Mr. Litzelman, you and I come from a very different set of political biases. Your article was shared with me by one of my dearest friends — who is far more like you than like me — and I instantly hated it.

And then you convinced me, because you were logical, clear, and direct. You made sense, you obviously knew what you were talking about, and you simply outlined the difficulties until they were evident and unarguable.

You are right.

Maybe, as some have suggested in the comments, re-opening can be done in Asia. I don’t know. I suspect I would not like teaching in Asia. I am also a teacher, and though I do not teach in the public schools, I know about the challenges there well enough to know you speak the truth. Even if it could be done in Kyoto, I do not believe it can be done in Oakland.

But I’ve also taught online for ten years, some four or five hundred students. I don’t think online education works for the kids you’re most concerned about. Some kids, yes, they’re going to be fine essentially being homeschooled (provided with a framework by a public-school teacher or para-educator, then supported robustly by family and other caregivers). But the ones most at risk aren’t going to be educated that way. They’ll need to come in. We have to find a way to get them in.

Maybe it’s a split school system, with some kids online and others on campus. Perhaps that could alleviate (or mitigate) the impossible physical difficulties of moving millions of kids around without letting them touch one another. I don’t know. But I think we’re going to need everyone to help. Charter- and alternative-school populations may not be ideal (and certainly aren’t, from a public-school viewpoint), but they’re better than education by Zoom (except where, as you mention, that’s what they’re getting). You seem to be advocating turning the public schools into online charters. But you have to know, given your experience, that this won’t work, and it will fail most spectacularly for those kids who can least afford to have us abandon them.

We have to get those kids back in the classroom. Whatever that classroom looks like.

Thank you for the most thought-provoking article I’ve read in some time. Thank you for your perspective, and how hard you care about those kids. Your students are lucky indeed to have you there.