The third season of Crosscut’s podcast on our new normal explores what the pandemic has taught us about public schools — and where we might go from here.

As we navigate the third consecutive school year impacted by COVID-19, some teachers, students and families see this tumultuous moment as more than a challenge. It’s also an opportunity. Yes, school shutdowns across Washington state and the nation forced millions of children to attend school online for the first time, resulting in all kinds of chaos, frustration, mental health struggles, academic learning loss and even a dip in public school enrollment. But there are things we’ve learned from this experience, too — including, in some cases, a fresh perspective on deep, systemic issues that have been plaguing education since long before the virus. As many schools return to physical classrooms and manage a bumpy “return to normal,” we ask: Is “normal” even possible? And is that even our goal: To return to the old approach to public education? Host Sara Bernard talks to teachers, parents, students and administrators in search of answers.