The EconomistFebruary 6th 2021 United States 212 Other pupils are simply missing school,
however. Mr Dee and Mr Murphy found
that enrolment decreases were associated
with smaller, whiter and poorer school dis-
tricts, mostly in rural areas, where parents
are unlikely to have moved to the wealthy
beaches of Cape Cod. Although the analysis
is preliminary, Mr Dee thinks that disen-
gagement from schools may be more con-
centrated in these communities.
That echoes a concern heard beyond
Massachusetts. David Monaco, head of Par-
ish Episcopal School, a private school in
Dallas, saw some pupils leave for more per-
sonalised small-group or individual
schooling, though his overall enrolment
remains steady. By contrast, Michael Hino-
josa, the superintendent of Dallas Inde-
pendent School District, where 85% of all
pupils are classified as low-income, ex-
plained that while some of his pupils could
be sitting at home playing video games,
others are taking care of younger siblings
while their parents work. “A lot of [pupils]
are out there working...to support their
families,” says David Vroonland, superin-
tendent of Mesquite Independent School
District, a small city near Dallas where 75%
of pupils are classified as poor.
Pupils missing school are not just a
worry for their families (and for the coun-
try’s future). Since America’s schools are
funded on a per-person basis, the decline
in enrolments also creates financial pro-
blems. Whereas some states, like Texas, are
allocating school funding based on last
year’s intake, schools in New York City may
need to return money this year because en-
rolment has declined. And all schools risk
losing funding next year if enrolment con-
tinues to fall.
Getting missing pupils back to school
takes an extraordinary effort. Sara Bonser,
superintendent of the Plano Independent
School District north of Dallas, lost 6.5% of
her pupils (3,883) at the beginning of the
year. To find these children, her staff called
thousands of families and conducted 115
home visits to get 1,279 pupils back on the
books. To encourage attendance, Ms Bon-
ser and her staff have provided support be-
yond the typical bounds of schooling.
One parent had a job that required leav-
ing home at 6am, and her four children
were not waking up for remote classes. Ms
Bonser’s team found the mother employ-
ment closer to home so she could leave lat-
er and wake her children for school. Ms
Bonser described other types of support,
including allowing deadline flexibility to
accommodate pupils’ work schedules and
providing struggling families with food,
furniture, clothing and toys. Existing dis-
trict funds were reallocated so no addition-
al money was needed for the programme.
But the district’s work with one family
hints at what a daunting job finding all
those missing pupils will be. 7
I
n city lore, the Chicago Teachers Union
(ctu) is a mighty beast. Its 25,000 mem-
bers have frequently shut down America’s
third-largest public-school system. The
most recent strike, late in 2019, doubly
pleased the 84-year-old group. An 11-day
shutdown helped to get teachers a gener-
ous five-year pay deal and dealt a blow to
Lori Lightfoot, the recently elected mayor.
She had vowed that her debt-ridden city
would never fund such a “bail-out” for
teachers, yet the union forced her hand.
Ms Lightfoot is a Democrat, but she has
little love for militants at the ctu. The un-
ion had endorsed her rival in the run-off to
be mayor. Its members snipe that she and
her school director, Janice Jackson (who
earlier served Rahm Emanuel, who was
even more reviled by many teachers), are
“neo-liberals” who supposedly do the bid-
ding of wealthy Chicagoans. Suspicion has
only grown since the epidemic abruptly
ended in-class teaching in March. The city
first tried to order a partial reopening of
schools in September, only to be blocked by
the union, which called it unsafe for its
members to return to their workplaces.
Both sides agree that the effects of
home-learning are grim for over 300,000
children, many of whom have lost almost a
year of education. Ms Lightfoot says pupils
are “falling woefully behind” and wants
them back at school; the union talks more
of how to do better with remote study.
Shutting schools hits hardest in poorer Af-
rican-American and Hispanic neighbour-
hoods, south and west of the city, wherecrowded homes, wobbly wifi and a lack of
laptops may make decent distance-learn-
ing almost impossible. After the worst in-
fection rates fell from a November peak, Ms
Jackson has tried again to get the youngest
children back to class. A few trickled in last
month. Children aged up to 14 were sup-
posed to follow this week.
The city says teachers will lose pay if
they fail to appear in class. In-person
teaching looks relatively safe now that
everyone puts on masks. The city has spent
$100m retrofitting buildings, installing
screens and better ventilation, and taking
other precautions. Meanwhile hundreds of
nurseries and private schools, besides over
90 Catholic-run ones, and others in the
suburbs, have been open for long spells
with no ill effects. Plenty of studies, includ-
ing a report last week from the Centres for
Disease Control, say younger children in
schools have not been virus spreaders.
But again the ctuhas balked. This week
its leaders staged “teach-ins” at desks in
deep snow outside schools. It wants all
teachers vaccinated first, which could take
months, and says the city’s protective gear,
promises of tests and other resources are
not up to scratch. It worries that schools
lack space for social distancing and wants
committees with powers to quickly close
them again if local infection rates rise. It
fears new strains of the virus, too. In late
January 71% of its members, urged by its
leaders, voted to walk off the job rather
than be forced back in.
A strike would look awful, both for the
union and the city, so negotiations to avert
one have gone on all week. ctuintransi-
gence looks mostly to blame for the pros-
pect of closure. But as Harry Katz, an expert
in labour disputes at Cornell University,
points out some teachers are genuinely
fearful and the union’s job is to give them a
voice. “It’s a mess; health and safety are
really difficult to get right,” he says.
It is notable, too, how parents shape the
debate. The union, called Local 1 at its
founding in the 1930s, has repeatedly dis-
rupted school life over generations, yet re-
mains broadly supported in an over-
whelmingly Democratic city. That may
reflect class solidarity. Racial and social di-
visions also play a part. A survey of parents
in December found only around one-third
of Hispanics and African-Americans (who
together account for the vast majority of all
pupils) were ready to send their children
back. In contrast, some two-thirds of white
ones would do so.
What explains the gap? Non-whites
may have been likelier to have seen co-
vid-19 deaths at close hand, so perhaps fear
health risks more. Wealthier whites, in
turn, may be more anxious about the long-
term costs of missed education, especially
if they see others—at private schools—al-
ready back in class. 7CHICAGO
The struggle over reopening Chicago’s
schools reflects deeper divisionsUnions and schoolsClass warfare