Political economy matters

Schools in Oregon, Washington, and much of the west coast are slow to reopen, even with teachers getting vaccinated:

Marguerite Roza, a Georgetown University school finance expert based in Seattle, points out that Washington, Oregon and California “all have more left-leaning leadership that is cozier with the unions.” But Boston, Chicago and New York also have strong public employee unions.

Those Eastern cities also have mayoral control of the school systems. Elected school boards govern the districts on the West Coast, and in most, teachers’ unions are strong political players, particularly in major cities such as Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I guess you could say that the mayors have more “inclusive” constituencies?  Here is the full NYT article, depressing throughout.