TAMPA, Fla — Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, but Florida has big gaps in how well black students and Hispanic students perform against their white peers. Additionally, with kids being out of school so long due to coronavirus, those gaps may widen.
Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced a new plan to get schools back open at full capacity by August. "We've been able to provide a roadmap to announce the return of our schools to on-campus instruction," he said.
However, in the age of coronavirus--that makes some a little uneasy.
"As a parent, I'm really concerned,” said Earlishia Oates. "I want to make sure that if they have to return, make sure that the kids have what they need to be safe."
Oates' son, Russell Stanley, wants the same thing.
"I want to go back to school, but my brother is very high-risk. He has seizures, so I don't want to bring nothing back to my brother,” Stanley said.
Oates says that's especially important for families in her East Tampa neighborhood who have a hard time making ends meet. In Florida's public schools, 67 percent of black students and Hispanic students are from low-income homes, and many of those students underperform significantly compared to their white classmates.
"They're struggling,” Oates said.
According to the governor's school reopening plan, Black and Hispanic students who don't read proficiently by third grade are six times more likely to drop out. There's also a strong correlation between low-literacy skills and incarceration.
It’s more reason why the governor wants districts to work on plans to get students safely back in the classroom.
"They missed a lot of time in the classroom setting that they need to move forward. It's a very, very scary thought to know that if we don't go back to school, how far behind our kids can possibly be," Oates said.
The governor's report also said distance learning may be disproportionately hurting low-income children. Many of whom don't have adequate internet access to fully participate in their online studies.
RELATED: Here's what Tampa Bay school districts are saying in response to proposed plans to reopen schools
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