The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the public’s contradictory views about public education. At the beginning of the pandemic, Maria Ferguson explains, they were lauded as heroes for keeping kids connected after school buildings closed. But when schools were slower to reopen than many parents wanted, they were excoriated for selfishly protecting their own interests. Much of the public’s criticism was leveled at unions, which resisted reopening school buildings if their members could not be protected from the coronavirus. Blaming unions is not new, says Ferguson, but everyone involved in public education is responsible for its outcomes.

COVID-19大流行暴露了公众对公共教育的矛盾看法。流行病开始时，玛丽亚·弗格森（Maria Ferguson）解释说，他们被誉为英雄，因为他们在学校大楼关闭后保持孩子们的联系。但是，当学校重新开放的速度比许多父母想要的慢时，他们因自私保护自己的利益而受到谴责。公众的大部分批评都集中在工会上，如果工会成员无法免受冠状病毒的侵害，工会拒绝重新开放学校建筑。弗格森说，谴责工会并不是什么新鲜事，但是每个参与公共教育的人都应对其结果负责。