Nation's pandemic response hurt children, but SC did better than many states

I was disappointed in The State’s decision to use a recent column to attack me for a social media post in which I highlighted the historic falloff in student test scores resulting from school closures during the pandemic.

There is no question that the nation’s pandemic response had a detrimental effect on our children, most of whom were minimally affected physically by the virus but were devastated by the side effects of lockdowns and the social isolation that ensued.

According to the Washington Post, students’ test scores in elementary school math and reading “plummeted to levels unseen for decades” based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or “the nation’s report card.” There has been little to no attempt to dispute this data, yet The State’s David Travis Bland decided to regurgitate liberal talking points that I was “ignoring the facts” and “showing little heart” when discussing the problem of school closures.

We should all agree that learning outcomes are better for students when they are not forced in front of a computer screen all day with little to no adult supervision because their classroom has been shuttered. Unfortunately, in too many places across the country, students were denied the option of in-person instruction because fear rather than facts drove decision-making.

Fortunately, when the so-called “experts” in Washington, the media and the education establishment tried to keep schools, businesses and churches shut down, South Carolina chose a different path, thanks to Governor Henry McMaster and many courageous members of the General Assembly.

While it is terrible that students lost any in-class instructional time at all, the reality is that most South Carolina students were able to return to the classroom sooner than their peers in many other states and far earlier than union-aligned political organizations like the SC Education Association and SC for Ed were advocating for.

For schools that heeded the call to return to full and immediate in-person instruction, the positive results were clear. One example is Belton Preparatory Academy, a Title I public charter school in my district founded in 2018. Belton Prep was open for full-day instruction five days a week during the Fall of 2020, has seen stable test scores and is on track to be one of the top elementary schools in the state.

Some of our nation’s leaders who originally supported shutting students out of schools are starting to acknowledge their errors. New York’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul recently called school closures a “mistake” and stated, “there’s no replacement for in-classroom learning.” However, many others like Senator Patty Murray of Washington State have stood by their past support of school closures as necessary, ignoring mounting evidence to the contrary.

I assure you that I by no means have a lack of “sympathy” or lack of heart for those affected by COVID as claimed by The State’s Bland, but when a policy like the COVID shuttering of schools has been so detrimental to the well-being of our children, I have an obligation to call out the failures of those policies and those who refuse to acknowledge their mistakes.

Students were hindered emotionally, academically and developmentally due to lockdowns and social isolation, and we see the implications of this displayed in the test score decline nationwide. That is why it is more than appropriate with elections coming up to take note of which public officials supported these damaging policies and which ones were willing to defy the “popular” opinion at the time, accept the criticism and do what was right for the sake of our children’s futures.

I will not stop fighting to ensure the rights of children, and I am thankful South Carolina had many leaders in place who were willing to be bold and do the right thing.