The US has recently been showing a rather uglier side to its image of the bastion of democracy and home of the brave. Political issues aside, its handling of the pandemic has not been good. In this recent article from the NYTimes it is asserted that “remote learning is a disaster, especially for disadvantaged students”.  A study by Stanford University suggested that the average student had lost more than one third of a year’s worth of learning in reading and in maths more than three-quarters of a year. But as proven in numerous studies, in-person learning can take place when measures are adhered to. Unfortunately the teachers´unions have not had enough medical explanations to understand that with precautions they have a minimal risk of contracting the disease. Sadly the situation is exacerbated for brown and black children: a survey, conducted by Chalkbeat and The Associated Press, found that half of white students had access to in-person learning, while only one quarter of Black and Hispanic kids had. The whole debate about opening schools needs to be based on facts and figures, not political whims and nonsense.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/opinion/coronavirus-schools-unions.html