Sarah Garland’s dining room is doing double duty as a reading classroom these days. She’s teaching her kids to read at the same time she does her paid job. 

Garland is the executive editor at The Hechinger Report. Because of COVID-19, she joins countless parents across the country as a substitute teacher while schools are closed. For students, school as a mainstay of day-to-day life has evaporated. 

In this interview, Garland talks about what she’s hearing from teachers, parents, and students as they adapt to this new normal. She also shares what she’s experiencing herself and what changes might still be yet to come.  

Some 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment aid as a result of COVID-19—putting the unemployment rate at its highest level since the Great Depression. 

In this podcast, Maria Flynn of Jobs for the Future and Mary Alice McCarthy of the Center on Education and Skills offer their thoughts on a federal jobs bill and how such a bill should help displaced workers and college students without creating more hurdles for them.