Should Cities Shutter Schools to Fight Coronavirus?

Bill de Blasio is the mayor of the most populous city in the U.S. And right now, that means he's at the helm of efforts to navigate an outbreak of novel coronavirus. The situation changes, "not daily, but hourly," the mayor says, and is likely to get worse before it gets better. Some are calling on him to shut down the New York City public school system, which serves over 1 million students. The density of the city's school buildings could cause the virus to spread quickly, but de Blasio is reticent to close them for the duration of this public health crisis. For one thing, impoverished and homeless students rely on the system for food and shelter. For another, keeping kids at home could force parents who work in healthcare to abandon their posts to stay home with them.