Lies of Learning Loss

CTU Speaks!

In this episode of CTU Speaks!, Tara Stamps sits in for Andrea Parker as co-host alongside Jim Staros to talk with Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, who is a professor in the Department of African American Studies at Northwestern University. Prof. Taylor, who frequently writes and speaks about Black politics, racial inequality, and social movements, recently penned an article titled "Who's Left Out of the Learning-Loss Debate" for the New Yorker. Her article explains how the concept of "learning loss" is being weaponized to target teachers unions and educators. The purveyors of the idea of "learning loss" assert that the desire of educators to stay safe — and the decision of predominantly Black and Brown parents to keep their kids home while their communities bore the brunt of death and loss — is to blame rather than the massive disruption to social and civic life caused by the pandemic itself. Prof. Taylor also discusses what is needed to address the deep inequity that stalked public schools in Chicago and across the country even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the article "Who's Left Out of the Learning-Loss Debate" - https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/whos-left-out-of-the-learning-loss-debate Want to be part of the conversation? Send your comments to the CTU Speaks! team by emailing [e-mail] or calling 312-467-8888 and leaving a voicemail that we can use in the show!