The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • A9

FR IDAY, AUGUST 2 7 2 0 2 1 Opinion A9 Inbox Behind vaccine resistance, there lies a dip in science education paying the price for the poor ways we teach science TimRitchie, president of theMuseum of Science weigh- ing vaccinemandates, follow the evidence, not the Opinion, Aug. 23), presents a strong case formaking a dis- tinction between weighing evidence and the sci- as somany implore, when it comes tomaking public health decisions. He writes, is an act of continuing discovery that by its very nature demands being open to changing mind and expanding understanding. It always welcomes the skeptical Coincidentally, a recent news analysis in The New York Times claims, Americans have a decent grasp of basic health concepts. But many are never taught how science Ritchiemakes an important point, ac- cording to the Times piece, it is probably lost onmost Ameri- cans.

These two pieces taken together suggest that we are pay- ing the price for not having attended adequately to science education from elementary school onward. Despite talk about its importance, whenwe have taught science, we have tended to focus on facts and certainty while avoiding the time-consuming, messy, meandering process that truly re- flects the scientific process. We have focused onwhat scien- tific information should be taught at the expense of how sci- ence is actually practiced. JEFF WINOKUR Needham The writer has been an early childhood and elementary science educator for 40 years. Our secondary schools are falling short in providing solid foundation TheMuseum of Science is a wonderful resource for science education, and TimRitchie should be proud of his institu- tion.

However, many of our secondary schools fall far short of providing our students with a solid foundation inmath and science. The Programme for International Student Assessment is an international exam that is given to 600,000 15-year-olds from 64 countries every three years. Themost recent results from 2015 and 2018 revealed that US students, respectively, finished 35th and 30th inmath and 17th and 11th in sci- ence.When our teenagers are so far behind inmath and sci- ence, it is little wonder that, as adults, they can follow neither the evidence nor the science. DR. KEVIN R.

LOUGHLIN Boston The writer is a professor emeritus at HarvardMedical School. Marcela Aug. 21 Opinion column there an education candidate in the Bostonmayoral expos- es the hard truth of Bostonmayoral politics: Education takes a back seat. We cannot afford for education to be a third rail in city elections. Toomuch is at stake.

As notes, state audits and past studies show that the public education system is notmeeting the needs of its students. education system is broken but not irreparably so, and our city has an overdue obligation tomake it right. This belief led 18 organizations to come together to form All Children Thrive (ACT Boston). A nonpartisan collabora- tive, we are calling on all mayoral candidates to set ambitious goals for student outcomes and the improvements of the sys- tem that will be achieved under their leadership. There is no silver bullet.

Moving education forward will require city leaders to open upmore seats at decision-making tables to those who have themost at stake, and to be ac- countable for delivering the change stakeholders demand. In Boston it starts with political will andmayoral accountability. The next mayormust lead a city where all children thrive, starting by prioritizing education in this campaign. RANA S. KANNAN Charlestown MARINELL ROUSMANIERE Hyde Park The writers aremembers of All Children Thrive (ACT Bos- ton).

Kannan is chief operating officer at Boston Schools Fund, and Rousmaniere is president and CEO of EdVestors. Mayoral hopefuls, take note: Boston has overdue obligation to tackle education It is a sad day to learn that Harry Spence, a giant in public service, has passed away Spence, 1946-2021: A res- cuer of public Metro, Aug. 22). His passing reminds us of his steadfast advocacy and support on behalf of students with disabilities and all students who were in the care and custody of the state Department of Social Ser- vices. As commissioner of DSS (now the Department of Chil- dren and Families), he partnered with schools to effect a historic statewide collaboration between public school dis- tricts and the agency.

His understanding of the complexity of collaborative partnerships between public schools and the child-serving agencies enabled him to create connections that did not exist before. We were inspired by his imagination, his devotion, and his call to serve our most vulnerable students with disabili- ties. We are forever grateful for his leadership and the les- sons that have been learned from it. It was an honor to serve with him. CARLA B.

JENTZ Executive director Massachusetts Administrators for Special Education Dedham SHELDON BERMAN Past president Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Bedford Harry Spence: an inspiring partner and advocate for kids, families, and schools A fewmonths ago, I solved a Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle the hard- est of the for the first time. In ink. Whoa, I thought: Either the puzzles are getting easier, or this pandemic has gone onway too long. Right away I checked in with Rex Parker, the pseud- onymous blogger who solves and analyzes New York Times crosswords, to read his post on the puzzle. I adore Rex Parker (real Sharp) for his acerbic wit, his erudition, and his politics he spits nails when the crossword name-checks someone he considers a warmonger or relies on tired, sexist tropes for clues.

On this day he was his usual curmudgeonly self, picking nits with the theme and railing against in- elegant fill. But, rather touchingly, he also confessed to his own difficulty solving the puzzle because of an early when was the right answer. My heart beat a little faster. Oh, Rex! OK, everyonemakesmistakes. Hmmm.

Couldmy an Internet avatar, no less be getting a little out of hand? The truth is, is one of my pandemic boon companions who have helped carryme through thesemonths of uncertainty and sorrowwith- out ever knowing of my regard. They are like secret friends, unexpected allies who ground and entertainme on anxious days. I pay nomind to their marital status, their looks, or their sexuality. I just feel a little better af- ter a visit with them. Admit it, readers: You probably have a few pandemic crushes of your own.

