Credit...Matt Black/Magnum Photos
Flags are flying at half-staff across the United States to commemorate the half-million American lives lost to the coronavirus.
But thereâs another tragedy we havenât adequately confronted: Millions of American schoolchildren will soon have missed a year of in-person instruction, and we may have inflicted permanent damage on some of them, and on our country.
The reluctance of many Republicans to wear masks and practice social distancing is one reason so many Americans are dead. But the educational losses are disproportionately the fault of Democratic governors and mayors who too often let schools stay closed even as bars opened.