School: Is It Safe?

This is our new weekly pandemic feature: Is It Safe, where we ask you what you’re comfortable with in the age of Covid-19, and what you aren’t. Read our primer to understand the concept. And email me your thoughts at williamfleitch@yahoo.com. This week: School.

There is perhaps no American institution more disrupted by Covid-19 than our school systems. Only 50 percent of American public schools opened for in-person instruction earlier this fall, and while that number has inched up since then, it has done so during the third wave of the coronavirus, the biggest spike yet. With the lack of any federal leadership, states, districts and parents themselves have had to carry the burden, often with a lack of information, direction and (most of all) funding. Everyone is lurching around in the dark.

Meanwhile, our children, whether they’re remote or not, are falling desperately behind: A whole generation of kids will be playing catchup for years to come. And many parents have had to make the decision for themselves: Should I send my children back to school in-person? Or should I keep them remote? It has pitted many parents against each other, particularly now that it has become so politicized. What are the arguments for sending back children aged K-6? What are the arguments against it? Last week, I asked you for your thoughts on the matter. Having read through all of them, these are the best…