Houston Republic

Nearly a quarter of Houston public school students stopped learning during the COVID-pandemic last spring.

KTRK reports the students were either not engaged in online learning or teachers lost contact with them completely, the story said, citing statistics from the state. The numbers show 23.6% of Houston students were not engaged in online learning and that about 92% of those were from economically disadvantaged families.

“This 23% are kids living in single-parent households, that are living in low-income housing,” Houston Independent School District board member Kathy Blueford-Daniels told the station. "These are still our children. Our income and zip code should not determine the destination for our children. In order to ensure that that's not happening or that our children have an opportunity in life, their adult life, we've got to be engaged. We've got to be the drum majors."

Younger students are more likely to be disengaged, the state said.

“Think about a K through first- or second-grade student who's in their formative years of reading instruction or math instruction, and this is going to have a long-term effect,” Duncan Klussmann, a former Texas public school superintendent now at the University of Houston, told KTRK. “We're going to have to rethink what school looks like when it goes back to somewhat normal and make sure that we're providing the opportunity for students to be able to catch up and learn those skills.”

The state’s numbers were from last spring when schools were suddenly closed as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Since then the state has spent millions to improve remote learning, said Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen. He predicts the engagement numbers will improve for the current school year.

“It better not look the way it did last April,” Bonnen told the station. “The districts weren't ready for that. There's no reason they could have or should have, or would have been, but no, it better be better. We have invested significantly to make it better.”