COVID-19 Policy Update #95
COVID-19 Policy Update
TUESDAY 9/1
TOP THREE
Parents Disenrolling: Civis Analytics found 39.7% of parents of K-12 students across the US say that they have disenrolled their children from the school they were originally supposed to attend this year. Of those that disenrolled, 57.8% have enrolled their child in an online program, 26.8% in a public school, and 20.5% in a private school. 83.3% of parents who disenrolled their children say that they will re-enroll their children back into the original school once it is safe to do so.
NYC Agreement Reached to Reopen Schools: The Mayor and the city's largest teachers' union reached a deal on a plan to reopen schools, potentially averting a strike. The planned hybrid start of school will be delayed from Sept. 10 to Sept. 21; teachers will use Sept. 10-Sept. 15 for additional preparation. A three-day transitional remote period will follow for students.
France: 12 million students returned to schools today. To accommodate full classes, an initial requirement of four square meters between students was reduced to one meter laterally and then dropped altogether for the fall. 79% of parents were in favor of sending their children back to school according to a survey by France’s Ifop polling agency.
FEDERAL
Phase 4:
During a hearing, Secretary Mnuchin suggested the gap between the Administration and Democrats in Congress is narrowing and mentioned a higher number for the Administration’s ceiling: $1.5 trillion. He also signaled that the Administration is willing to provide additional funding for state/local stabilization.
More than half of states have been approved to offer an extra $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits through the “lost wages assistance” program created by the President's August 8 Executive Order.
ED: Secretary DeVos Back to School oped.
HHS: Has released a $250 million bid for a communications firm to develop a communications campaign that would: “defeat despair and inspire hope, share best practices for businesses to operate in the new normal and instill confidence to return to work and restart the economy, build a coalition of spokespeople around the country, provide important public health, therapeutic and vaccine information as the country reopens, and give Americans information on the phases of reopening."
STATE
California: Legislation that would have provided liability protection for school districts died leaving many school districts worried that lawsuits might drain stretched budgets. “Absolutely, without question, districts around the state will be hesitant if there aren’t liability protections for when they follow health and safety guidelines and act in good faith,” said Wes Smith, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators.
Colorado: Gov. Polis announced the launch of “Colorado Classroom: Learn with Me at Home." The programming starts Sept. 7 and airs for at least 15 weeks on Rocky Mountain PBS
Massachusetts:
The "Coalition to Safely Reopen Schools," which includes the teachers unions and school nurse association, released a letter outlining the issues they say must be addressed before schools can reopen.
The Broad Institute has been testing 100 colleges in Mass. and surrounding states. Positive rate was less than 1 In 1,000.
Texas: The state's "Operation Connectivity" has ordered 756,000 devices and 310,000 hotspots for more than half of all school districts, but there remain many unconnected students.
Utah: There were five new school outbreaks reported in the past day, linked to 14 new cases and one new hospitalization, the Utah Department of Health reported. The state defines an outbreak as two or more cases within 14 days. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 121 patients infected in 25 school outbreaks, with a median age of 18. Seven of those patients have been hospitalized; none have died.
Vermont: Remote learning could end all snow days. Which would mean an end to these kinds of reactions.
INTERNATIONAL
Canada: Ontario’s four major teachers’ unions to file labor board complaint over school reopening plans.
Israel: Interview with Eli Waxman, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science and former chairman of the team advising Israel’s National Security Council on the pandemic, covering lessons learned from their reopening in the spring.
Italy: Schools are preparing to reopen after being closed for 6 months.
UK: Schools reopened across the UK. Good article summarizing the experiences of parents, students, and teachers adjust to the new normal.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Did Female-Owned Businesses Receive Their Fair Share of PPP Loans? An analysis from Heartland Forward found that male-owned businesses received nearly three-times as many loans as female-owned businesses in every state in the Heartland.
Dithering in Congress Will Set Women, Children Back a Generation: Oped from Julianna Goldman and Jen Psaki. "Companies are taking some steps. Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Salesforce are providing extra leave. Netflix and Amazon are paying for employee memberships to Care.com, a site to connect with child care providers. Apple and T-Mobile are teaming up with the state of California to provide cellular service-enabled iPads for the school year."
Coding Academy Lambda School Approved to Operate in California: At issue was the state's legacy regulatory system not knowing how to handle a program that doesn't have an upfront "cost" since the use of Income Share Agreements pay the institution a percentage of income once a student graduates and gets a job.
LEARNING PODS
Schools, Pandemic Pods Could Be Held Liable: "The problem with this is that the home insurer has exclusionary clauses. So, the homeowner that was hosting this pandemic pod may not be covered and may actually have to pay for the claim from their own pocket.”
Colorado: Adams 12 is supporting 4,300 students in learning pods. Details here.
Kentucky: The state is offering incentives for individuals to start a small scale daycare or childcare facility, including a $2,500 dollar stipend, streamlined processes for certification and background checks.
Houston: Two mothers came together to found 39Hats to help parents with pods. The name is a reference to the "sheer number of hats that today's modern mom wears between managing home, work and everything else in between."
RESOURCES
Skewed Thinking About COVID: Emily Oster writes about how the coverage of COVID skews perceptions about its risks. She also mentions the partnership she's launching with AASA, NAESP to collect better school data.
Four Months of Learning Loss: An analysis from Illuminate Education of their data found school closures will likely cause a “COVID slide” of 2-4 months of learning loss, but the gaps are expected to be less pronounced in students who frequently interacted with teachers than in those who did not.
Let Funding Follow the Child: Coalition of education groups expressing support of funding students and families instead of institutions.
Remote Learning Doesn't Have to Be Awful: Helpful list of tips, ideas, and resources.
Markets in Everything: Brookings essay, "Want herd immunity? Pay people to take the vaccine."
McKinsey on Remote/Hybrid Learning: Helpful framework, including:
You Made It To September: Time to celebrate.
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