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Link to School District and Decision Makers

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Link to School District and Decision Makers

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last updated July 29, 2020

Preparing for the 2020-2021 School Year

Our top priority is the health and safety of our students and staff.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. When is the first day of school?

On August 26th Henderson County Schools will start the school year with Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI).

Q. How can I provide my feedback/input?

We have set up an email address to receive input from our families and community regarding the reopening of school.

Q. Will my child be able to ride the school bus next school year?

* Social distancing must occur at the bus stop

* Students will load busses from the back to front and have assigned seats with families sitting together.

* Hand sanitizer will be administered when boarding the bus.
* Students 1st-12th grade and drivers must wear a mask on the bus.

* Keep hands to yourself unless need to touch seatbacks for balance
* No congregating in the aisle
* Students should remain seated until time to exit to maintain social distance
* Unload front to back
* Temperatures and health screenings will occur when the students reach school.
* Buses will be sanitized and cleaned after each route

Will temperatures be taken of each student on the bus?
No. It is up to each student's parent/guardian to ensure that their student does not have a fever or symptoms prior to loading the bus per the Student Code of Conduct.

Q. Will my child have to wear a face-c overing?

Under the current KDE guidelines, the answer is Yes.

Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face

Be secured with ties or ear loops

Include multiple layers of fabric

Allow for breathing without restriction

Be able to be laundered and machine dried without damage or change to the shape

Cover both nose and mouth

Parents must provide their child with a face mask for school. If assistance is needed, families can contact their Family Resource/Youth Services Center Coordinator

Masks must always be worn (grades 1-12) when moving through the classroom/building and when social distancing is not possible.
"Mask when you move."

Masks must adhere to the school dress code policy.

Q. Will there be an alternative schedule, NTI schedule, or a traditional schedule for school next year?

The plan for students and families for the school year include the following:

- In-Person Instruction - 5 days a week
- Virtual Learning Academy
- Non-traditional Instruction (NTI) (used upon school closure)
- Hybrid schedule would be possibly implemented if we were out of school for an extended period of time.

Students attend school 1 or 2 days a week and use NTI 2 to 3 days a week.

Parents/Guardians can choose either In-Person Instruction or the Virtual Learning Academy for the
2020-2021 school year.

Q. Who would I need to talk about Virtual Academy?

Henderson County Schools Virtual Learning Academy (VLA) is a new voluntary, non-traditional online program grades K-12. This option was created by the district for families who are choosing that their child does not return to in-person classes during the 2020-21 school year. The program is a complete school year commitment and is 100% online with Chromebooks being supplied by the district.

Families that are interested in this option are encouraged to complete an online application or call Student Services at 270-854-0141. Families must complete a virtual parent session in order for students to be able to participate in Virtual Academy.

Parents/Guardians must attend a virtual parent informational session before signing their child up for Virtual Learning Academy. Email Mrs. Wolfe to schedule the session.

Q. Will my child still be enrolled in their current school?
Yes. Virtual Learning Academy students are still enrolled in their current school (Ex: Cairo Elementary/South Middle School) and will follow the Henderson County Schools 2020-2021 school year calendar.

Q. Can my student participate in extra-curricular or sports?
No. The Virtual Learning Academy has been created due to health concerns related to COVID-19. If this option is chosen, a student will not participate in extracurricular activities to maintain a healthy environment chosen by the parent.

Can VLA students still take AP classes? YES

Can SOFA VLA students still take "arts" courses? Not right now -- we are currently looking at this

Q. Who will provide my child instruction in the Virtual Learning Academy?

Students will receive instruction using an online learning platform. An HCS staff member will be assigned to each VLA student to issue all assignments online, monitor each student's grades, and each student's completion of assignments.
Daily attendance will be taken.

Q: My child receives services through a 504, IEP, KSI, or GT identification. Will my child still receive services in Virtual Learning Academy?

Yes. A contingency plan will be created in cooperation with the student's TOR (teacher of record).

Do I need to register my child online for the 2020-2021 school year?

Yes. Our online registration is now open. All students must register for the school year.

