Closures and Consequences

School closures are persisting, and not just because of Covid-19. Across the country, officials have closed schools to solve other, long-standing issues that predate the pandemic. As education site The 74 has reported, 621 schools across 58 districts announced new closures, many of which weren’t virus-related, during the last full week of November. Burbio, a data company that has monitored school reopening patterns during the pandemic, has identified nearly 1,000 school districts that have enacted temporary closures during the 2021–22 school year. Reasons for these sudden disruptions have ranged from teacher burnout...