At the beginning of the Spring 2020 academic semester, schools across New York were shut down by the Board of Education after it had become clear that the Covid-19 virus was rapidly infecting people in the area. Pressure from the teachers union threatening to sue the Mayor of New York pushed Mayor Bill De Blasio to concede to demands that the schools be shut down – despite the obvious danger to students and teachers, the mayor had been reluctant to do so. Covid-19, a strain of coronavirus, had unexpectedly spread across the globe in just a matter of months, resulting in the unprecedented shutdown of entire countries. New York eventually became an epicenter of the pandemic and within just a couple of weeks, education in the city had shifted from onsite to entirely online remote learning.
Prior to this shutdown, teachers and students had been aware that the virus was rapidly infecting people across the globe, but there seemed to be a trend in which leadership would not act until the region had reached a level of crisis. The New York Board of Education followed suit and did nothing to prepare for the potential need to close all educational facilities. The result was a New York education system that was not equipped for the sudden transition to remote learning which resulted in a chaotic scramble to accommodate this new model of teaching. Administration, teachers, parents, and students were all put under the stress to rapidly adapt.
Schools with resources were quickly able to adopt new technologies to accommodate. For some schools, IT staff were readily available to troubleshoot technical problems and teach educators as well as students about how to use the new systems. However, the situation was completely different for underfunded schools. Each teacher became responsible for learning how to set up their own technologies and then for compiling their own manuals to teach students how to use them. In doing so, it quickly became apparent that there was a bigger problem of many students not having access to a computer or internet access. Teachers became the primary liaisons between the school and the students, an extra responsibility on top of their duties as first responders. All information regarding classes, school schedules, and resources were disseminated from teachers to parents and students. Later into the pandemic, as many families would attempt to adjust to the change, there would be accusations about child neglect from the large number to students being absent from remote learning sessions – a situation that was found out to have come from the large number of deaths within the latino and black communities as well as the lack of access to important technologies. The New York Board of Education had to invest in buying computers and software for the students.
For many people, this was also an introduction to the other vital roles held by the public school system. More than just for educational purposes, the schools were also operating as welfare centers that provided the only viable access to medical care, counseling, meals, and daycare for thousands of students. While the classrooms moved online, the school building remained opened and staffed to continue providing these other services, particularly important for homeless students. Many people rely on these institutions just to eat on a daily basis.
Institutions of higher education were also forced to shift to online learning and university campuses were closed. Even graduation ceremonies across New York were being hosted online as the spring semester came to an end. Online learning will continue into the summer and campuses are likely to remain closed, with exceptions for critical administrative processes that need to be conducted in office or in person. Getting a degree through remote, online courses was already a viable option for some colleges and several new programs at existing colleges, but this global event could potentially make this a new norm. Medical professionals with expertise in virology and epidemiology are already discussing the possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 infections once we begin loosening restrictions. This makes it hard to predict what future academic years could look like.
