Opinion: Let’s Make Our Kids’ Education a Priority

BY ELIZABETH BRUSHWYLER
SPECIAL TO THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

Elizabeth Brushwyler / Photo by Lisa Smiley

Publisher’s note: The following was originally posted on Facebook by the author.

Saturday morning thoughts…

I wish we could rewind a year, and make education essential.

Just like we did for In-N-Out employees, healthcare workers, pilots, and now even hair stylists and nail salons.

It has been so hard for so many industries to battle through this, but humans are good at solving problems and making it work.

All of the changes this year in how we do daily life, and for some reason, we left education off the table.

I believe educators could come up with solutions to educate kids in a pandemic. Honestly, teachers are pretty good at navigating germs!

At our clinic, when we reopened after a week of getting our bearings and ordering enormous amounts of supplies, one of our therapists decided that the risk was too great for her and took a leave of absence. So we could hire therapists who were willing and able to work.

And here we are a year later, and now education is a fight. Instead of the common goal of educating kids and getting back in the classroom, it has turned ugly.

There are amazing private schools and really most schools out of California who have figured this out already. But the Golden State’s public schools have allowed our kids to fall behind.

It’s sad.

Kids have sacrificed to keep adults safe for a year now, and it’s time all the adults figure this out.

We can do hard things. Open our schools.

Elizabeth Brushwyler move to Natomas in 2000. She has two children who have attended Natomas Unified School District schools. Brushwyler has served on the site council at both Heron and Inderkum High School, where her daughter is currently a junior, and volunteered on the superintendent’s parent advisory committee. She works as a pediatric physical therapist.