Capital & Main published a five-part series on teaching during the pandemic. The series is called “The Year of Teaching Dangerously.”
Sasha Abramsky launched the series with an article about how schools in California were adapting to the pandemic.
Abramsky writes about the uncertainty, confusion, and conflict that accompanied the shutdown, as teachers were required to address new realities and to confront stark inequities.
In March, when Northern California counties issued stay-at-home orders, followed shortly afterwards by a statewide shutdown, schools scrambled to improvise a pivot to online “distance learning.” Some were able to make the change within days; others took many weeks. Grading and assessment systems were largely put to one side, at least in the public school system. And school districts rushed – and in some cases struggled – to purchase and distribute Chromebooks or iPads to students who didn’t have them; to set up Wi-Fi hotspots for families lacking home Internet access; to work out how to keep distributing food to children from low-income families who relied on school breakfasts and lunches; and to set up methods of teaching online that wouldn’t leave out students who had special education plans, or who were English language learners.
Bureaucratic systems fabled for their inflexibility were, suddenly, tasked with finding kluge-like solutions, at speed, to meet these extraordinary challenges. Inevitably, the result was hit or miss.
The articles in this week’s new series, “The Year of Teaching Dangerously,” reflect the extraordinary challenges facing elementary, middle and high schools as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on daily life.
What began as a temporary shutdown evolved into a new way of life, for teachers, students, and parents.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
In spring, we were playing ball with the sun in our eyes after a red eye flight and no warm up. We now have a decent amount of structure ready to go. The batting lineup is set. We know the new rules. I hope all students are able to virtually attend this week. We still need more resources, we need to fight for Prop 15 to tax the wealthy, we need Betsy DeVoid of Empathy to fund IDEA, we need to stop misappropriating funds to charter schools and in L.A. the armed private security force called L.A. School Police, but if we get all the students virtually logged in with all the structure we now have in place, we teachers know how to step up to the plate, we know how to play team small ball, and we will keep this inning alive. So take me in to the ballgame!