Academics

I believe that three of the most pressing issues currently relate to one another. The recent academic report card showed that 51% of BCPS students were not proficient in reading and 43% were not proficient in math. These numbers are alarming. However, this is not because of poor instruction or under qualified teachers but can mostly be attributed to Governor Roy Cooper’s covid shutdowns and remote learning. Students suffered the consequences of not being in the classroom for an extended period. Unfortunately, the pressure has been put on our teachers who are doing their best to try to make up for the lost time and this is an issue across the state as well.

I believe that students need to get back to the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. I also believe that it needs to go a step further and go back to more printed text rather than the digital text of Chromebooks. Studies have shown that students who read print text comprehend more, remember more, and learn more than those who read digital text. Experts also claim that students read digital text 20-30% slower than print. Students who handwrite their lecture notes also retain the information better than typed.