United States | Schools out

America resorts to remote learning, against pupils’ interests

Why have so many schools been cancelling classes?

|Chicago and Washington, DC

GIVEN THE way the fight had been proceeding, it ended in a whimper. On January 10th a stand-off between Chicago’s teachers’ union and its mayor, Lori Lightfoot, escalated to personal insults. Jesse Sharkey, the union’s president, called Ms Lightfoot “relentlessly stupid”. She responded by calling him a “privileged, clouted white guy”. Hours later, the teachers agreed to go back to work, bringing to an end a nearly weeklong strike over covid-19 safety fears. The city stuck to its terms, but agreed to increase testing and supply more KN95 masks.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Classes cancelled”

Beware the bossy state

From the January 15th 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from United States

Migrants from Mexico and Guatemala are apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers after crossing a section of border wall into the U.S.

Donald Trump cries “invasion” to justify an immigration crackdown

His first immigration executive orders range from benign to belligerent

US President Donald Trump throws pens to the crowd after signing executive orders during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington

The new American imperialism

Donald Trump is the first president in more than 100 years to call for new American territory—including Mars


Inauguration Ceremony Rehearsal Takes Place In Nation's Capital, Washington DC, USA.

The beginning of the end of the Trump era

The new president is more confident, and radical, than ever—and also more accepted


Pam Bondi seems like a relatively safe pair of hands

But is America’s next attorney-general an independent operator?

Checks and Balance newsletter: Joe Biden’s farewell shot at the oligarchy

The outgoing president warns of a new “tech-industrial complex”

A protest against America’s TikTok ban is mired in contradiction

Another Chinese app is not the alternative some young Americans think it is