Leanne Francis, first grade teacher at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, conducts an online class from her living room on March 20, 2020 in San Francisco, Calif. With schools closed across the U.S., teachers are holding some classes online.
Leanne Francis, first grade teacher at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, conducts an online class from her living room on March 20, 2020 in San Francisco, Calif. With schools closed across the U.S., teachers are holding some classes online.
Airdate: 12/21/20
Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the Law Enforcement Education and Accountability for People with Disabilities (LEAD) Initiative, seeking to bring about “racial justice and address the high incidence rate of police violence involving people with disabilities.”
Senator Casey appears on Smart TalkMonday to offer details on both bills and how the overall initiative will change policing.
Distance learning is changing the American education system
Around the country children in all grade levels from Kindergarten through High School, attend virtual classes every day. It has become the standard method of teaching during the pandemic and has allowed, for the most part, schools to continue uninterrupted.
The process is not without problems, though, to include an alarming rise in truancy reports.
In Pennsylvania, students are considered truant after three unexcused absences in a single academic year. There are limited exceptions to the attendance requirement, but school districts are finding wide-spread abuse of the rules.
Reporter Mark Keierleber is a senior writer-reporter at The 74, a non-profit news site covering education in America. He recently reported on a growing concern that these absences could funnel more children into the court systems to face the truancy charges and he joins Smart Talk Monday to share his findings.