By the end of March 2020, all public schools in the United States were closed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. More than 50.8 million children stayed home as school systems scrambled to transition to remote or hybrid learning platforms. While the decision to close schools was difficult, the debate over when and how to reopen…

In this article John Bailey discusses how schools can successfully reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic. Bailey asserts that the rethinking of schooling that was forced by the pandemic can serve as an opportunity to introduce some long-overdue reforms and improvements to better serve students, particularly students of color. The task is not…