The biggest concern about pods is that they—like many other aspects of the pandemic—are widening achievement gaps between kids from affluent and low-income families. The Bedford superintendent who was incensed over parents’ attempts to poach his teachers, for example, referred to learning pods as “privilege pods” in his email. He may have been the only superintendent to openly criticize the arrangement, but Michael Horn, who focuses on education at the Christensen Institute, a Lexington think tank, says he’s not alone. “From the conversations I’ve had, I would say, districts have sort of treated pods like they treat Russian Math, which is to say, ‘We know students are doing it, but we don’t like that they’re doing it. We wish that they would just follow our program.’”