| Carlee Simon, superintendent of the Alachua County, Fla., Public Schools, was looking ahead to a "more 'normal'" school year beginning this fall. That was before a spike in district employees testing positive for covid-19, including two recent deaths from covid-related complications. In her Monday op-ed for The Post, Simon explains her school board's subsequent decision to require all students to wear masks, at least for the first two weeks of school — and the "whirlwind" that followed that responsible act. At the center of the backlash: the governor of Florida's threat to withhold funds from districts that move to impose such policies, even as the delta coronavirus variant burns through the state. "Unfortunately, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) refuses to take the steps necessary to address the surge," Simon writes. "Even worse, he's preventing local leaders from doing what they can to protect their own communities." What stuck out for me most in Simon's op-ed was this grace note: "Certainly we're concerned about the threat of lost funding, but it shouldn't come to that," she wrote. "After all, we want what DeSantis wants: to keep schools open and our kids in the classroom." Read this local educator's thoughts on how best to make that happen.  (Wilfredo Lee/AP) The well-being of our students and staff is just too important. By Carlee Simon ● Read more » | | | | Sometimes government must be willing to play bad cop. Given the urgent need more and stricter vaccination requirements, right now is one of those times. By Catherine Rampell ● Read more » | | | We have no choice but to adapt to the warmer world we have created and now must live in. By Eugene Robinson ● Read more » | | | | There are plenty of unanswered questions regarding the anchor's involvement with his brother. By Erik Wemple ● Read more » | | | | Few have been victimized by Trump's hateful tactics more than Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Why is she now resorting to antisemitism? By Dana Milbank ● Read more » | | | | Our general theory of U.S. politics is basically all wrong. By Perry Bacon Jr. ● Read more » | | | | Partisan gerrymandering has frustrated the intention of the Framers. By Edward B. Foley ● Read more » | | | China just celebrated itself in grandiose, autocratic fashion. America's answer doesn't need to be dwelling on the nation's shortcomings — like every other day of the year. By Mitch Daniels ● Read more » | | | | The time has come to get rid of both the filibuster and the debt ceiling. By Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent ● Read more » | | | | The Hungarian president uttered aloud the alarming sentiments many American populists believe but don't always say. By Michael Gerson ● Read more » | | | | There's only one radical party in the United States. And it's not the Democrats. By Max Boot ● Read more » | | | |
Email 
