Democrats Drove Families Away with Longer Covid School Shutdowns

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You remember in March 2020 when schools and businesses across America shut down out of fear of the Covid pandemic. But as the fears receded, schools in certain places reopened when it was apparent that keeping kids away from school was doing more harm than good. But in some states and cities run by Democrats, school closures became an addiction. It seemed that the powerful teachers’ unions didn’t want to reopen at all. A new study explains that this approach drove families away. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Students and families have paid a high price for pandemic school shutdowns. Now a study shows that school districts and teachers unions may pay a financial price for keeping children out of classrooms.

K-12 enrollment nation-wide declined by nearly 3%, or about 1.3 million students, over the past two school years, according to the report by the American Enterprise Institute. Notably, enrollment dropped more in 2020-2021 in districts with the most remote learning (3.2%) than those with the most in-person learning (2.1%). Many parents decided to home-school their children rather than have them stare at screens all day.

Districts that returned to in-person instruction sooner saw enrollments rebound faster, while those that stayed remote longest saw further declines. Those that remained remote longest suffered a net decline of 4.4% since the start of the pandemic, while districts that were most in-person recovered about 1% in the second year and declined only 1.2% overall.

Enrollment also fell more in districts in counties that voted for Joe Biden (3.8%) than in those that favored Donald Trump (2%), perhaps because conservatives put a higher priority on keeping schools open. “Districts’ COVID caution or assertiveness had more to do with communities’ shared ideological priors than COVID case rates in the county,” writes AEI fellow Nat Malkus.

Americans don’t want to live in places where their children can’t go to school, and where leaders take advantage of something like a pandemic to reward political constituencies. That’s why so many Americans are moving to my Super States, where politicians work hard to put residents first.

Action Line: If you and your family are looking for a better America, start your search today in my Super States. If you need guidance and encouragement on your journey to a better place, click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, and I’ll push you to achieve your goals and live free in America.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

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