Hartzler in the Columbia Daily Tribune: It's Time for Students to Return to the Classroom

"As well-intentioned as social quarantine policies may be for our students, the research shows cutting students' time physically in the classroom during the previous school year put many students, especially underprivileged students, at a large disadvantage. The supportive services, stability, and in-person learning that so many rely on were taken away without warning to the detriment of the students.

As a mother and a former teacher, I understand firsthand how important the school environment is for the well-being and development of our students, as well as our absolute desire to keep our kids safe. In the classroom, I witnessed the importance of these school services for children and saw students who relied on school for their sense of purpose, source of nutrition and place of stability. That is something worth fighting to protect, Hartzler wrote.