Teachers spent an incredible amount of energy fighting for safe procedures and environments during a pandemic. If they didn't have to fight for life-saving protocols for themselves and their students, they could have used that energy in positive ways to uplift the kinds of education possible during a pandemic. But time after time, teachers have to fight for the most simple, humane policies and protocols, and those fights lead to loss capacity for what really matters when it comes to educating children well.
To better schools, we have to move away from industrialized school models and life. We have to put the professionals in charge, and we have to put the children and their families center stage. We also have to invest in schools. One reason educators had to fight so hard to make schools safe for pandemic teaching is that many schools are overcrowded and long neglected. Whether you live in a fancy suburb or an urban locale, it's likely that your schools are the worst structures in town. Big beautiful homes and fancy office buildings often surround rundown, overcrowded schools with crummy playgrounds and insufficient staffing.
Come on America, this is a problem that's in clear view. If we agree that a strong nation depends on a well educated population, then we have to invest in state-of-the-art schools and we have to put our trust in well-trained, professional educators to lead that mission. When the country is more concerned that their sports stars are healthy and tested regularly during a pandemic than the teachers or students, we have a problem. It's within our ability to well support our schools, educators, children, and families--we can do this, and if we do it, we'll have a much stronger country going forward. Let's not delay.