It is vital to the future of our students and our communities that we confront and begin making up for lost learning without delay. We need to do whatever it takes — whether that entails summer school, grade realignment, or enlisting more hands on deck to work with students in smaller groups — our students can’t afford anything less.

Students need additional hands-on academic support and encouragement, yet the limited face-to-face time with their teachers is a barrier to their success. It is imperative school districts reopen their campuses and provide the essential work of educating students — in-person, five days a week!

The consensus among parents is that online learning is not ideal for young children. Their shorter attention span, lack of computer navigation ability, and limited reading skills (other than the rare exception) are not suitable matches with online learning. Hands-on learning and cooperative play elements with peers are foundational to these early learners. But these age-appropriate learning approaches are void when face-to-face kindergarten is instead conducted via online modalities.

With the rapid transformation in the workplace due to technological advancements, significantly accelerated by the worldwide pandemic, the U.S. must respond urgently by reinventing education. U.S. students must not be left behind.

The time is ripe to close the achievement gap by scrapping the ineffective cookie-cutter learning model, designed initially more than 100 years ago. The model operates on the misguided expectation that all students the same age will learn the same curriculum with the same level of support in the same length school day and year.