AOC Just Launched a Homework Helper Program That Could Offer Much-Needed Relief for Students (and Parents) | Parents
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
After running a successful pilot program in New York, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign has launched a virtual Homework Helpers program that could serve as a model for communities around the country.
By Maressa Brown December 02, 2020 Advertisement SavePinFB ellipsisMoreTweet MailEmail iphoneSend Text MessagePrintComment Image zoom Credit: The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress Campaign
All over the country, parents are increasingly overwhelmed and concerned about their kids falling behind in school as a result of the pandemic. A Pew Research Center survey from late October found that 7 in 10 parents whose children are getting online instruction—either fully or in combination with in-person learning—say they or another adult in their household is providing at least some additional instruction or resources to their children beyond what is being provided by the school. But with both time and energy in short supply, parents could use some assistance. And that's where a new tutoring program could come in.
Late last month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign formally launched a virtual Homework Helpers Program following a seven week-long pilot program that involved around 100 students from Throggs Neck, New York. The latest iteration of the program involves educators and volunteers from around the country who will provide students living in New York's 14th congressional district with one hour of free virtual homework help per week.
Ocasio-Cortez explains that the program was conceived in response to the fact that "due to systemic inequities in our education system, working class families are especially struggling with virtual learning and homework." She explains, "It was important for our community to step in and do what we do best, which is to empower and organize local families and leverage our robust volunteer base."
Upon hearing parents lament the challenges of transitioning to remote learning, the campaign put out a call for people who had experience with tutoring. "The congresswoman has a huge network of empathetic, amazing volunteers, and we put out a call for people who had experience with tutoring, and we had 500 people who responded," says Jonathan Soto, political organizer for the AOC campaign.
The campaign then connected the homework helpers with local parent-teacher organizations that spread the word to parents whose kids could use extra support. Parents send in a photo of the homework their child needs help with and schedule a one-on-one one-hour session, which they're asked to chaperone, that takes place in a Zoom breakout room. The service is also available on an ongoing, weekly basis.
Soto notes that the program was designed to be accessible to students who might not have consistent access to certain technology. "We're very intentional about understanding a family's needs," explains Soto. "Technology is an issue for many. The digital divide is real in the Bronx. People are grateful that a tutor can call them up and help them with entering into the Zoom room or troubleshooting."
The campaign currently has 120 trained tutors and is recruiting more volunteers, specifically tutors who speak Spanish, Bangla, Urdu, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, French, and Kru, to be able to help the diverse constituencies in NY-14. Volunteers are supported and trained by experienced educators. Interested tutors can sign up via a Google form. With the new school closures, Team AOC has set a goal of serving 1,000 students for the 2020-2021 school year.
Ocasio-Cortez also hopes that the program might serve as a model that can be replicated across the country. The campaign is encouraging state and local lawmakers to consider a universal homework helpers program, much like universal pre-K. As Ocasio-Cortez notes, "As elected officials, we should step in to support our constituents when systems fail to do so."
But parents can also take the initiative to spearhead a local version of Homework Helpers themselves. "Anyone can do this," says Soto. "We encourage everyone—parents or high school students—to work with their PTAs to reach out to your local community. If you have 20 people who are willing to give one hour per week for four weeks, you'll be able to service an entire class."
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Go ahead and call her a bitch. I know you want to...
"The congresswoman has a huge network of empathetic, amazing volunteers, and we put out a call for people who had experience with tutoring, and we had 500 people who responded,
Ooh, I'm sure they have no political agenda...
Their agenda is to help children learn. What kind of political agenda would be opposed to that?
Depends on what they want them to learn. If it is something that will get them a successful start in life, then that's OK, but if t is nothing more than a branch of the current left wing indoctrination we find in most left wing cities, this will probably do nothing more than keep the kids stupid and ensure they vote democrat when the come of age.
Betsy DeVos
This program is to assist children struggling with remote learning due to the pandemic...
The article says nothing about indoctrination.
So where's your version? Are Republicans doing anything?
Is Betsy Devos a political agenda? Devos mainly wants to privatize education so she can get paid by the government to collect...
How long in the coal mines should it take for a poor child to pay off their elementary education?
Of course an article praising the program is not going to out it's true intentions
"The congresswoman has a huge network of empathetic, amazing volunteers, and we put out a call for people who had experience with tutoring, and we had 500 people who responded," says Jonathan Soto, political organizer for the AOC campaign".
In other words, left wing indoctrination specialists
Debby Downer called. She wants her act back!
