Aracelis Lucero of MASA testifies on ed tech inequities for immigrant families

Hello, everybody.

Can you hear me?

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

My name is Araceli Sucero.

I am the executive director of MASA.

We are a community-based organization that partners with Latino immigrant and indigenous families to develop strong learners and leaders.

I am also the parent of two public school students.

Araceli, if you can bring the mic a little bit closer.

Thank you.

I am also the parent of two public school students in kindergarten and fourth grade, and I'm also

The proud product of immigrant parents and the New York City public school system.

As an immigrant and education advocate, I've witnessed over and over how black, brown, immigrant, and indigenous communities have been failed by our public school education,

as displayed by the educational outcomes that we see across race, class, and subgroups like English language learners.

The over-reliance and use of AI, screen time, and curriculums that rely on them, like HMH and iReady, have only exacerbated these inequities for immigrant community.

Immigrant parents already face language access issue in our public school system, leaving them feeling unwelcome and in the dark about what is happening in the school and in the classroom.

The use of technology, especially when all communities are not being brought along responsibly and equitably, has only widened the quote-unquote achievement gap.

For example, many of our families...

Cannot afford internet and students are expected to practice online at home or complete assignments online.

At MASA, many families ask to either use our internet or our devices for their children to complete their assignments.

Furthermore, all parent communication about schooling has moved to online platforms, which not only

which not all parents can access, leaving a key part of a student's educational trajectory out of the picture, the parent.

At Masses After School program, we have also witnessed how teachers are less able to provide meaningful feedback and strategies, both to parents and to us, about how to support the students in our program.

My own experience with my son, who is a fourth grader,

has illuminated the issue for me and helped me understand how education has changed and why students and teachers are more disconnected than ever, contributing to the results we see today.

When he entered kindergarten, he was advanced in reading by two grade levels.

I have seen how my son over the years has started to struggle in literacy and now

reading at grade level, but has fallen behind in writing.

And I'm sorry, this is upsetting to me.

That's okay.

Simply because he doesn't have the stamina to write since it's not a critical focus in the classroom.

Students are put in front of screens to learn content and different subjects are not being properly monitored to ensure they are even completing the designated task

and rely on unit assessments evaluated by a computer to gauge where they are without providing the opportunity for relationships to be built.

For teachers to really get to know how students learn and why they are struggling to master certain concepts and to adapt their lessons to address those gaps and teach to the different learners and styles.

In March of last year, I noticed that my son's headphones were missing in his classroom.

When I asked him where they were, he said that he hadn't seen them since January and that he had told his teacher about it when it happened.

When I asked the teacher about it, she said she didn't know he was missing his headphones.

I responded by saying, you mean to tell me that my son has been sitting in front of a screen for three months now without being able to engage in key instructional lessons and content because no one noticed his headphones were missing?

And I was met with a blank stare.

At the end of the year, I reached out to his teacher to ask for feedback.

only to be met with very general feedback.

When I forwarded what another private tutor from the Hunter College Literacy Center had provided me with strategies, then

She was able to offer me more feedback, literally verbatim with what his tutor had given me.

I'll fast forward.

As a parent with a lot of privilege, including a master's degree from a top university who works for an education nonprofit, I always feel like a fast one is being pulled over my head.

I can only imagine how day in and day out families and students are made to feel left out and their full potential left untapped, especially when we have bias in the system.

I believe many teachers are doing the best they can with what they have, but AI, screen time, the current ELA and math curriculums we use, the digital tools we rely on to teach and engage our children are doing a disservice to our children, including my own.

I fully support the elimination of screen time and AI in the classroom, especially during the critical years of learning.

There are other ways to address ensuring there is a technology gap, like a technology class that doesn't have to sacrifice the core subjects, our need for genuine human interaction, and developing the skills our children are expected to learn so that they can thrive.

Thank you.