K–12 education is facing tremendous challenges. Reading and math scores have fallen to their lowest level in decades. Nearly a third of educators are thinking of leaving their jobs. The surgeon general has called the decline in youth mental health the “defining public health crisis of our time” amid a national shortage of school psychologists and social workers.
This is all happening against the backdrop of high-profile ideological battles around school curriculums and vast disparities in school funding depending on where you live. The opportunity gap between our poorest, most vulnerable students and the most affluent has existed for centuries, but it’s widening even further in the wake of the pandemic.
