“There has been a lot of discussion about the time lost to classroom learning since the start of the pandemic, but little discussion of the determination that so many of our young people have shown, not to mention their desire to learn, no matter what their school days have looked like.
As we begin to return to in-classroom instruction, it is essential that we celebrate our young people’s hard work and honor it with our own leadership and ingenuity. We must also acknowledge that for far too many kids—particularly in our Black and Latinx communities—ingenuity, resilience, and determination were necessary well before the pandemic. These students have been forced to navigate systemic inequities in schools, healthcare and economic opportunity for far too long.”
