LAUSR

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the public’s contradictory views about public education. At the beginning of the pandemic, Maria Ferguson explains, they were lauded as heroes for keeping kids connected after school buildings closed. But when schools were slower to reopen than many parents wanted, they were excoriated for selfishly protecting their own interests. Much of the public’s criticism was leveled at unions, which resisted reopening school buildings if their members could not be protected from the coronavirus. Blaming unions is not new, says Ferguson, but everyone involved in public education is responsible for its outcomes.