Current HCS families- use Infinite Campus IC parent portal from a computer at home to register.

New/returning families (students that are not currently attending HCS schools)
Call Student Services 270-854-0141 to find out which school(s) to attend based on address.

Henderson County School's Mental Health Counselors are available throughout the summer:

Misty Shaw, MHC at HCHS (860) 375-0535
Amy Bassett, MHC at NMS (502) 276-5076
Zachary Capps, MHC at SMS (812) 518-0176
Amber Williams, MHC at BGT and Cairo (270) 577-8334

Kelly Palmer, MHC at SPTS and JEFF (812) 783-0557
Elyse Dowdy, MHC at EHS and ABC (270) 883-1088
Yvonne Hall, MHC at NIA and SHS (502) 627-0179
Jamie Like, Project AWARE Director (270) 823-3465

Click Here to Find Out More

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henderson county schools education kentucky learning colonels school read learn

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last updated July 29, 2020 Preparing for the 2020-2021 School Year Our top priority is the health and safety of our students and staff. Frequently Asked Questions Q. When is the first day of school? On August 26th Henderson County Schools will start the school year with Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI).

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Making Student Mental Health a top priority with all they have to deal with today is just as important as curriculum.

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It's estimated that 1 in 6 school-aged youth live with a mental health condition. However, nearly 70% of students in need of professional help for a mental health concern do not receive adequate treatment. With these statistics in mind, it's important to take the steps to support and advocate for students' mental health struggles.
Here are three ways you can advocate for student mental health:
One of the biggest barriers to students' receiving mental health support and treatment is the stigma surrounding mental illness. Mental health stigma leads students to feel that their struggles are unusual, not real, or not severe enough to warrant asking for help. Ending the stigma surrounding mental illness helps students gain the confidence to speak up about their mental health concerns and ask for help when they feel they need support or treatment. A few ways to reduce mental health stigma in your school include implementing mental health days, openly discussing mental health struggles with students to normalize mental illness, or building an effective social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum that teaches positive mental health coping mechanisms and emotion regulation.

Advocate for School Mental Health Services

While some students are able to access private mental health services, many students and their families don't have the resources they need to obtain mental health treatment and services. This is why school-based mental health support and counseling are so important to advocating for positive student mental health. For schools that may not have sufficient resources to provide all students with mental health services, there are many pathways to funding school-based counseling and mental health programs. Educators and school leaders can also take their advocacy a step further by supporting organizations such as the American Counseling Association (ACA), which works hard to implement new legislation to increase funds and opportunities for school counseling programs.

When advocating student mental health, it's important to listen to the voices of students to understand and work toward meeting their needs. Nationally, there are several student-led organizations that advocate for students' mental health needs--including decreasing stigma, increasing access to treatment, developing support programs, and more. Supporting these student-led initiatives helps to lift up the voices of students, who often are not consulted about their needs and concerns when it comes to mental health support for them and their peers.

Advocating for student mental health is an important way to support students and ensure they receive the mental health services and treatment they need. By decreasing mental illness stigma, advocating for school-based mental health services, and lifting up the voices of students who are advocating for their own mental health, you can create that supports the importance of mental wellness in your school.

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Three Ways to Advocate for Student Mental Health - LearnWell

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It's estimated that 1 in 6 school-aged youth live with a mental health condition. However, nearly 70% of students in need of professional help for a mental health concern do not receive adequate treatment. With these statistics in mind, it's important to take the steps to support and advocate for students' mental health struggles.

