Nearly every student, sitting at desks in Army uniforms at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, had a similar story. The public schools they came from were crumbling: There were holes in the walls, books held together with duct tape, few computers, not enough teachers and failing air conditioning that made paying attention in class impossible in the sweltering heat. Test scores, which were already falling before the pandemic, took a nosedive, and recent years have seen a blitz in teacher strikes over poor working conditions and being paid wages not far above the poverty level. For the Army to fill its...
