Nearly nine in 10 respondents to a survey from an education-advocacy group say the Arlington school system should be prioritizing ”student-facing” staff positions instead of focusing on a growth of administrative positions.
That’s according to Arlington Parents for Education, a group founded during the pandemic that has advocated for more resources to support student achievement.
The 88 percent in support of that proposal represented the highest level of agreement among policy statements presented to the public in the survey. Rounding out the top three:
• Eighty percent agreed that students’ personal electronic devices should be turned off and placed out of sight while they are in class.
• Seventy-seven percent said the school system should be doing more to address the learning loss caused when the school system went into an extended period of lockdown (shifting to “virtual” learning in an online format) during the COVID pandemic.
“Standards and rigor in general seem to be down across the board,” one respondent said.
“We need to increase teachers and tutors – people actually helping kids in the classroom,” said another.
On the issue of keeping personal devices such as phones put away during class time, the advocacy organization does seem to be getting some backing.
Tony Hall, principal of Washington-Liberty High School, recently touted his school’s efforts in a series of online postings. He acknowledged that students can’t learn effectively without being focused on the task at hand.
“Too often, young people are distracted by their cell phones and personal devices, which may in turn result in instructional opportunities lost,” Hall wrote.