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The biggest issue we should be advocating for in regards to student learning or the education profession is TEACHER RECRUITMENT and RETENTION!  There is currently a shortage of teachers in almost every area that we have posted this year.  We are often left to hire people that are not exceptional teachers.  If we are only able to hire mediocre teachers, our children are going to get a mediocre education which will leave a negative impact on our community. There are not near as many students seeking education careers and many leave the profession after only a few years.  The work is demanding and the pay isn’t commensurate to the job that must be done. Being a teacher is one of the most important careers there is to help fight poverty and grow the future! (High School, Assistant Principal of Student Services)
In my opinion, Childhood Trauma is one of the biggest issues we face.  If we go back to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, students cannot learn until their foundational needs are met.  Students come into schools with extra weight on their shoulder’s that I feel kids should not have to carry.  Having more counselors available as well as incorporating mindfulness curriculum into an already packed learning schedule, could ultimately help students better deal with the traumas they have as well as close the instructional gap of our low achieving students. (Instructional, Student Services Coach K-12).
The biggest issue I see affecting learning right now is mental health/ trauma issues.  If we could get more training for all involved (all staff involved with kids), I think the learning would come secondary. (Principal, K-12 grades).
As I listen to and witness education in today's society I would say the biggest area of need is the active engagement of parents.  More and more we see situations where teachers are taking on the role o f parents. As a result, the core purpose of learning is diluted with outside influences.  This causes the educational experience for the child to be impacted and the teachers to quickly become burned out and ready to consider other career options. (School President/curriculum).
I feel like the biggest issue in advocating student learning is that parents/care givers and teachers must be partners. Educating children is a twenty four hour a day job. Parents should be reinforcing academics at home and making it a priority. Teachers should set high expectations for all students and know that they have parental support. (Title 1 Elementary Teacher).

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Advocating for the best in Early Childhood education will lend to better education in the following school years.

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Why advocate?

As early care and education becomes more of a key focus for state and national government, and more states adopt Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS), advocacy is becoming increasingly important. Promoting the goals of quality early care and education - help children develop to their full potential, support families in providing a good start for their children, increase professional recognition of early childhood educators, and provide quality programs for all children - is seen as a fundamental activity for early childhood professionals today.

In the NAEYC Position Statement - NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs (2009), one of the key elements for professionalism is "engage in informed advocacy for children and families and the profession" which is defined as "(Early childhood professionals) are aware of and engaged in examining ethical issues and societal concerns about program quality and provision of early childhood services and the implications of those issues for advocacy and policy change." - Standard 6. Becoming a Professional: Key element 6e

How can you advocate?

You can advocate any place and in many ways. Choose where you will be comfortable and have a strong impact. You can be an advocate for quality early childhood within your program, your community, your region, your state, the nation, and even the world.

As an advocate for quality early care and education, you can focus on creating awareness, building support, working for change, developing professionalism, promoting child and family issues, and informing public policy. Topics for advocacy include the need for quality early care and education; the benefits of early education for children, families, resources needed; best practices; and regulations. Explore these topics and become familiar with current information.

Some advocacy is done informally. The very basic form of advocacy
is through your teaching and interactions with children, families, and co-workers. Other informal ways are writing letters or sending emails, making donations, and learning about current trends, practices, and research. Other advocacy is done formally. You can join a professional organization, participate in advocacy events and campaigns, and visit legislators and community leaders.

When you are advocating, it is essential that you have a clear message to share. Identify the specific need or point that you want to share. Gather information, such as needs assessments, research, and trends, to support your message. Have an idea for how to address the specific need or to make a change in policy. Consider political aims, public support, funding, resources, and capacity for change. Identify your audience and determine who to contact first. Decide the best time and method for sharing your message.

Not everyone will respond to your message and some may argue against it. It will take time to convince some people of a need or to make a change. The main thing is that you continue to model best practices, promote quality early care and education, support children and families, and keep growing as a professional.

Getting involved and staying informed

Organizations

Campaigns

Toolkits

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Advocacy - Spreading the word (Better Kid Care)

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Promoting the goals of quality early care and education - help children develop to their full potential, support families in providing a good start for their children, increase professional recognition of early childhood educators, and provide quality programs for all children - is seen as a fundamental activity for early childhood professionals today.

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Peer Reviewed Article Advocacy of Mental Health in School Settings 2

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Peer Reviewed Article Mental Health Awareness 1

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The size of classroom matters tremendously in the ability of a teacher to reach all students and be able to help them without any being lost in the crowd.

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NCTE has long-established positions on class size for English language arts teachers. In 1960 it adopted a policy that secondary teachers of English should teach a maximum of 100 students per day, and that elementary teachers should have a comparable load. In 1971 it passed a resolution to inform local, state, and national administrators and policymakers about this policy. In 1983 and again in 1995 there were resolutions urging more attention to the issue of class size. And in 1999 NCTE issued a position statement on class size and teacher workload.

Today public schools employ 250,000 fewer people than before the recession of 2008-09, while enrollment has increased by 800,000, and class sizes in many schools are at record highs (Rich, 2013). Recent research tells us why this matters:
What Is Class Size? Academic Performance
In research on early elementary school students, small classes usually mean fewer than 20 students, while for high school students the definition of "small" classes is usually somewhat larger. There are similar variations in what constitutes small classes for college writing instruction. In addition to the ambiguity about how many students constitute a smaller class, researchers use different strategies for assigning a class-size number. It can mean the number of students enrolled in the course, the number of students completing the course, or the number of students completing major course assignments (Arias & Walker, 2004). Furthermore, there is a shifting relationship between class size and teacher workload. Reducing class size can, for example, increase teacher workload if the number of students per class is lowered but teachers are assigned one more class per day.

Overall, research shows that students in smaller classes perform better in all subjects and on all assessments when compared to their peers in larger classes. In smaller classes students tend to be as much as one to two months ahead in content knowledge, and they score higher on standardized assessments. It is worth noting, however, that some studies analyze student assessment results in terms of individual student performance and others in terms of class-wide aggregated performance, which can obscure the differences in individual students' performances.

These positive effects of small class sizes are strongest for elementary school students, and they become more powerful and enduring the longer students are in smaller classes. That is, students who have smaller classes in early elementary grades continue to benefit from this experience even if they are in larger classes in upper elementary or middle school (Bruhwiler & Blatchford, 2011; Chingos, 2013).
Student Engagement
Despite the generally positive effects of smaller classes, the benefits are not consistent across all levels and populations. Small classes make the biggest difference for early elementary school students, while for many high school students smaller classes do not make a significant difference in academic performance. However, for minority and at-risk students as well as those who struggle with English literacy, smaller classes enhance academic performance. Class size also shapes the quality of writing instruction at all levels, including college, because smaller classes are essential for students to get sufficient feedback on multiple drafts. Not surprisingly, smaller writing classes increase retention at the college level (Blatchford et al., 2002; Horning, 2007).
Long-Term Success
Academic performance is important, but it is not the only measure of student success. In the area of student engagement, findings consistently show the value of small classes. Students talk and participate more in smaller classes. They are much more likely to interact with the teacher rather than listen passively during class. Not surprisingly, students describe themselves as having better relationships with their teachers in smaller classes and evaluate both these classes and their teachers more positively than do their peers in larger classes. Students display less disruptive behavior in small classes, and teachers spend less time on discipline, leaving more time for instruction. Specifically, teachers in smaller classes can diagnose and track student learning and differentiate instruction in response to student needs. In smaller classes students spend less time off-task or disengaged from the work of the class, and they have greater access to technology. Research also suggests that smaller class sizes can help students develop greater ability to adapt to intellectual and educational challenges (Bedard & Kuhn, 2006; Dee & West, 2011; Fleming, Toutant, & Raptis, 2002).
Teacher Retention
The benefits of smaller classes extend beyond test scores and student engagement. In addition to the longer-term positive attributes of small class sizes in the early grades, benefits include continued academic and life success. Researchers have found that reducing class size can influence socioeconomic factors including earning potential, improved citizenship, and decreased crime and welfare dependence. The beneficial effects of being assigned to a small class also include an increased probability of attending college. This benefit is greatest for underrepresented and disadvantaged populations. While the increased probability for all students is 2.7%, it is 5.4% for African American students and 7.3% for students in the poorest third of US schools (Dynarsky, Hyman, & Schanzenbach, 2013; Krueger, 2003).
The Cost Factor
Teacher quality has, for some time, been recognized as the most important variable in the academic success of students. Recruiting and retaining effective teachers has become increasingly important as school districts impose mandates about student test scores and overall academic performance. Class size has an effect on the ability to retain effective teachers because those with large classes are more likely to seek other positions. Research indicates, however, that instead of rewarding effective teachers by decreasing their class size, administrators often increase the class sizes of the most effective teachers in order to ensure better student test scores (Barrett & Toma, 2013; Darling-Hammond, 2000; Guarino, Santibañez, & Daley, 2006).
Recommendations
One of the most common arguments against smaller class sizes is financial. School districts claim that they cannot afford to reduce the size of classes because it would be too expensive. However, it is also expensive when students leave public schools to attend private ones. Research shows that class size is a significant factor in parents' decisions to send their children to private schools. Despite the enormous emphasis on test scores in public schools, parents report little interest in these scores when choosing a school. Instead, two of the top five reasons parents give for choosing a private school are "smaller class sizes" (48.9 %) and "more individual attention for my child" (39.3%). The other three reasons are better student discipline, better learning environment, and improved student safety, all of which are influenced by class size (Kelly & Scafidi, 2013).

