WA Policy Center Characterizes "Distance Learning" as Lost Learning

Comment to the Washington Policy Center on their Sept. 11th posting about schools being closed Liv Finne: I hope this message finds you well, despite the unusually high AQI readings and our more and more unpredictable summer. I appreciate the documentation you did with this posting. Too few people understand the need for that. And, it allows me to view/see/read the actually material you used as your source. Thank you for that. In our last exchange, we talked about your interpretation of schools being “closed”, even when those students are involved in “distance learning”. It’s one thing for you to have your own opinion about distance learning meaning schools are closed. It’s quite another when you put those words into someone else’s mouth. You quoted WEA President Larry Delaney as saying, “Five percent of our students will be back in the classroom….The vast majority will not be in school…” I’ve watched the interview and read the transcript. What WEA Pres. Delaney actually said was, “...the vast majority of our students across the state are going to be starting the year with distance learning.” Attributing your words as having been echoed by an opposition leader may seem to vindicate you, so long as no one finds out about it. I have to believe that, having found out about your actions, some of your readers will likely take a different viewpoint. I can see why you believe you need to do this. How else can you shore up your claim of the “heartlessness of the WEA” or you claim that students lost a third of their learning last year and may lose the whole year, this year. That, in the face of ongoing “distance learning”, which you want to maintain is no learning at all. Then comes the pitch. With all this alleged learning loss and a heartless union, the legislature should be appropriating a $3000 (or more) voucher to help parents pay for additional learning experiences. At that point, the whole negativity script become preliminary to making the pitch. The sad thing about that is, you may actually have a strong argument for that pitch, without all this misrepresentation. I hope you will give that some thought.