During covid. He is also likely to be asked about protests in his state after a police shooting. Two protesters were killed and one injured last night. Joining, the mayor of albuquerque, new mexico. [no audio] hello and welcome to our discussion. I am the National Correspondent and a host of npr. I am happy to serve as your moderator. As the mother of two children, you can imagine that the term back to school is uttered a lot throughout my household. Especially over the past week as my daughters prepared to do their best job to get ready for another semester of middle school online. Like many families, we were frustrated with parts of our Education System before the pandemic. Now it has become even more difficult. Whether the instruction is in person or online or hybrid, researchers say that schools cannot bear the burden alone. They need more support to help ensure that families and students and educators have what they need for their health and wellbeing. Are the need to foster collaboration, the need to fully leverage federal funds and streamline eligibility and reimbursement, and the need to secure additional human capital. Usecan governors and mayors their offices to address these growing needs . How can the ekg and empower families to create effective solutions. Andow can they engage empower families . Joining me is wisconsin governor tony evers. Wisconsin state superintendent of public instruction. Thank you for being here. Us is tim keller, the democratic mayor of albuquerque, new mexico. Launched it also oversees youth connect. We also have a parent advisor. Lead advocating for support of communitybased organizations that support students. She is the single mother of three children and is also pursuing a degree in psychology. Viewers, you can join the conversation. Questions using the q a box. Governor eberst, i want to acknowledge the protests that in kenosha,g wisconsin. Thankfully, the victim survived but we hear that he has been paralyzed from the waist down. Governor, you have been supportive of the protests and you have called on legislators to have a special session to go over a package of bills that will address Racial Equity injustice. That legislation was stalled. Telus us governor how that happened and walk us through what those bills would include. You are muted. Gov. Evers hows that . Describing the horrible, horrific situation we have in kenosha, wisconsin. Something that the black community in wisconsin and across the country has been facing for 400 years. Issue inracism is an our state and across the country. Could not have been more horrific. Details are still unknown. What we do know is horrific. That is that an africanamerican man was shot in the back trying to get into his car. It was in front of his children. We know that for a fact. Other things, we dont know. There is a lot of pain and anguish across the country, across wisconsin right now. We are trying to work through that. Had many bills that came out of the issue of systemic racism. We had hoped that the republicans would take them up in addition to some of the bills they had. Primarily, basic issues. Chokehold, banning making sure that the proper training is in place and ensuring that we have the opportunities for violence interruption training for not necessarily police but Community Members so they can step in and be helpful with their fellow Community Members. Bills, mosteries of of them written by the black caucus in the red legislature. Session to special up the ante and hopefully get some support. That will happen next monday. Makeer, i dont want to this a political discussion, but in the past, callings into special session, Republican Leaders have balked at that. We will see what happens monday. Intohopeful they will come session and take up these bills and vote them up or down or change them or whatever. Lets have a discussion. This is a critical time for us. I am hopeful we will be able to do that. What is your response to the fact that three people were shot, to build during a protest overnight . Will that affect how protests are handled moving forward . Yes, we are going to be calling out more national guard. The bottom line is, those deaths were very unfortunate. Vigilantesoup of that were Walking Around with long guns. Somehow, they got into an argument and two people got shot. That assed just before group of primarily all white vigilantes Walking Around with guns. There was some argument going on. The actual protesting around the unfortunate shooting went better last night. I dont want to dismiss to lives. Vigilantes are not, that is to lives that shouldnt happen. Complex things more when we have different a wayters interacting in that is going to bring violence. I want some clarity, governor. Is there a history of Police Violence toward black hit black people in wisconsin . Yes, in milwaukee, we have had several black men who have been dismissed from this world after interactions from the police. There are always mitigating factors. The fact of the matter is, things seem to accelerate in a violent way with africanamerican men in particular. We are not immune to that situation. It is a national situation, it is not endemic to wisconsin, but it is something we have to deal with. When the situation in wisconsin happens, people marching in our small and large towns demanding change as it applies to systemic racism, it is time. Mayor, you navigated protest and a shooting in albuquerque in june. I wanted to hear from you, what people are asking for when they are asking for justice . What have you been prepared to do to help your residents achieve that . With, then heartbreaking shooting of jacob lake, we have had shootings in our town as well. Despite the Community Action and all that has happened, we have to act toward Actual Police reform. To the Governors Point about calling a special session, at some point, you have to do something about it not just talk about it. That is on our elected officials collectively to do. Untile have