Class size is a major factor in student learning. To be sure, it is one of several important factors, and more research is needed to determine how it interacts with phenomena such as teacher quality and context, but existing research should guide policy decisions in several ways.

Do not conflate class size and teacher workload.

Class size can refer to enrollment in or completion of a given class or program of study, and each of these has different implications for a teacher's workload. If a large number of students enroll but do not complete a course, for example, the ratio of class size to workload will shift depending upon whether enrollment or completion is considered. Furthermore, requiring teachers to teach more classes with smaller numbers of students in each does not constitute a decrease in workload.

Recognize that the benefits of reduced class size are not uniform across all grades and populations.

Although more research is needed to understand the full effect of class size, existing research shows that younger students, at-risk students, and special-needs students receive greater benefit from small classes than other populations.

Consider the differential effects of class size across the disciplines.

Most research on class size does not distinguish among disciplines, so it is easy to assume that an increase or decrease in class size will have the same effect in every classroom. However, a class that assesses student learning with multiple choice tests may not receive as much benefit from a reduction in class size as a class that assesses student learning with written essays.

Use multiple measures to evaluate the effects of reducing class size.
References
Since class size interacts with several dimensions of learning that extend beyond what can be measured with a standardized test, it is important to use several different measures to determine the effects of making classes smaller.

Arias, J. J., & Walker, D. M. (2004). Additional evidence on the relationship between class size and student performance. Journal of Economic Education 35(4), 311-329.

Barrett, N., & Toma, E. F. (2013). Reward or punishment? Class size and teacher quality. Economics of Education Review 35, 41-52.

Bedard, K., & Kuhn, P. J. (2006). Where class size really matters: Class size and student ratings of instructor effectiveness. Economics of Education Review 27, 253-265.

Blatchford, P., Goldstein, H., Martin, D., & Browne, W. (2002). A study of class size effects in English school reception year classes. British Educational Research Journal, 28(2), 169-185.

Bruhwiler, C., & Blatchford, P. (2011). Effects of class size and adaptive teaching competency on classroom processes and academic outcome. Learning and Instruction 21(1), 95-108.

Chingos, M. M. (2013). Class size and student outcomes: Research and policy implications. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 32(2), 411-438.

Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Educational Policy Analysis Archives 8.

Dee, T., & West, M. (2011). The non-cognitive returns to class size. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 33(1), 23-46.

Dynarsky S., Hyman, J. M., and Schanzenbach, D. W. (2013). Experimental evidence on the effect of childhood investments on postsecondary attainment and degree completion. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 32(4), 692-717.

Finn, J. D., & Achilles, C. M. (1999). Tennessee's class size study: Findings, implications, misconceptions. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 21(2), 97-109.

Fleming, R., Toutant, T., & Raptis, H. (2002). Class size and effects: A review. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

Guarino, C. M., Santibañez, L., & Daley, G. A. (2006). Teacher recruitment and retention: A review of the recent empirical literature. Review of Educational Research 76(2), 173-208.

