The father was furious. “Figure it out, or get off the podium,” he shouted at school board members in Loudoun County, Va.
He was not irate about critical race theory, which would come to dominate the state’s gubernatorial race, with the Northern Virginia exurbs at the center of that battle over how to teach history in schools. His anger did not stem from debates about which bathrooms transgender students should use. Those heated battles were still months away. It was January 2021, and what the screaming father wanted was more immediate and concrete.
He sought the end of remote learning.
“It’s not a high bar,” he shouted at the school board members sitting before him. “Raise the freaking bar.”
Remote learning had relegated children across Virginia — and much of the rest of the country — to attend classes via Zoom since the previous March, when the coronavirus had first transformed living rooms and bedrooms into the new American classroom. Parents struggled to balance the demands of work while also playing the new role of remote learning instructor.