The year 2020 has brought its share of difficulties. People all over the world have had to adapt to the changes caused by COVID-19. One of the major institutions facing significant changes during this unprecedented time is education. Social distancing has immensely limited the ability of our educators to instruct our students, young and old alike, resulting in even greater disparities when it comes to equal access to quality education.
Rai King, founder of Hands In, an educational co-op, has taken to the task of addressing these disparities and created an avenue for families to have access to quality education. Rai has an extensive background in education. She has been teaching for over 16 years with experience in home school, public school, and private school. She has even had the added benefit of widening her experience by teaching in several different areas ranging from California to South Africa. When asked why she chose now to start the educational co-op she explained:
“My true love and my true passion is education and working with children and families, particularly in communities that are traditionally known to be experiencing an access gap. I say access gap and not achievement gap because achievement is relative, who are we comparing our achievement to. I do not like achievement gap but access gap really talks more about communities that have been left out of opportunities that more affluent communities get to have. That is where my heart is, that where my experience is when it relates to education.“
Like most of us, Rai genuinely believed the coronavirus situation would be rectified well before September. In lieu of COVID-19 wearing on, she noticed parents started to form learning pods where they were inviting private teachers to come into their homes and tutor their child or a small group of children. It was then she realized that those who were not so privileged would suffer educationally. Being that her experience is in helping communities that suffer from an access gap, she knew they were going to be affected negatively during this time.
“I knew that black and brown and brown children who were going to suffer the most as a result of this and I just wanted to be able to provide something that I thought could fill a little bit of a gap. So, I got this idea to start this co-op to be a place of support for parents to provide them extra-curricular enrichment for students at a price I hope everyone can afford,” said King.
To answer the question who can access the resources provided by the co-op, Rai says it is open to families everywhere. For those who cannot afford the program, Rai has started a platform to accept donations to create scholarships for those families. The program’s Patreon account is tiered structurally for contributions. The lower tier is only $50 a month for families of any size. The next tier is $100 a month or more, again covering the entire family. This structure is in place in part due to Rai’s politics; the belief that those who can do more, should do more. With that in consideration it allows those who can’t afford to do more, access to the same level of services as those who can. All in all it’s a community effort.
Despite her heart being with black and brown families or communities, Rai feels it still important to address segregation in attacking the problem of inequities in education. “I believe education is the civil rights issue of our time,” said King. She went on to say that there are some studies that show that our schools are more segregated now than they were in the 1950s and 1960s. Most notably New York’s Public-school system being the most segregated in the country. A recent story in 2019 published by the New York Times addressed the issue of segregation in New York public schools.
The Hands In education co-op is breaking down these barriers. Hands In is creating an environment of diversification with regards to race and socioeconomic status helping to give families of all backgrounds access to the best resources. Hands In has partnered with Junior Achievement of New York, Outschool.com and even shoe companies who’d like to teach a class on shoe design have reached out. Long term, King hopes Hands In will become a permanent staple for families to take advantage of in a post COVID world.
For more information on Hands In or to join & donate, please visit patreon.com/handsincooop.
