in education.
South Louisiana Schools have had their share of school closures after natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina and the flood of 2016, but the Coronavirus Pandemic is bringing a new challenge to schools.
Many Catholic, private, charter and public schools have jumped into going back to school in a traditional setting while other districts are making the transition to online learning.
The new hybrid educational model, which is a combination of both online and traditional learning, can be a massive problem for both elite schools and also in low tech communities in which there is little support.
There are big dividing lines in how educational resources are divided up among school systems.
From it’s earliest beginnings, what is now called McKinley High School, is the oldest high school established for African Americans in East Baton Rouge Parish, to Baton Rouge Magnet High Schools, one of the top performing public schools in the state known for it’s academics alone, there are a number of factors in which technology has been lacking.
They range from under-funding or infrastructure upgrades to technology improvements to staffing more tech savvy educators, it’s a whole different mindset around academics and much more parent engagement. Virtually all parents are doing some form of homeschooling and a lot of parents are struggling with that. In East Baton Rouge Parish Schools, resources are available
for parents in need of help with technology. It is going to be a challenge but within this Coronavirus crisis, there is an opportunity to reshape Louisiana’s education.
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