Coronavirus cases in schools have been spiking in the Bay Area, and the now age-old argument has resumed: how to handle it. I don’t know enough about our public school operations and management to have the answer, and it’s probably good to remind ourselves that that’s true for most of us.

However, I do subscribe to the belief that our schools are one of the most important institutions in society. Education is the mechanism with which we improve the world across generations. It primarily teaches two skills: how to think, and how to communicate. It also should impart the values we hold to our youth; respect, responsibility, and resolve. If schooling accomplished nothing else, it would still be one of the most important elements of our civilization.

Let’s keep this in mind as we fight our way through the pandemic, and especially, beyond.