Horning, Alice. (2007). The Definitive Article on Class Size. WPA: Writing Program Administration 31(1/2), 14-34.

Kelly, J., & Scafidi, J. (2013). More Than Scores: An Analysis of How and Why Parents Choose Schools. Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. Retrieved from https://www.edchoice.org/research/more-than-scores/

Krueger, A. B. (2003). Economic considerations and class size. The Economic Journal 113 (485), F34-F63.
This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from NCTE.
Rich, M. (2013, December 21). Subtract teachers, add pupils: Math of today's jammed schools. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/education/subtract-teachers-add-pupils-math-of-todays-jammed-schools.html

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NCTE has long-established positions on class size for English language arts teachers. In 1960 it adopted a policy that secondary teachers of English should teach a maximum of 100 students per day, and that elementary teachers should have a comparable load. In 1971 it passed a resolution to inform local, state, and national administrators and policymakers about this policy.

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I believe to get kids to do better the Parents definitely to be active and involved in their students school life.

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It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?

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Covid 19 Vaccine and Testing Requirements

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Covid 19 Vaccine and Testing Requirements

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Navigating the Covid 19 crisis and the need for students to continue learning is a major controversy currently.

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NEA President: Vaccine and Testing Requirements 'Appropriate, Responsible, and Necessary' | NEA

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NEA announces support for mandatory vaccination or regular COVID testing for all U.S. public school educators.

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Making Student Mental Health a top priority with all they have to deal with today is just as important as curriculum.

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It's estimated that 1 in 6 school-aged youth live with a mental health condition. However, nearly 70% of students in need of professional help for a mental health concern do not receive adequate treatment. With these statistics in mind, it's important to take the steps to support and advocate for students' mental health struggles.
Here are three ways you can advocate for student mental health:
One of the biggest barriers to students' receiving mental health support and treatment is the stigma surrounding mental illness. Mental health stigma leads students to feel that their struggles are unusual, not real, or not severe enough to warrant asking for help. Ending the stigma surrounding mental illness helps students gain the confidence to speak up about their mental health concerns and ask for help when they feel they need support or treatment. A few ways to reduce mental health stigma in your school include implementing mental health days, openly discussing mental health struggles with students to normalize mental illness, or building an effective social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum that teaches positive mental health coping mechanisms and emotion regulation.

Advocate for School Mental Health Services

While some students are able to access private mental health services, many students and their families don't have the resources they need to obtain mental health treatment and services. This is why school-based mental health support and counseling are so important to advocating for positive student mental health. For schools that may not have sufficient resources to provide all students with mental health services, there are many pathways to funding school-based counseling and mental health programs. Educators and school leaders can also take their advocacy a step further by supporting organizations such as the American Counseling Association (ACA), which works hard to implement new legislation to increase funds and opportunities for school counseling programs.

When advocating student mental health, it's important to listen to the voices of students to understand and work toward meeting their needs. Nationally, there are several student-led organizations that advocate for students' mental health needs--including decreasing stigma, increasing access to treatment, developing support programs, and more. Supporting these student-led initiatives helps to lift up the voices of students, who often are not consulted about their needs and concerns when it comes to mental health support for them and their peers.

Advocating for student mental health is an important way to support students and ensure they receive the mental health services and treatment they need. By decreasing mental illness stigma, advocating for school-based mental health services, and lifting up the voices of students who are advocating for their own mental health, you can create that supports the importance of mental wellness in your school.

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Three Ways to Advocate for Student Mental Health - LearnWell

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It's estimated that 1 in 6 school-aged youth live with a mental health condition. However, nearly 70% of students in need of professional help for a mental health concern do not receive adequate treatment. With these statistics in mind, it's important to take the steps to support and advocate for students' mental health struggles.

