NYC families criticize Election day virtual schooling

Parents voiced concerns that the virtual instruction was ineffective, with some children taking advantage of the situation to indulge in Halloween candy while online. One mother shared on social media, “My ten year old is 30 minutes into zoom school today—which I think is absurd. So far, they said the pledge of allegiance which was very charming, and then my son ran out to the living room to get candy from his Halloween bag. When I said ‘what are you doing?’ he said, ‘don’t worry, I turned off my camera.’”

The city’s decision to hold remote classes was intended to allow school buildings to serve as polling places. Prior to Election Day, the Department of Education advised families to ensure their children had the necessary technology and internet access.

However, several parents reported technical difficulties, including one parent whose fifth-grade class experienced issues logging into Zoom and Google Classroom. “One would think they’d have it worked out by now. They’ve had 6 years of practice starting with covid!” the parent stated.

A Department of Education spokesperson acknowledged that TeachHub, a platform used for remote learning, experienced slower response times. They stated that a redirect page was implemented to allow direct access to learning platforms, and that the issues have been resolved. The spokesperson maintained that the problems did not prevent students from learning or logging in.

Other parents reported challenges with teachers struggling to manage mute settings during online sessions. One parent wrote on social media, “Almost a million kids on Zoom today, including both of mine, one in each room, fighting over who gets to show the cat on screen while the teachers battle with mute settings.”

Some parents felt the assigned work was inadequate, even for younger students. One parent criticized the assigned tasks, saying, “Don’t pretend making my kid trace letters is equivalent to a day of school.”

Many parents directed their complaints towards Mayor Zohran Mamdani, citing the remote learning day as a failure to address parental childcare needs. One parent posted, “@NYCMayor a remote learning day is not a great showing that you actually care or understand parents’ childcare needs.” Another expressed, “Other districts give everyone Election Day off. Why can’t NYC? It’s hard enough to juggle work and childcare. Adding remote learning just makes a tough day harder for families @NYCMayor.”