School shutdowns: How one city helps students reverse severe learning loss during pandemic While many other cities around the country seemed paralyzed by the pandemic, North Las Vegas decided to do something to help families. Michael A. McShane and Jason Bedrick Opinion contributors Millions of children across the country have not attended school in person for much of the past year. The results are devastating. Particularly for low-income and vulnerable students, online learning has been a disaster. Vast numbers of children have simply disappeared from school rolls. Many others have received a sliver of the education they would have otherwise received.