Kids in schools that operate without such policies or proper ventilation systems are, in Ontario, at the mercy of a Ministry of Education that once saw fit to float the notion that COVID doesn’t transmit in schools at all, and there is a persistent, convenient myth circulating among parents that infection is good for kids – preferable to vaccination, even. (For the record, all my infections came courtesy of my son’s school.)

Emily Oster and her consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

The next big teachers’ strike could get really interesting, but even though parents should be teachers’ natural allies in fighting for safer buildings, smaller class sizes, etc., parents are forced by necessity and precarity to side with Capital. We saw a preview of this during the Chicago Teachers’ Union actions in the winter of 2020-2021, and the demonization of teachers is going to be even worse during the next strike, now that almost everyone refuses to see Covid as an ongoing emergency.