Copyright © 2020 The New York Times 3
September 13, 2020 The Education Issue9 Screenland Gun Play By Dan Brooks / 13 Talk Gloria Steinem By David Marchese / 16 The Ethicist Speaking Truth to Virus By Kwame Anthony Appiah / 20 Letter
of Recommendation Painting Toy Soldiers By Karl Taro Greenfeld / 22 Eat Vegetarian Kofta By Tejal Rao4 Contributors / 6 The Thread / 12 Poem / 16 Judge John Hodgman / 21 Tip / 58, 64, 66 Puzzles / 58 Puzzle Answers
Behind the Cover Jake Silverstein, editor in chief: ‘‘Part of what promises to be so challenging about the coming school year is the wildly divergent ways that it will unfold
in diff erent districts — and diff erent households — around the country, and how this could worsen inequality. Th e four covers for this week’s Education Issue capture some of that
variety. Two students, one in Northern California and one in Southern California, are learning at home. A student on a reservation in South Dakota, at school for orientation,
will also study remotely. And another student rides a bus in Idaho to a school that will be able to provide mostly in-person instruction.’’ Clockwise from top left: Photographs by Dave
Woody, Damon Casarez, Danna Singer and Angie Smith for Th e New York Times.
24 The Children in the Shadows
By Samantha M. Shapiro /
The number of homeless students
in the New York City school system
has increased by 70 percent over the
past decade. The interruptions and
instability lead to plunging grades,
lost relationships with teachers
and peers and pervasive isolation.
32 The Lost Year
Moderated by Emily Bazelon /
As students across the country start
the school year, education experts
reckon with the long-term implications
of remote learning, vanishing
resources and heightened inequality.
48 A Broken Link
By Nicole Chung / Public schools
promised to accommodate
children with disabilities in classrooms.
But as school moves online, those
programs are beginning to crumble.
52 The Richmond Hill Experiment
By Paul Tough / With the help of a new
approach at their Queens high
school, Bianca Argueta and Raj Bala
Chaudhary were among the first
members of their families to get into
college. Will the pandemic
undo the progress they’ve made?