At first glance, this feels like a very troubling concept: Schools are reopening for parent-paid childcare but not tax-payer funded classes. In places where public schools are shutting down, some of the schools are seeking to turn a profit off being closed by offering paid childcare services in these public buildings. Why is it so much harder to reopen schools than it is to open a childcare service in the same space? Many would argue that childcare and education are not synonymous. But there’s actually been a good bit of debate about this idea recently, calling it an “artificial gap” between childcare and education. Certainly, we think of teachers as more than childcare workers, but the Child Care Services Association asserts that high-quality childcare must include “low child/teacher ratios.” and “low teacher turnover.”

Technically, tax-payer funded classes are still happening in most places; just not in ways that are accessible to everyone. But still, it is hard not to ask questions. For example, if parents can form pods, why can’t more public schools organize students in similar ways? And does introducing paid childcare services run by the school system bring up equity concerns? There are often debates around similar concerns when public schools require parents to pay extra fees for children to participate in extracurricular activities. Is this childcare service not similar?

This is a complicated issue, certainly, but it is one worth considering. Teachers are working incredibly hard to keep their students safe and on track, but the administrators who choose what services they will provide, at what profit level using public buildings that they have emptied have some questions to answer.