seen is that we have policies that reflect the concept and the meeting behind black lives matter, and they get real, we will continue to see this because i think this is an endemic problem everywhere in america. This is something that is not going to go away until we address it directly. Similarly, when things happen, this vigilante issue, we have the same thing here. An explicitly racially defined white Power Organization that shows up in peaceful protests. E had a similar situation fortunately, lives were not lost. This is an american problem. In that regard, we are with wisconsin. We have to move faster. Here in albuquerque, we are already under a Department Justice decree. ,ecause things were so bad here we have things like seven out of wait cant wait. We have lapel cameras and other policies. We are on first base at best. We have a long way to go. A lot of cities are just waking up to this. It is something that all of America Needs to wake up to right away. This is the backdrop as our kids are waiting to get back to school. While keisha, youre a mother. You are raising two black sons. What does justice look like to you . Im glad you asked. Mother of africanamerican sons in this society is very terrifying. The constant exposure to murders on social media, on the news, it creates a high level of anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder. Having a teenage son who is black and also very large in stature, we live in a predominantly white neighborhood. And sixth grade, then calling the police on him at school for an 11yearold because they perceived him as a threat. Hasntu, my son individualized Education Plan so there should be systems in place to support him through those transitions just like his white counterparts were supported. However, that was not my experience. Was even more disheartening on a National Level was becoming aware that the system is working as it is designed to work. Systemtrying to fix the that is not broken, it actually needs an overhaul. Rebuilding toand incorporate the black experience into the system or the experience of several other black Indigenous People of color. Believe that until there is a significant change on a national, state, and local level, we will continue to see these atrocities happened. We will continue to need even further support psychologically, socially, and economically. As we talk about issues of race and systemic racism, it is fair to say that this is played out in our School System. Governor evers, you have the unique perspective of having been a state superintendent for you were governor. Can you explain this moment right now for us . What do schools need in this time . Aboutvers we just talked probably the top issue which is making sure that we attack this through systemic racism in this country. Then, we have covid19. Said. Erifies what i just the results of covid19 are people of color, especially africanamericans who suffer disproportionate Health Outcomes in general and now they are in covid19. Then, you have the distress of people being out of work and things going haywire in the economy. Have 421sin, they School Districts. With everything we know about the way we live and work changing, back to school is going to be difficult. It is going to look different in every district in the state of wisconsin. I think there is a fair amount of confusion. There is a fair amount of fear. I am very concerned. To layer it, not something even more complex on top of it, i fear that the solutions to back to school, whether it is in person, hybrid or virtual or any combination exacerbate theso differences among kids by race and by poverty. Think if i had to summarize news, that frankly scary we as a country, as a state, as individuals, we have to understand that kids are going note traumatized by this nearly as bad as those three kids in the backseat of jacobs car. Trauma outs a lot of there and whatever we can do to Bring Mental Health to the forefront during this transition time, that has to be a priority. Apologies for my neighbor who was mowing the lawn as we speak. These are the times. I want to hear what its like to go to get your kids ready to go back to school during the time of a pandemic. How long do we have . Feel a lot of pressure speaking on behalf of the millions of parents across the country. I think there are certain things unique to my experience. Number one, i am a single parent with not a lot of support locally. The challenge of having three children to prepare at three different grade levels. I have one entering ninth grade, one entering high school. I have a second grader. And i have a kindergartner. This will be a very challenging experience for me also being a fulltime employee. Fortunately, i have the privilege to work remotely. Hasrtunately, our nation what they consider a traditional work schedule which conflicts with a school schedule. Ofigating across Systems School districts, my work, emergency fmla that is being offered, the nuances that were not clearly defined in that, having a withrold who lost severe asthma. Childrenself and two navigating through the Mental Health system, it has been interesting. To say the least. Some of the barriers that we , access to devices, yes there are devices but that makes a sevenyearold responsible for a computer. A fiveyearold responsible for a computer. A 14yearold sponsor will for a computer. Mom responsible for a work computer. It can be very difficult. Assumption that because i am able to work remotely, i should also be able to take care of three children simultaneously. There are several roles that i will be wearing this upcoming fall. I will be a teachers assistant. I will be a cafeteria worker. I will be a custodian. I will be a parent. I will be an employee. I will be a business owner. Team. Be a manager of a there are a lot of different hats that i will be wearing simultaneously throughout the wont be receiving any Additional Resources or pay for. We havent received any support for additional food