Mt. Lebanon, PA., residents have formed their camps

The community in which I live has formed camps. As you might guess, the argument involves whether our K-12 school buildings should open at the end of this month, which would allow for face-to-face or hybrid instruction, and whether school teams ought to be allowed to play. So that you know where I stand, which …

Make up YOUR OWN mind about how your child(ren) will be educated this year

Parents, the calendar has turned to August; and that means if you have a choice as to how your child(ren) will be educated this year, it’s time for YOU to make it. Of course, health conditions around the country have taken this decision out of millions of parents’ hands. In areas where coronavirus cases remain …

An open letter to Scott Galloway

Scott, Enough. Your peddling of doom -- and the worst example was your recent analysis suggesting that roughly 90 U.S. colleges and institutions could close because of coronavirus -- serves no one's interests. And that's especially true as we navigate through a pandemic with the Executive Branch having abandoned any pretense of leadership. Now, I …

The missing piece of the coronavirus conversation on too many of our college campuses

"This fall, we plan to..." "Our intention is to begin the fall semester by..." "While paying attention to health conditions, we have decided that the fall term will..." Statements such as these have now been made public by America's colleges and universities. Let's set aside whether you agree with the decision to go on ground …

K-12 online this year? Yes. Full stop.

If your community resembles the one in which I live, then you know there’s a fierce debate about whether the local K-12 school buildings should reopen next month to allow for in-person teaching. (Full disclosure: My younger son begins his junior year of high school in a few weeks; it’s for you to determine if …

Easing faculty members’ minds as fears of lengthy closed campuses fester

The question is being asked all across the country: Will coronavirus again require all of us to teach off-campus in the fall? Or, in an even more unsettling option, will coronavirus close my college or university for the fall? The answer: No one knows. America’s 50 states’ governors and the president of the United States …

An open letter to all college faculty

Coronavirus has turned this semester into the most unusual one any of us has ever experienced. Nevertheless, we advance, just a little bit more each day, in ensuring that the remainder of the 2020 academic year is a beneficial one for our students. I overheard one of our colleagues say during a recent webinar that …

Post-coronavirus normal?

What will our communities look like once coronavirus is finally beaten? Ignore the super rich in this conversation; they will be the least disrupted by the economic free fall associated with coronavirus, and they don't care about the rest of us. It's the mythical 99% I'm thinking about: How big will the pieces be that …