Dr Anthony Fauci said today on CBS Mornings that the initial and immediate shutdown of schools was an appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic but that keeping them closed for more than a year in some cases “was not a good idea.”
He reflected on the so-called “learning loss” that occurred during the time when students, especially young ones, were out of contact with educators. It could take many students more than five years to recover what was lost during their remote learning period, research from NWEA has shown.
Dr Fauci said many times during the pandemic things like “Close the bars, open the schools,” but the country was facing a tsunami of COVID-19 deaths, especially in certain regions. Most public officials called for schools to be closed.
Further evidence of learning loss comes from the reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” They showed significant declines in 2022, compared to 2019.
Grade 4 math scores declined in 43 states (down arrow) between 2019 and 2022 (NAEP).
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former Chief Medical Advisor to the President has written a book about the COVID-19 pandemic, which is now available on Amazon and in other places.
