Recently, Empower Mississippi released Unleash Mississippi, a new white paper with policy recommendations for reimagining education and work in a post-coronavirus world.
On Tuesday morning, the president of Empower, Grant Callen, joined The Gallo Show to talk about the education portion of Unleash Mississippi.
�Any time you have a big industry, change is hard,� Callen said. �By and large, it hasn�t changed fast enough. One of the things that I am encouraged about is I do think this pandemic has forced a disruption and has forced us to rethink the way we do education.�
Every school in the state has had to move to a remote style of learning due to COVID-19, and Callen believes the lurid change has brought along �some real opportunities� for the education system.
�There are some things we ought to retain,� Callen said. �Giving kids an online option is critical�It�s not that every kid is going to do better in a virtual option, but some do, and we ought to give that option as a full-time option�not just an emergency measure.�
Some states such as Florida already have a school choice program in place, which provides alternate learning routes of outside of the public-school system.
�Technology gives us the ability to do some things we wouldn�t normally think about doing,� Callen said. �I�m encouraged that a lot of educators are thinking about that, because there are kids that thrive in that setting.�
Callen firmly believes the pandemic is going to change the education system for the better.
�I have not talked to anybody who feels like we are going to look worse, and I�ve been interviewing teachers about the impact of this,� Callen said. �It�s been fascinating to hear how excited teachers are about the changes that may be coming.�
To watch the full interview with Callen, check out the video below.
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