Calling for Equity for Most Vulnerable Students, Parent Input,
and Daily Live Online Instruction

Hundreds of Los Angeles Unified parents, representing a diverse population of children from all over L.A. and every public school model, have shared their top priorities for the reopening of schools and improving distance learning this fall through Speak UP’s Reopening LAUSD survey.

As LAUSD makes plans for the coming school year during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our survey findings indicate that parents want to be included in the decision-making process when it comes to school reopening safety protocols and virtual/hybrid instruction. They want parents and teachers to receive more technology training, and students to receive teacher feedback, assessments, and daily live online instruction on days when they are learning from home.

About 430 Speak UP parent members responded to questions from June 10-24 about COVID-19 precautions, access to technology, and their children’s distance learning experiences after school campuses closed three months ago due to the pandemic.

Because of state waivers and union agreements that gave teachers broad discretion over whether to teach kids live online, parents reported huge inconsistencies. Inequities also emerged for the most vulnerable students, including low-income kids, Black and Latino kids, kids with special needs and English Learners.

The survey’s findings show that one in three students had contact with their teachers only once a week or less during campus closures, and only 40% of students received daily live online instruction.

When looking at demographics, Black and Latino students were up to three times more likely than White students to have participated in live classes once a week or less, and up to seven times more likely than White students to have never interacted with teachers.

Among the most vulnerable students, English Language Learner (ELL) students were twice as likely as non-ELL students to receive live online instruction once a week or less. Students with IEPs were more than twice as likely to have never interacted with teachers. And students from low-income families were more than twice as likely to have never received live online instruction at all. These same low-income students were also four times as likely to have never experienced interactive contact with their teachers since the closure of schools.

“It’s unacceptable that the kids that need the most help received the least amount of instruction this spring,” said Katie Braude, Speak UP Founder and CEO. “Interaction between teachers and students is crucial to both their social-emotional and academic well-being. We have to set much stronger minimum standards for daily live online instruction this fall. Three hours a day should be the bare minimum.”

Almost all of the parents who participated in the survey agreed with keeping schools closed until COVID-19 risks can be mitigated. The majority of parents would rather deal with the difficulties of at-home learning than potentially expose their family to infection.

Almost all parents (92%) rated it “important” for LAUSD to actively solicit and include parent input about how schools will reopen in the fall, and an equal number said the district must mandate grades or other feedback from teachers on all student work. Also, nearly 90% of parents said LAUSD must offer consistent live online instruction for all students.

Based on the data from the Reopening LAUSD survey, Speak UP parents are asking the district to consider the following top five priorities when making plans to reopen schools in the fall:

LAUSD must actively solicit and include parent input about how schools will reopen in the fall.
LAUSD must mandate grades or other feedback from teachers on all student work.
LAUSD must ensure every student who needs one receives a free digital device and free internet for distance learning. (While LAUSD has already made this a top priority, some low-income households are still struggling to connect.)
LAUSD must develop assessments to measure academic progress and placement during online learning.
LAUSD must offer consistent live online instruction for all students.

Notably, low-income, Black, Latino, special education, and English Learner parents all named universal technology training for parents and teachers among their top recommendations.

Black parents ranked the following recommendations as their top three priorities:

Make universal technology training available to parents and required for teachers.
Offer consistent live online instruction.
Mandate a consistent school-wide schedule without overlapping class conflicts.

Speak UP Parent Engagement Coordinator Sharnell Blevins, who facilitates Speak UP’s African American Parent Advocacy Team, had three kids who attended Hamilton High’s Academy of Music and Performing Arts this spring. Of her kids’ 21 teachers, only five taught consistent live online classes. She found that the AP class teachers were more likely to offer live lessons, meaning kids who were already advanced received more instruction than kids who were not. Because teachers were given the discretion this spring to set their own schedules, all three of her kids faced class conflicts that forced them to choose which of their live classes to attend.

“It was frustrating and confusing,” Blevins said. “I hope we see more and better this fall.”

Another survey finding shows significantly less equitable experiences in distance learning for Latino students, who were seven times more likely than White students to have no interaction with teachers after schools closed.

Adriana Ruiz is a Speak UP member and parent of five LAUSD students at Elizabeth Learning Center in Cudahy, including a 6th grader who is classified as an English Learner and an 8th grader with an IEP who attends a special day class. Ruiz said that her five children’s experiences with distance learning varied widely despite being at the same school.

While she had the necessary devices and Wi-Fi, she said that the missing piece was consistent live online instruction from all teachers. Additionally, assignments that went ungraded reduced her kids' motivation. "They were like 'why are we working so hard if they don't grade them?' There were a lot of assignments. They would say, 'all this work for nothing.’"

As for reopening, "I'd love for my kids to go back to school and have interaction with other people," Ruiz said. But she does not feel completely safe sending them back. "I have mixed emotions. I think there are a lot of things that need to be put in order, and we parents need to be part of that process. The district needs to listen to our recommendations."

For a full list of the 13 Speak UP parents’ recommendations, see the full report.

“The wide gaps in experiences of Black and Latino families can only be explained by pervasive, systemic racial injustice,” Braude said. “The system’s indifference to special needs students and English Learners is equally discriminatory. Speak UP parents will continue to lift their voices and help ensure that all children get access to the education they deserve.”

To send a petition to the LAUSD Board telling them to consider our five top petitions for school reopening, please click here.