Matt Fleming: The state shouldn’t block professors from testifying on behalf of students harmed by lockdowns

California is blocking two Stanford University education professors from testifying on behalf of a group of students who say the state’s COVID response hurt historically disadvantaged students.

In late 2020, a group of Black and Latino students from Oakland and Los Angeles sued the state alleging not enough support was provided to lower-income students during COVID, citing a wide range of issues involving Internet access, learning equipment, teacher availability and lesson plans (or lack thereof).

As part of its defense in Cayla J v. California (Cayla is a pseudonym for one of the lead plaintiffs, a student), the California Department of Education is preventing professors Sean Reardon and Thomas Dee from testifying as experts because they were given access to data unrelated to the case with the tradeoff that they would never take part in any litigation against the state, EdSource reported.

The state proactively blocked Reardon, a national expert in pandemic learning, from testifying. But Dee had already filed a brief on behalf of the students citing data on enrollment declines and chronic absenteeism, and has since been threatened to back down and “mitigate further damage,” according to EdSource.

It’s obvious that the state’s shutdown of schools and the distance- and hybrid-learning messes that followed unquestionably hurt students, victory laps of California politicians aside, and it is silly to block researchers from testifying what everyone already knows and demand they sign gag orders so broad that it keeps them from using their expertise to protect students.

The plaintiffs aren’t even seeking monetary damages – they’re simply asking for access to better education.

“Instead, lawyers say they’re looking for actual repairs: high-dose tutoring, literacy coaches and an accountability system to ensure the students’ needs are met,” the San Francisco Chronicle wrote.

Part of the state’s defense is that its response to COVID was so great it won an award from the Education Commission of the State for having “one of the nation’s most equitable (funding) formulas,” the Chronicle adds.

If only that award could replace the COVID learning loss (which United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz said didn’t exist).

If only that award could somehow improve California’s Smarter Balanced test scores, which last year showed that 53 percent of the state’s students can’t read at an adequate level and 67 percent are not up to standards in math.

If only that award could undo the chronic absenteeism that plagued classrooms during COVID. In 2020-21, the rate of chronic absenteeism – missing at least 10 percent of school days per year – was 14.3 percent.

If only that award could buy actual results with its “equitable” funding. If spending money was the cure, California would have fixed all of its problems by now. Instead, COVID exposed and exacerbated the state’s education woes.

The state has consistently devalued education, with its lackluster response to COVID, for example, or its new math framework that critics say will only make students less prepared for college.

Buzzwords like “equity” and “reimagine” are not sufficient to address the crisis and neither is simply spending lots of money. Both might sound good in a campaign speech (and will apparently win awards), but they have yet to produce success. As the lawsuit argues, there is a serious lack of accountability.

The plaintiff’s demands are exactly what you’d expect from concerned parents and I admire their efforts. Instead of fighting them, state leaders should listen and then refocus their efforts to bring the state’s many struggling students up to par. What could be more equitable than that?

The state should also let the researchers testify and actually listen to what they have to say. Perhaps the state could learn something that might help it improve the education system.

Reversing course and acknowledging the students have a point might mean admitting the state’s COVID response was not good, which might tarnish the reputations of a few politicians, but that’s better than continuing to fail generations of students.

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords