LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (AP) — Parents in the United States who are unhappy with distance learning are taking increasingly vocal roles in calling for more in-person instruction through grassroots organizing and legal challenges. The recent surge in coronavirus cases has brought a new round of school closings. Those have been followed by lawsuits brought by parents in states including New York, California and Pennsylvania. They argue remote learning is falling short of state standards and causing harm to students. The movement has gained substantial traction in Oregon. Parents there have organized protests including one at the state Capitol in October that drew hundreds.
‘Our kids are the sacrifices’: Parents push schools to open
Charlie Dale works on problems in his math notebook at the kitchen counter in his family home in Lake Oswego, Ore., Oct. 30, 2020. Charlie’s school has been closed to in-person learning since March. In Oregon, one of only a handful of states that has required a partial or statewide closure of schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents in favor of their children returning to in-person learning have voiced their concerns and grievances using social media, petitions, letters to state officials, emotional testimonies at virtual school board meetings and on the steps of the state’s Capitol. (AP Photo/Sara Cline)
