Conservatives aren't the only ones mad about school closures


The backlash against public school closures during the pandemic has continued — and despite the clear role the subject played in Republican Glenn Youngkin's gubernatorial win in Virginia, it isn't limited to conservatives.
David Leonhardt of The New York Times wrote a widely circulated Twitter thread Tuesday on the consequences of many COVID-19 educational shifts for children, noting poorer learning outcomes, behavioral problems, even suicides and violence. "Data now suggest that many changes to school routines are of questionable value," Leonhard wrote. "Some researchers are skeptical that school closures even reduce COVID cases. Other interventions, like forcing students to sit apart from their friends at lunch, may also have little benefit." Black students, whose parents are a core Democratic constituency, are hurting disproportionately. So are Hispanic students.
We've known all this for a while. "Results from a standardized test taken by elementary and middle school students earlier this school year paint a bleak picture of the harm the pandemic inflicted on their learning," Jessica Calefati reported in Politico last month.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But until recently, disagreements over school closures were cast as a left-right culture war fight, with Republicans reaping the immediate electoral benefits. Hispanic parents are increasingly drifting away from Democrats. It's entirely possible that issues like critical race theory in public schools would never have come to the forefront of last year's campaign if Virginians weren't already scrutinizing school closures. And it is teacher's unions, a bastion of Democratic politics, who are seen as keeping teachers and students home.
There is, however, more to the issue than that. "For the past two years ... many communities in the U.S. have not really grappled with the trade-off," Leonhardt wrote. "They have accepted more harm to children in exchange for less harm to adults, often without acknowledging the dilemma or assessing which decisions lead to less overall harm."
President Biden has consistently taken the position that schools should be open, a stance he reiterated Tuesday. But, as with defunding the police, Biden's policies won't necessarily outweigh progressive activism in public perception of his party.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
How would the Trump administration denaturalize immigrant citizens?
Today's Big Question Using civil courts lowers the burden of proof
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win
TALKING POINT To embrace or not embrace? A party in transition grapples with a rising star ready to buck political norms and energize a new generation.
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
DNC rocked by high-profile departures as future is in question
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Generational shifts, ambiguous priorities, and the intensifying dangers of the Trump administration have pushed the organization into uncertain territory
-
Trump tells ICE to hit blue cities, spare farms, hotels
Speed Read Trump has targeted New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles among other cities
-
Is Trump's military parade 'just a parade'?
Talking Point Critics see an 'echo of authoritarianism'
-
'It was also a gift to music-lovers'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day