After an academic year like no other, school boards across the country have become lightning rods for political debate. As Zoom classes dragged on – and with many public schools even now not fully open – heated battles have erupted over how to balance the safety of teachers and students against other concerns such as learning loss and mental health.
Increasingly intense debates have also opened up over educational content – particularly the anti-racist curricula that many schools implemented in the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests. Some conservative states are banning the teaching of “critical race theory.” Others, like Virginia, are reevaluating gifted and talented programs and accelerated math tracks.
A week after Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire, Palestinians in Gaza are still digging through the rubble. The scale of destruction from Israeli airstrikes is staggering: 450 buildings destroyed and six hospitals demolished. So too is the human toll of death, suffering, and displacement.
Families are now reuniting after dividing their children among friends and relatives, so that should their own home be hit by a missile, at least one of their children would survive. It is a familiar dilemma: Israel previously waged wars against Hamas, the militant organization that runs Gaza, in 2009, 2012, and 2014.
Why We Wrote This
The human toll from Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza is palpable on the ground. Many residents worry that it won’t be the last war in their territory.