During the COVID shutdown era of the public school system, the negative effect on academic excellence was felt at every age level. Our youngest children were unable to develop speech through their masks and sounding out words without the visual of a teacher’s mouth made everything more difficult. Older students had to rely heavily on self-motivation working in isolation at home, sometimes without very specialized instructors even available online.

Educational requirements were loosened by the former school board to keep passing rates at an acceptable level, but they were only barely clearing a lower bar. We all need to work together to close the gap created by the learning loss from lack of in-person learning. The liberal ideals of “equitable outcomes” for all only ensures that everyone is “equally behind”. We stand for raising expectations for all our students and giving students and teachers the resources and support to strive for individual achievement.