To the Editor,
A few days ago on MSNBC, the head of the American Federation of Teachers union, Randi Weingarten, lamented that our children would suffer this next school year no matter how they were taught, whether virtually or in person. They simply would not learn as much as they would in a normal year, she said. This is terrible. But it seems to me it is fixable.
Have every student attend school, in whatever way is available this year, then repeat the same grade next year. All of them.
I’m 86, and when I went to kindergarten in Swarthmore, all the boys in my class were held back a year, while the girls started on schedule. They said we boys were not as socially and intellectually mature as the girls, and they were right. What an advantage to us for our whole lives! We were a year more mature than the kids in our grade we played sports against and competed with in other ways. (Twenty years later, my three sons were held back, while our daughter went as normal.)
A lot of people agree that kids won’t learn as much this year as in an ordinary year. But if they all repeat the same grade next year, when the learning environment is better, that would give them a real learning advantage. They would be stronger because of the extra year of development.
I’m sure there are problems with this that I have not considered. But, this being Swarthmore, I’m confident I will hear about them in spades! Good. Let’s at least consider this idea. Our kids deserve it.
Ken Wright
Wallingford
