Teachers work outside Brentano Elementary Math & Science Academy on Jan. 4, 2021. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

How do you have a rational discussion when someone says he is “following the science” when it is so obvious he is ignorant of the science.

Case in point: The argument that Chicago teachers are “following the science” when they refuse to return to their jobs in the classroom because they are so “at risk.”

Truth is, the actual science says from a holistic perspective, children are better off in school than not. As NPR reported:

Despite widespread concerns, two new international studies show no consistent relationship between in-person K-12 schooling and the spread of the coronavirus. And a third study from the United States shows no elevated risk to childcare workers who stayed on the job.

Combined with anecdotal reports from a number of U.S. states where schools are open, as well as a crowdsourced dashboard of around 2,000 U.S. schools, some medical experts are saying it’s time to shift the discussion from the risks of opening K-12 schools to the risks of keeping them closed.

It’s not just the science about school opening that’s misused for partisan (i.e. far left) purposes. More broadly speaking, also challengeable is the science that supports arguments for lockdowns of the sort advocated by the like of Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker.

Courtesy of reader Richard Davis, here is a video that closely analyzes the data, finding that many of the accepted claims are, if not wrong, at least challengeable. The video was made by Ivor Cummins, a self-described “decoder of science.” I cannot vouch for the accuracy of all of his conclusions, but it is useful because it deeply explores the data and presents an alternative explanation for the standard assumptions.

I won’t argue that this is “settled science,” as so many people who don’t understand science argue. It’s new science, marked by thousands of studies of novel coronavirus. The studies will keep coming, long after the pandemic has been corralled.

That the science still is so, well, flexible should undercut the threadbare political accusations that (fill in a name) is to blame for “millions of deaths” because they didn’t “follow the science.” We can better respect each other if well respect the science.

Recommended reading:

• What’s wrong with public schools? It’s not the mofongo, it’s the unions.

• Open Chicago schools. City Hall and CPS, do not back down.

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