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A version of this essay appeared on the New York School Talk .

In a recent , I hammered home one of my favorite points: . This applies to , , acceleration, and .

While engaging in my favorite activity of advocating for giving every family what they want and giving every student what they need, I asked the following question:

When schools reopen in September, why not let families decide whether they prefer face-to-face or remote learning?

The main criticism lobbed at parents and students who is that it stinks of privilege. Parents who can stay home to supervise their child鈥檚 academics, as well as students who have the bandwidth and the workspace for online learning, are certainly privileged. You鈥檒l get no argument from me on that one.

So why not take advantage of it on behalf of those who lack such privilege? Let the parents who have no choice about going out to work and the kids without personal devices with which to access their teachers, who desperately need face-to-face learning and the school social safety net, have priority for returning to school. And let the privileged stay home, whether because it makes their lives easier, or because that鈥檚 how their children learn better, or because they鈥檙e afraid of contagion.

No, this does not mean I am advocating sending poorer children into a school where they are more likely to catch coronavirus and die. All families will have to decide whether or not to return. But we鈥檙e being told over and over again that some people don鈥檛 have that choice. So they should be the first ones allowed back in, just as the were the first ones offered day care. With all necessary precautions taken.

Fewer students in the classroom would aid with social distancing and bring numbers closer to the small class sizes some . It would be less of a strain on the school budget, which is next year, as kids who stay at home don鈥檛 need to be fed, cleaned up after or provided with supplies like soap and paper towels.

It would also benefit teachers. Educators, especially older ones who are , could teach from home for those students who wish to keep learning from home.

And, finally, it could tell us much about .

To date, we have been told the reason there are () high-achieving and low-achieving schools is that black and Hispanic children have been . (Sure, , but that鈥檚 neither here nor there.) When the two populations are mixed, achievement will go up for everyone! Or .

If 鈥減rivileged鈥� students opt to stay home, there will be more room for the 鈥渦nderprivileged鈥� in the 鈥渉igh-achieving鈥� schools, right? So we can test out the above theory?

In fact, parents and students who can afford to stay home should choose to do so in the name of equity. Taking one for the team, as it were.

What better way for those teens from who protested for months to demonstrate their commitment to letting the to their top-of-the-line classrooms than by giving up their in-person slots to those who need them more?

Conversely, if we assume that the teachers who work inside those high-achieving schools are responsible for stellar test scores (and not at all the fact that the kids who populate those buildings are getting or ), then won鈥檛 it be wonderful when those miracle-worker teachers are giving instruction online? Especially if it鈥檚 the oldest and most experienced teachers. They鈥檝e got to be the best ones. They鈥檙e paid the most!

Low-performing kids can be deliberately assigned to them. With 97 percent of NYC instructors rated either 鈥渆ffective鈥� or 鈥渉ighly effective,鈥� there are so many to go around that every child who needs one could reap the benefits!

A combined in-person/remote learning approach would benefit public health, allow families to choose the educational option best suited for them, save the district money, integrate schools and bring struggling students into the virtual classrooms of exemplary teachers in order to shrink the achievement gap.

It could end up turning out to be one of the best things that ever happened to reimagining traditional education 鈥� as long as everyone who previously talked about making changes is willing to back up their high-minded words with on-the-ground actions.

Alina Adams is a New York Times best-selling romance and mystery writer, the author of Getting Into NYC Kindergarten and Getting Into NYC High School, a blogger at and mother of three. She believes you can’t have true school choice until all parents know all their school choices 鈥� and how to get them. Visit her website, .

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