Rightwingers should probably just keep their kids out of all these awful no good low down liberal programs crafted to help them learn better during these different times.
That way they can all fall even farther behind educationally and financially than their poor ignorant dumbass parents did!
I guess you didn't read the seed. They're helping kids with their homework. I don't know about you but if you're not really teaching the class it's gonna be hard to "indoctrinate" a young mind especially if you're just doing long division
Privatizing education IS a political agenda
I'm sure most of them will. Why does AOC think she needs to step in and give one hour a week (big whoopie) of tutoring? Is she admitting the left wing indoctrination they refer to as "education" of New York children is a failure?
New York teacher's unions are for the teachers, not the children. Keep 'em stupid so they will vote democrat later in life...and probably after they die.
Maybe you need to read my 1.1.2 again. [deleted]
Yet. NYC has one of the very best public education systems in the entire USA and the chances are that your great grandchildren are in schools which are greatly inferior to NYC's!
The best I can find for NYC is they rank 83 in the country. Not terrible, but by far not "one of the very best". The problem is they have one of the most expensive, per student, school systems, but do not produce based on how much they waste, especially for teacher's unions, which are the biggest danger to children's education.
Not sure where the "great grandchildren" thing came from. i'm 54, so if I have GGC, I must have gotten freaky awful early in life.
We know how the Dems do their devious and dirty deeds..
Done dirt cheap !
I like to see a Congressperson doing something to help their communities
What young Congresswomen were called awful demeaning names and were vilified and yet still their constituents overwhelmingly reelected them?
These young Congresswoman...
Even Pelosi said a glass of water can get elected in these districts if it had a D next to its name.
She's right.
Who's the young woman in the far right hand corner? She looks like a TI I had in basic
why don't you go troll someone else's seeds?
Yet they were all overwhelmingly reelected...
First term (Soon to be second term) Congresswoman Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts...
Thanks for the info.
I like her expression. Don't fuck with me
Why don't you mind your business? Like liberals enjoy pointing out, this is a public forum, and everyone is allowed to post on here.
I guess that changes when the poster is a conservative.
What do your posts have to do with AOC indoctrination program "she" launched?
All you're doing is trolling and I'm pointing that out. I don't see you contributing anything of value to JBB's seed.
But I will just mosey along since nobody likes me anyway....
The pertinent question is, what do any of your lameass comments about your own personal unfounded and irrational fears about AOC and liberal indoctrination have to do with the progran described in the linked article?
Oh, and by the way...
He wants me to get mad and say something he can flag me for. Run of the mill trolling...
I will let the seeder make that determination.
Well known fact that a glass of water with a "D" behind it could win in THAT district!
AOC+3
Looks like a bunch of angry and unhappy [deleted]
They're as dumb as she is
Don't feed the trolls. The Trump needs their money.
Already did.
Not taunting, comment simply describes people pictured
Probably because they said awful and demeaning things about others first!
I have to agree with Ed. I am don't like them and I am not sure why 4 sophomore congresswomen have so much coverage, considering some of their very nasty comments they have made in the past.
Greg,
I don't like her, but AOC is not dumb. She graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both international relations and economics.
It is possible to be highly intelligent and educated and not have a lick of common sense. I have run into many like that over the years. AOC strikes me as just such a person.
She is doing something that will help both children and parents. On the other hand, we have Betsy DeVos who is doing nothing. Oh wait, Betsy could be closing the public schools and sending the kids to a religious school, there ya go, that's the ticket.
Trump picked Devos to run public education because she opposes to public education...
That is false.
Which part is false?
That she is opposed to public education.
Uh, I disagree. She is a billionaire Supply Sider.
Okay.
Good for her, huh?
She wants a voucher system which would destroy public education, so yes she opposed to public education, just not admitting to it.
This is just one example of Betsy DeVos "doing nothing" ...
Betsy DeVos didn't shut down public schools; that's left to state dictate. The onus of closing public schools has rested squarely on the shoulders of Cuomo, De Blasio, and their left-wing teacher union leaders even though there's absolutely no "science" proving that schools should be closed "due to Covid". Even Dr. Fauci said that schools should be open.
Is this how those evil Dems find children to molest ... and eat?
In a perfect technology/Internet world, AOC's goal is admirable and needed, but there is no mention in the article of how they'll help the millions who don't have a computer/laptop or can't afford adding computer/laptop purchase or Internet access to their already-stretched monthly budgets. I hope that she succeeds.
March, 2020 - NYC:
October, 2020 - USA: