With New Jersey’s COVID cases spiking — yesterday the state reported 3,877 new cases, the highest since April 24 —parents, students, teachers, school leaders, and school boards are bracing themselves for complex decisions. Should schools shut down to keep staff and children safe from contagion? Or should schools continue to move to hybrid and in-school learning in order to maximize learning?

Don’t look for answers from traditional media.

Here’s today’s NJ Spotlight’s headline and first paragraph:

State reports big drop in all-remote learning for NJ public schools

As a second surge of COVID-19 cases hits the state, New Jersey’s public schools are nevertheless continuing to shift toward at least some in-person instruction, according to the latest breakdown from the state. The state Department of Education is reporting a significant drop in the last month of districts and other public schools going all-remote, with nearly a third moving instead to a hybrid model that includes both remote and in-person schooling.

Here’s today’s Star-Ledger’s headline and first paragraph:

As COVID-19 cases increase, more N.J. schools going remote. Here’s the latest list.

As cases of coronavirus continue to rise across the state, school districts are having to move to remote learning because staff or students have been infected.