More than three years after the pandemic closed schools across the country, the public consciousness has largely moved on, but our education system remains buffeted by urgent needs, shifting priorities, conflicting funding mandates, and deep political divisions. The new normal is anything but normal.
Learning loss, poor student mental health, teacher shortages, and the rapid pace of technological change are powerful forces that will shape the education sector for years to come. Stanford University economist Eric Hanushek estimates the lasting societal costs of the pandemic’s effects on students could amount to more than $28 trillion over the rest of this century.
