Some San Diego teachers are providing in-person instruction to migrant children, while San Diego public school students remain in virtual school, and parents are rightfully pissed.
Teachers from San Diego County Office of Education as well as other nonprofit organizations began providing educational services on Monday to some of the 500 minors who arrived at the southern border from Texas and Arizona over the weekend.
San Diego teachers will provide the minors with lessons in English and arts for the duration of their stay, which is expected to last until July, KPBS-TV has reported.
“We definitely want to introduce them to the arts, the visual arts and the performing arts,” said Roberto Carrillo, a principal at the County Office of Education. “We’ll give them the opportunity to start expressing themselves through written formats, giving them a basic understanding of the English language.”
A spokesperson for San Diego Unified School District told Fox News that teachers were given the opportunity to volunteer to provide instruction to the migrant children. The spokesperson added that she is not aware if teachers are getting paid.
Many San Diego parents were angered by the decision to provide in-person instruction to migrant children while their children’s classes were still being taught virtually.
“Reopen California Schools,” a page dedicated to fighting for the full reopening of all California schools, said: “Wait a minute… So you’re saying it is ok for San Diego teachers to teach in person… just not to San Diego children?”
San Diego public school students have been learning in an online-only format for over a year. They are expected to move into partial in-person instruction the week of April 12, where they will be learning in a combination of in-person and online formats, according to the school district’s website.
“We have 130,000 kids who haven’t been allowed in a classroom for over a year in the San Diego Unified School District. It’s great that there’s in-person learning for those unaccompanied minors from Central America, but I wish every child in San Diego County was allowed the same opportunity for in-person teaching,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News.
Emily Diaz, an SDUSD parent, told Fox News, “The system is broken when San Diego teachers are teaching migrant children in person, but the 100k students of taxpaying families at San Diego Unified School District are stuck learning in Zoom school.”
“We agree that every child deserves an in-person education, but why are taxpaying students put last?” Diaz asked. “If this is a humanitarian issue then who is rescuing San Diego Unified students, because our leaders have failed them.”
“For more than a year, parents and students in San Diego County have waited for educators to answer one question: When will our schools reopen with in-person instruction only? And for a year, they’ve been told to wait,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA, told Fox News.
“The decision to provide in-person instruction to illegal migrants is outrageous and parents have every right to be angry.”