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I feel that the biggest issue that we face is students having little to no problem-solving skills.  We have created a society in which they are so dependent on their phones and parents or anyone to tell them what to do that they do not have the critical thinking skills necessary to even survive in the world.   Technology is important in daily living, but it has become a crutch and not just a tool.  Students need to be able to think and reason and we are limiting that with the availability of the phones to the extent that they cannot do basic necessary everyday skills like communicating or figuring out an easy solution to a basic problem.(High School Business Education Teacher).
After spending some time thinking about this question, I decided to write about two issues that I think are very apparent in today's world that shouldn't be overlooked. I think children's mental health is and has been tremendously affected by the pandemic and I believe schools and districts need to be focusing on proper interventions and hiring more employees who are skilled in this area to help student's overall mental health. Also, I just recently had a conversation with someone about ACT scores and how some colleges are now accepting students without ACT scores and focusing more on GPA, resumes, and attendance. I believe this is an interesting perspective, and I do believe there is too high of an emphasis on ACT scores when some students just don't test well and are only allowed the opportunity to take the test once if they have limited funds to pay for an additional test. I think more advocation for college admittance requirements should be valued. (High School Family & Consumer Science Teacher).
In class learning! With last year being mostly virtual, students are really struggling academically and behaviorally. Students need the structure that in class learning provides. In class learning is not only important for academics, but for the child as a whole. Students need the peer interaction, as well as interaction with other adults they feel safe to be around. So many students live in unsafe homes and without the anyone to look out for them. For a lot of kids school is their safe space. (High School/Middle School Social Studies Teacher).
"What is the biggest issue we should be advocating for in regards to student learning and or the education profession?" Why?

The biggest issue in education today is GOVERNMENT. Our government has too much power of decisions that should be made on the local level. This is evident in every aspect of education and we have seen it play out especially during the pandemic.

Government makes the policies that guide every educational decision that is made in this country. When the government makes the policies then the government benefits from those policies. Oftentimes those benefits are financial. So let’s take a deeper look at the financial decisions that the government lays out for the educational system.

It begins with how they push new practices into the school system. Take a look at the common core curriculum. Government did not have the jurisdiction to force the entire United States of America to adopt a certain curriculum. Curriculum is supposed to be left to the state and local to oversee. In an effort to force states to adopt a curriculum they used a bribery system to push it through. How did they do that? Money!

Once the money has been released to school districts it again goes through misuse and mishandling. Upper administration has been allowed to take the largest piece of the pie leaving unacceptable amounts to pay for the men and women who actually teach our children. The upper administrators do this in the form of salary and in the form of perks. I once had a director that told me she had professional development money that had to be spent and she couldn’t wait to see where she could take a vacation to, that provided a training session, so she could run it through the school system as an expense.

Some of the items that we spend money on in the school system should be eliminated. Most Americans have transportation. The government requires schools to purchase, maintain, and operate a transportation system is not necessary for the majority of Americans.

In many cases, there is so much red tape created for the purpose of eliminating financial fraud in public school that it creates an obstacle for educators to purchase the resources necessary. On the flip side it also creates loopholes for the money allocated to be spent on items that are not needed. This is government policy at its best...

If Americans truly had a voice in the policies of education, things would be much different. Instead, they are forced to elect a politician to fight for them. Politicians fight for the people who financially support them; not for the common American. (High School/Middle School Science Teacher).
Social emotional learning; children aren't equipped with the ability to handle criticism or coaching, kids struggle with what to do when something is difficult or hard for them to achieve. Kids need to be taught how to handle stress, let downs, and depression. Suicide rates are extremely concerning. The pandemic didn't help. (Middle School teacher).

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As a parent, I also believe mental health is very important to be advocating for. I also think it is important to keep my children's records and know my children's strengths and interests to share with educators. Communication is so important for both parents and their children's teachers for children to have a positive successful school experience that will impact them the rest of their lives. ( Pre-school level parent).
Being aware that not every student has the same learning style. (Middle school/Elementary school parent).
Not just following the standards for a particular grade level or class, but giving students the opportunity to learn more. (Middle school/High school parent).
Teachers being more empathetic to what children have going on at home and outside of the school. (Elementary school parent).
Going back to the basics, and adding real life classes to prepare students for real life and less testing. (High School Parent)
Accountability for parents and caregivers. Communication and involvement in their child's education and well being. (Elementary school Parent).