Besides Parker, I have been seriously keeping compa- ny with local meteorologist Dave Epstein, whose posts are truly news you can use. He just tell you it will snow, but when it will start, if it will be fluffy or dense, and whether you will need the shovel or just the windshield scraper. also a horticulturist with a side hustle in gardening advice; tell you the right week to plant tomatoes and what that weird fungus is grow- ing in your backyard. He is a font of the kind of earth- science trivia I love, like knowing that our longest day of the year (June 21) actually have the latest sunset (that would be June 27). I am so fond of him that I am willing to overlook his occasional bad calls or the way he capitalizes the seasons (no, this is not an unusually wet Summer).

I also carry a torch for Amy Sedaris. best known as a comic actress andwriter, but her Insta- gram posts I crave in fretful times. The tiny video clips of clever dancing cockatoos, mesmerizing sea creatures in slowmotion, gymnastic feats, swirling soft-serve technology, retro animation, watermelon-eating hippos and are immensely soothing, not so much eye candy as brain aloe. Sometimes a little off-kil- ter, scatological, or even grotesque, they tell us that quirkiness can be beautiful. I knowmy relationship with these people is hardly exclusive.

Each is a cult figure in their own right; Se- daris has nearly amillion followers. Still, I take a lot of personal solace in these attachments. They carry reas- suring lessons for these times: that the weather, while unpredictable, is knowable; that everybody needs a lit- tle help with the answers sometimes; that the world is full of wonders if you slow down enough to see them. And happily break upwith every one of them if it would end the pandemic. column appears regularly in the Globe.

LOTH My secret pandemic crushes GLOBE STAFF ILLUSTRATION; LIZ CINCINNATI ENQUIRER VIA AP; TREEN- Pandemic crushes include a crossword puzzle blogger and a celebrity whose Instagram posts include Fiona the hippo. resident Biden is learning a whole newmeaning for the term shadowboxing. This par- ticular type of sparring often happens under the cover of night, and without explanation. And Biden is the underdog. opponent? The US Supreme Court.

And the ring in which they rumble is the shadow docket. Throughout the summer in fact, near- ly continuously throughout the last several years the justices have been issuing sum- mary orders that decide the extent of the White executive powers. The so coined by Uni- versity of Chicago law professor William Baude six years ago, is the practice of issuing unsigned orders, often handed down without a full opinion detailing the reasoning. Until recently, it was limited to exigent matters, such as whether a lower court ruling should be temporarily halted while the court decides whether to take up an appeal. While it is certainly the role of the court to decide issues including the limits of pres- idential authority, such weighty judgments have traditionally come during the regular term, with a full examination of the arguments and in public view.

But lately, the rulings come in the form of terse sum- mary orders, drafted out of sight, often is- sued at night when few are watching. And for those challenging a presidential order or other matter, the process of getting to the shadow docket is a lot easier than convincing the court to take up a case on the merits. Any litigant can appeal to one justice, who then decides whether to for- ward the matter to the rest of the court. If that happens, an order can follow quickly, sometimes within days. Consider the host of shadow docket rulings in favor of churches and other organizations seek- ing to opt out of pandemic safety measures imposed by cities and states since last year giving the court leverage to dramatically expand the scope of religious freedom claims in the process.

Another staple of the shadow docket: ex- ecution appeals, meaning that the cases the court decides with a quick stroke of an anonymous pen are often matters of life and death. But the scope of the shadow reach is wide. A recent example: the move Tuesday night to stop Biden from scrapping former president Donald policy that forces asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico. In a one-paragraph or- how the court characterizes it the court stated that Biden would proba- bly lose in defending the order in court. The court did not explain, however, why it deemed case a likely lemon.

It sim- ply referred to a ruling it issued last year that stopped Trump from rescinding anoth- er immigration order, that one issued by Barack Obama, creating the Deferred Ac- tion for Childhood Arrivals program. The three justices who nowmake up the Democratic-appointed minority, Ste- phen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Soto- mayor, noted their dissent. But like those in the majority, they gave no reason. And that was that. The court, which has repeatedly ruled that issues of foreign policy and im- migration are within the purview of the ex- ecutive branch, made the call.

The result? Thousands of migrants who are fleeing the devastating impacts of polit- ical unrest and persecution in their home countries, climate change, and the pan- demic remain stuck, many in dangerous circumstances. Many have reported being attacked, sexually assaulted, and kid- napped while waiting for their asylum claims to be decided. By the time you read this, a shadow docket may have notched another this time in a challenge to decision to extend the federal pandemic eviction moratorium. Justice Brett Kavanaugh has already signaled that Biden will be on the losing end of that bout as well. Biden the only president to bear the shadow blows.

It also targeted the Obama and Trump administrations. But divisiveness of the shadow docket has been even more homogenously ideological than the divisiveness of the merits Stephen Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said in testimony before the presidential commission on Supreme Court reform in June. Vladeck, who has written extensively about the dangers of the shadow docket, said that while cases before the full court can sometimes end with the bed- of majority opinions joined by jus- tices across the political spectrum, with rare exceptions clear which way the jus- tices will rule even before they do. With Biden, that will often mean a 6-3 loss. But more important, it is a loss for the American people, who deserve far more transparency and accountability for the de- cisions issued by the highest court in the land that affect the nation.

Kimberly Atkins Stohr can be reached at kimberly.atkinsstohr@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR losing battle with the Supreme shadow docket GOR.