Here is a chart from the estimable consulting firm McKinsey on the effect of not having in-person education for children. It speaks for itself. The people responsible for these decisions need to be isolated for the rest of their lives. And yes, the people doing this are the same ones yammering about how much they are concerned about minorities and low-income persons. Liars.
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at 
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Keep in mind that McKinsley looks like they published those numbers in June, so they must have been compiled before the end of last school year, with only a few months of data or less. The assumption behind the graph was that school would restart in January, which is unlikely to be true for much of the country.
LAUSD, the country’s second largest school district (over 600k students,) is still largely shut down, with only some of the youngest, preschool, kids allowed on campus as well as limited wavers granted upon application for IEP kids. Private schools are under the same restraints as publics, which means only a fraction of children in the entire LA Metro area have seen the inside of school since March, and will likely not do so until March comes around again, or until L.A. defunds the police and achieves perfect social justice, whichever comes later.
It has always been about the comfort, ease and happiness of the teachers. The students’ success has always been a secondary consideration.
Like you said, the rest is a lie. An attribute much of the world seems to be perfecting this year.