Alex really did his homework on this!--

There is also a big debate going on about student loan forgiveness, especially within the Dem party. And it's seguing into judging "what kind of education system do we want?"  Which is also on plenty of voters minds for many reasons, after they have been forced to have kids learn at home and have learned all about curricula issues. Lots of people taking a second look at what an "elite education" will mean and will be worth (or not worth much) in the new post-covid world. These two tweets summarize what i am talking about:

the # 1 most popular story at the NYTimes right now: Entire School Board Resigns After Members Are Caught Mocking Parents on Livestream

Unaware their conversation was public, district trustees in Oakley, Calif., suggested that parents eager for schools to reopen merely wanted “their babysitters back.

By Maria Cramerm Feb. 20, Updated 7:34 p.m. ET

“Uh-oh.”

That was what one member of the board in charge of elementary and middle schools in Oakley, Calif., uttered Wednesday afternoon when she realized her online conversation with other members had been broadcast to the public.

The members had spent two minutes mocking parents, suggesting they wanted teachers back in school so they could have “their babysitters back” and go back to smoking marijuana.

The entire time, parents who had logged in for the regular twice-monthly meeting of the board had been listening. The response to the board members’ comments was swift and furious — another reminder of the rage and anguish many parents are feeling as school closures drag into the spring.

Thousands of people signed an online petition calling for the resignation of all four board members, who were heard laughing and jeering at parents. The mayor of Oakley, Sue Higgins, said that although she had no jurisdiction over the Oakley Union Elementary School District, she called on board members to resign, according to the local news site East County Today.

On Friday, the district superintendent, Greg D. Hetrick, announced that all four members, including the president, Lisa Brizendine, had resigned from the board of trustees. A fifth member had stepped down from the board in January, so the resignations left the board entirely without trustees.

Three members, Kim Beede, Richie Masadas and Erica Ippolito, said in a statement that they “deeply regret the comments” and were resigning to “help facilitate the healing process.” [.....]

The district has more than 470 employees and about 5,000 students in nine elementary and middle schools throughout Oakley, a city of about 42,000 people 40 miles northeast of Oakland.

Students in the district have been learning remotely since last March and, as in other parts of the country, parents are eager for information about their schools’ plans to return to in-person learning. Before the meeting, they had submitted letters to the board asking for more transparency, expressing their frustration and voicing concerns that their children were suffering as a result of remote learning.

On Wednesday, the trustees started venting to one another about the negative feedback they said they had been getting and began making jokes.

Ms. Beede complained about a woman who had lashed out at her on social media and, cursing, suggested she would go after her critic physically. [.....]