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Online school put US kids behind. Some adults have regrets.

FILE - Reddie Abeyta, a first-year English teacher at Santa Fe High School, reviews lesson plans at home in preparation for the first day of school, Aug. 19, 2020, in Santa Fe, N.M. Abeyta said the first week of classes will be dedicated to getting students accustomed to online learning. (Gabriela Campos/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, File) FILE - A student raises his hand in class at iPrep Academy on the first day of school, Aug. 23, 2021, in Miami. In interviews with The Associated Press, close to 50 school leaders, teachers, parents and health officials reflected on decisions to keep students in extended online learning, especially during the spring semester of 2021. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) FILE - Carol Basilio, right, hugs her daughter Giovanna outside of iPrep Academy on the first day of school, in Miami, Aug. 23, 2021. In interviews with The Associated Press, close to 50 school leaders, teachers, parents and health officials reflected on decisions to keep students in extended online learning, especially during the spring semester of 2021. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) FILE - Kindergarten teacher Karen Drolet, left, works with a student at Raices Dual Language Academy, a public school in Central Falls, R.I., Feb. 9, 2022. In the predominantly Latino and Black Rhode Island community, more than three-quarters of students stayed home to study remotely. To address parent distrust, officials tracked COVID-19 cases among school-aged Central Falls residents. They met with families to show them the kids catching the virus were in remote learning — and they weren’t learning as much as students in school. It worked. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) FILE - Fourth-grader Sammiayah Thompson, left, and her brother third-grader Nehemiah Thompson work outside in their yard on laptops provided by their school system for distant learning, in Hartford, Conn., on June 5, 2020. In interviews with The Associated Press, close to 50 school leaders, teachers, parents and health officials reflected on decisions to keep students in extended online learning, especially during the spring semester of 2021. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) FILE - Wenderson Cerisene, 7, right, and his sister Dorah, 9, wait to be tested for COVID-19, Aug. 31, 2021, in North Miami, Fla. In interviews with The Associated Press, close to 50 school leaders, teachers, parents and health officials reflected on decisions to keep students in extended online learning, especially during the spring semester of 2021. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File) FILE - Javin Lujan Lopez, 17, a senior at Pojoaque High School, plays video games at his house, Feb. 22, 2021, in Española, N.M. In interviews with The Associated Press, close to 50 school leaders, teachers, parents and health officials reflected on decisions to keep students in extended online learning, especially during the spring semester of 2021. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File) Teacher Sarah Curry stands for a portrait in her fourth grade classroom in rural Hickman, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. “Should we have reopened earlier? Absolutely,” says Curry. She initially favored school closings in her rural Central Valley district, but grew frustrated with the duration of distance learning. She taught pre-kindergarten and found it impossible to maintain attention spans online. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) FILE - Los Angeles Unified School District students attend online classes at Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood in Los Angeles, Aug. 26, 2020. “It is very easy with hindsight to say, ‘Oh, learning loss, we should have opened.’ People forget how many people died,” said Austin Beutner, former superintendent in Los Angeles, where students were online until the start of hybrid instruction in April 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) FILE - Audra Quisenberry, right, whispers in the ear of her classmate, Logan Bowhay, both 6, as they wait to meet other schoolmates via online Zoom, at Premier Martial Arts, Aug. 24, 2020, in Wildwood, Mo. In interviews with The Associated Press, close to 50 school leaders, teachers, parents and health officials reflected on decisions to keep students in extended online learning, especially during the spring semester of 2021. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File) Eric Conti, superintendent of Burlington public schools, stands for a portrait outside administrative offices, in Burlington, Mass., on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. “I can’t imagine a situation where we would close schools again, unless there’s a virus attacking kids,” says Conti. His students alternated between online and in-person learning from the fall of 2020 until the next spring. “It’s going to be a very high bar.” (AP Photo/Steven Senne) FILE - Chicago charter school teacher Angela McByrd works on her laptop to teach remotely from her home in Chicago, Sept. 24, 2020. After a six-week standoff with the teachers union, the district started bringing students back on a hybrid schedule just before spring 2021. It wasn’t until the following fall that students were back in school full time. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Marla Williams, left, looks at an origami her daughter, Mariella Fallon, made as her son, Miles Fallon, works on his computer at their home in Chicago, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. With the return of students to school, Williams says, “I wish we’d been in person earlier. ... Other schools seemed to be doing it successfully.” (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Marla Williams, left, her daughter Mariella Fallon, center, and son Miles Fallon, stand for portrait outside their Chicago home Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Williams initially supported the Chicago Public Schools decision to instruct students online during the fall of 2020. Williams, a single mother, has asthma, as do her two children. While she was working, she enlisted her father, a retired teacher, to supervise her children’s studies. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Miles Fallon, left, and his mother, Marla Williams, work in the kitchen as she prepares dinner at their home in Chicago, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. During remote learning, Williams says Miles lost motivation and wouldn’t do his assignments. Once he went back on a hybrid schedule in spring 2021, he started doing well again, she says. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Miles Fallon works at his computer in his Chicago home Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. His mother, Marla Williams, initially supported the Chicago Public Schools decision to instruct students online during the fall of 2020. Williams, a single mother, has asthma, as do her two children. While she was working, she enlisted her father, a retired teacher, to supervise her children’s studies. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)