Educator pleads to let go of 'catching up' at school in viral post

After months of remote, hybrid and distance learning, parents are justifiably concerned about their children's educations. But one life-long educator thinks "catching up" is an idea that should be reconsidered.

In a Facebook post that's been shared thousands of times, Teresa Thayer Snyder wrote, "After a lifetime of working among the young, I feel compelled to address the concerns that are being expressed by so many of my peers about the deficits the children will demonstrate when they finally return to school. My goodness, what a disconcerting thing to be concerned about in the face of a pandemic which is affecting millions of people around the country and the world."

She continued, "It speaks to one of my biggest fears for the children when they return. In our determination to 'catch them up,' I fear that we will lose who they are and what they have learned during this unprecedented era. What on earth are we trying to catch them up on?"

Benchmarks and "arbitrary measures," she wrote "simply do not apply."