On many levels, governmental leaders are failing us. This shouldn’t be entirely a surprise. In crises things break. Public leadership is one of them. Yet we are also seeing decisive, smart actions by governors and mayors across the country – and the countless civil servants and emergency responders who they speak for and direct. I have no doubt that people are working heroically within the federal government’s public health and emergency response bureaucracy, though their work can be obscured by the decision makers at the top. We are also seeing mass action emerge organically from citizens across the country.
Over the last 18 hours I have done my best to research the situation and decision-making for the New York City public school system. Everything I’ve seen confirms my impression that the Mayor and Chancellor of the school system are in the process of committing a grave and even historic error. It is highly notable that, to the best of my knowledge, in none of his public statements has Mayor DeBlasio shared with the public what the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has advised him with respect to schools.