costs that are normally provided through the school. There is an added expense without any sort of supplement. However, i feel the parents could use some supplement from the district or the state regarding the upkeep. They are up keeping the schools for the most part. There is the food budget that is being allocated to schools. Who werentts qualified for free lunches at school. During the pandemic, they were not given access to food for their children through the end of spring. It is really disheartening. It is as if people in our situation are encouraged to reach this level of selfsufficiency. Then through the pandemic, that marker has been moved further out of reach. Those of us who were close to reaching it are now falling further back through no fault of our own. We are not receiving any assurance from our National Leaders. We are not receiving any straightforward direction. While we understand it is new for everyone, no one in our lifetime has experienced a pandemic of this proportion. It is really sad to see our neighbors and others receive so support. We are receiving multiple different instructions from different government. Where you have someone like in my situation that wants my children to be safe but also wants them to receive a fair and equitable education and living in an aria, i live in huntington beach, california. You may have seen us on the news. Because the people in my community are more privileged than i am, so they want everything to go back to normal right away. Whereas someone like me who doesnt have the ability to pay for a tutor or to pay for expensive daycare because daycare rates are raised because people can only take a certain amount of children, i dont have all of those resources that people in my neighborhood do. Told to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to get to a certain level. And, it is taken away from us. Because a world pandemic happens. Thank you for sharing that with us. I also want to thank our viewers who have been sending in questions. I want to share one that fits right along with what you have been talking about. Respond to what she was saying about support . Thequestion is, i work with u. S. Department of health and Human Services for children and families. How can our Services System support our parents in this time of covid19 differently . Thats a great question. Think alltion is i too common across america. This is just a quick perspective on albuquerque is about a hundred thousand people. Schools is public separate from the city. Some cities it is combined, some not. Estimate at least 50,000 parents in her situation. Moreto start out on a basic i am a publicschool dad. I was late this morning because i was trying to get my kids set up online on the internet. We have a coparenting household, so my wife is an essential worker but she is also able to work from home. Even with that, trying to get the kids set up. One is a kindergarten and the other is in second grade. There are realities in peoples lives that i think a lot of folks are ignoring especially at the National Level. In the education debate, you have to understand, how do you get groceries . How do you get your kids to school . We have thousands of people about internet. There is no Online Learning. Our School District until december. In person, they are doing special needs in person. They are doing it all online. Regulations about attendance still apply. You cant be late and all of this other stuff. For anyone, there is also the notion of a child. A kindergartner doesnt understand how to use a computer. Even a touchscreen. Let alone, you have to start with that. Our community has always been a minority majority city. It has been that way since way before america existed. It still is today. There is also a secondlanguage challenge. We have native american linkages spanish. You roll all of these in. Should schoolis start or should they not . That is completely shortchanging working families. Eitherotally ignoring one of those options are totally different. What we are trying to do here in albuquerque is, we are trying to set up a network for those families. Were trying to say that you dont have to choose to go into and help yourome kids with Online Learning. We have opened up all of our Community Centers and you can drop your kids off for as little as 10 per week. If your kids dont have a computer, we will log them in on our computers. We cant take responsibility for their education, but we can take care of their meals and give them access to the internet. Right now, we have 3000 in that system. We think there is a much bigger demand, so we are looking at massive Outdoor Learning concepts like an hour they spell fields and parks. Where we have kids in groups of five or 10 regard this of age. Because online, getting that age distinction lurking online, we are trying to provide supervision but also keep it safe outside. Again, this is because staying at home for many is a luxury. The concept that people can just find in many ways, it is biased for people of color and low income. It is also not. There are nurses who have to go to work also. We are ignoring all of that in the discussion of going to school or not. In albuquerque, thats what were trying to do. This is the first week of it so im going to go check on them and see how its working out. Upgovernor, i want to open the idea of support do you. It is a twopart question. What kinds of support are you hearing families need that is different from the past . What kind of new and innovative support have you heard the has been lended from the local governments . Gov. Evers that is certainly something we have worked on in our state. I will go back to my former hat as a former state superintendent. Schools almost have a pathological need to own every problem. Education is directly related to all of those things. When i became governor, i hired cabinet members based on their ability to connect the dots. 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