In an interview about her new book, “The Stolen Year: How COVID Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now,” education reporter Anya Kamenetz says she thinks it’s possible for 2022-23 to be the first post-COVID year.
“But in order for that to happen, we need to be clear-eyed about what has already happened,” she tells The 74’s Kevin Mahnken. “It’s a little frustrating to see schools lurching from crisis to crisis, and there’s a crisis rhetoric around schools that doesn’t always match reality. We’re hearing about a teacher shortage, for instance, but there were teacher shortages before the pandemic. And also, schools are listing a lot more vacancies; it’s not so much a shortage as schools trying to hire more people.”
She adds, “So there is a chance for recovery. In order for there to be recovery, schools need to do what they say they’re going to do in their [American Rescue Plan] plans and not lose sight of their responsibility to help the most vulnerable and the kids who lost out the most in this pandemic.”
Read the full interview here.