Hari Sreenivasan: Most families got a sense of what this coming semester might look like back in March,
when schools across the country suddenly
made the switch to remote learning due to COVID-19. 
It was an early
indicator of which students might and might not succeed.
I recently spoke
with former Kentucky Education
Commissioner, and Dean and Professor of
Education at Belmont University in
Nashville
Wayne Lewis about what lessons were
learned and how we move forward.
Wayne Lewis: I think we learned a lot in the spring, there can be very significant
differential impacts on kids and
families when we shift to remote learning.
So for example, if you're talking about my family and the shift to remote learning,
because of the the socioeconomic status,
the economic situation, the job situation
that my daughter has with with two
parents,
such as me and my wife, even though there are challenges associated
with it, we can make it work. 
When you shift to a completely
remote learning situation for kids
that come from low-income backgrounds,
for kids that may have one—or in some
cases no parent at home,
parents with lower levels of education, you can have
really disparate impact, particularly
on on low-income kids, particularly on
kids who historically have not been served well by our schools.
We're going to have to critically
examine every policy, every program,
every line item, and think about how we
might spend dollars
different, so that with additional investment we can transform the way schooling looks for kids.
Hari Sreenivasan: How could that look i mean what is an
optimistic scenario
of a silver lining that comes from this...
this opportunity that we've had to
reevaluate how education
is working, or is not working.
Wayne Lewis: If we're looking for a silver lining, here's what I believe it is.
We have the opportunity now, um,
with technology, with curriculum
resources, with instructional resources
that permit us to differentiate
instruction in ways that you just can't
without technology.
We have the opportunity to better
identify the learning needs, and better—
or more strategically—intervene
in kids education in ways that that can
advance them that we've not seen before.
Hari Sreenivasan: Now that said
there's still at least what 10 or 11
million kids that don't have access to
the same digital tools, right, I mean
there's kids that have iPads at home, or
or laptops at home, and that's still not
the case for everyone, and even if they
had a computer
there's still the issue of broadband and
whether that's a
universal lifeline service, or a utility,
or should be considered that way versus,
uh, if it's, you know, a luxury.
Wayne Lewis: You know it i think we're at the place
in this point in the 21st century where
there shouldn't be any debate,
broadband access and access to digital
tools and digital resources
is not a luxury, it's an absolute
necessity, and when we think about
kids not having access to those things,
we should think about it very similarly,
um, to the way we would think if if kids
didn't have access to electricity.
Right, there there's no way in the 21st
century environment as we're preparing
for a 21st century
workforce for these kids that they can
have the type of education that they
need and that they deserve
unless we can ensure that every child
has access to those resources, and I want
to be really clear
that that is not the responsibility
solely of schools,
so to say that it's the responsibility
of schools and school districts
to make sure that all kids have access
to that, I don't think that's the case
it's going to take partnership
on the part of federal and state
government to make sure that families
have that type of access.
Hari Sreenivasan: Wayne, finally, just academically,
how should parents be looking at this
year going forward,
I mean given the school districts,
and the cities, and the composition of
the workforce, and which
unions might support strikes, and
it's not going to be a normal year, but
at the same time
we still want our children to be
educated and advance.
Wayne Lewis: That's a scary question for me, and...and here's why.
We...we understand from the research and
literature
that kids who lose an academic year,
uh, tend to be disadvantaged for
for the better part of their academic
careers.
Kids that lead...lose two academic
years...
the the chances that they'll ever catch
up are slim to none.
So even while we're dealing
with this pandemic this very real public
health crisis,
we cannot afford to lose an
academic year, and we're not just talking
about an academic year, many of our kids
have been out of school, um, for all intents and
purposes since
March of last year, and and what I see
happening on the ground,
um, is not much different than what we've
seen traditionally with education in the
United States, is
parents and families who have resources,
who have
time, are ensuring that their kids are
not only not
falling behind but they're using those
resources
to make sure that their kids move ahead
while at the same time
families and kids who have traditionally
been underserved and don't have
resources
are falling further behind, the effect of
which, unless we are very intentional in
intervening here,
is exacerbation of extraordinarily, um,
large achievement gaps and opportunities
that we've seen in the past.
Hari Sreenivasan: All right, Wayne Lewis, thanks so much for joining us.
Wayne Lewis: Absolutely.
