If there are no kids to teach... exactly what should public schools be doing? The Pandemic baby bust was not evenly distributed. Portland had an especially larg

If there are no kids to teach... exactly what should public schools be doing? The Pandemic baby bust was not evenly distributed. Portland had an especially large baby bust. I'm not sure what exactly is to be lamented. Am I sad people aren't having kids? Sure. But I can't make someone have a kid. I'm not going to begrudge someone choosing to send their kid to an actual school which stayed open during the pandemic, despite the better funded public schools shutting down. The 'expensive' counterparts (which again, spend less per kid) stayed open. This is not some game where you get to moralize over people. People had to make real decisions and the schools simply weren't a viable option. Sometimes mothers and fathers both have to work and both are essential (healthcare workers, store employees, etc). Portland shut down a lot of daycares. There was no option. Either put out the money for private school that stayed open and educated your kid, or quit your job, and likely have to move away because you can't afford rent/mortgage. But sure... let's moralize over those parents who had to make tough decisions and now don't want to take their kids out of the classes they've spent two years embedding themselves in. If the schools can't stay open... that's really on them. But nevertheless, if there's no kids, there's no one to teach, so obviously funding should be cut out of prudence.