COVID-19 Policy Update #97
COVID-19 Policy Update
THURSDAY 9/3
TOP THREE
Phase 4:
Negotiations remain stalled. Sen. McConnell will attempt to pass his "skinny" package next week, but faces the challenge of whipping some of his more conservative members who are wary of too much spending. The CBO report this week did little to address their concerns. The CBO estimates that the debt owed by the US will reach 98% of GDP by the end of 2020 and will surpass the economy next year.
Sen. Schumer sent a letter to Senators urging them to instead support a "another comprehensive, bipartisan” package."
Sen. McConnell also said he wasn't sure a package could pass by the end of September. "I do think we do need to reach agreement" but "the cooperative spirit we had in March and April has dissipated."
In some positive news, Bloomberg reports that “Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Steven have agreed to work to avoid a government shutdown right before the election, and not let the stalemate over virus-relief legislation hold up a vital stopgap spending bill."
Paid Leave Guidance: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The Department of Labor provided guidance on leave and the various approaches to how it applies to education. JD Supra has a summary.
In-Person: If a child’s school is not closed due to COVID-19 related reasons, it is open for children to attend and FFCRA leave is not available.
Hybrid/Blending Learning: FFCRA leave is available on days or parts of days when a child is not permitted to attend school in person and must instead engage in remote learning. FFRCA leave is only available if the employee is actually caring for their child during that time and only if no other suitable person is to do so.
Only Remote: FFCRA leave is available while a child’s school remains closed.
Families opting out of school or choosing to participate in the remote learning program: FFCRA is not available because a child’s school is not closed and FFCRA is not available to take care of a child whose school is open for in-person attendance.
New York:
A few days after reaching an agreement to reopen schools, teachers-union president Michael Mulgrew warned he would go to court if necessary to enforce the agreement’s safety standards.
School teachers in the Archdiocese of New York, filed a pair of unfair labor complaints alleging the Association of Catholic Schools had “no intention” of reaching a collaborative agreement with its 2,500 teachers over reopening schools.
FEDERAL
ED: The Department sent a letter to state school chiefs indicating that the agency does not intend to grant waivers on state assessments for SY 2020-2021. The letter does express an openness around flexibility in the use of assessment results as part of accountability systems: "We are open to discussions about what, if any, actions may be needed to adjust how the results of assessments are used in your state’s school accountability determinations."
E-rate:
The FCC extended the waiver of the E-Rate program gift rule through December 31, 2020. This allows companies to offer, and for schools, to accept donated broadband connections, Wi-Fi hotspots and other devices, networking gear, system upgrades, etc.
Cisco asked the FCC to allow E-rate to cover network security measures.
CO Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a petition with the FCC urging the use of E-rate funding to close the homework gap. The AG argues, as does FCC Commissioner Rosenworcel, that the FCC has the authority to interpret the statue in such a way as to classify "homes" as fitting the definition of "schools" and "classrooms." Republican commissioners believe the FCC does not have that authority which is what they are seeking as part of an upcoming economic relief package.
STATE
Arizona: Based on the state's health dashboard, it is now safe for schools in 10 of the state’s 15 counties to start offering in-person instruction.
Colorado: Gov. Polis announced the state will spend $2 million in CARES Act funding to provide internet access to students who lack service. T-Mobile will provide up to 34,000 low-income student households with a free WiFi hotspot and 100GB of free data for a year as well as discounted devices like tablets and computers.
Florida: A 16 year old South Miami Senior High student was arrested for having had responsibility with 8 of the last 24 denial of service attacks that crashed Miami Dade's remote learning system.
Louisiana: Schools are now required to report known and suspected cases of COVID-19 to the Louisiana Department of Health as part of an “early warning system,” according to an emergency order from State Health Officer Jimmy Guidry.
Massachusetts: The state launched a back to school communications campaign today: mass.gov/BackToSchool. The campaign includes television, radio, and transit ads. Super smart - a video of doctors saying why it is safe to go back to school.
Pennsylvania: Temple University will move all classes online for the rest of the semester.
Tennessee: Began reporting COVID cases in schools.
Vermont: The Vermont-NEA has given the state a D+ in its readiness to reopen schools.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Cash Benefit in Salt Lake: Salt Lake City and the Community Foundation of Utah launched #RaiseUpSLC to provide direct financial assistance via $500 prepaid "Salt Laker Cards" to SLC residents facing extreme economic hardship due to COVID-19 — many of whom may be excluded from federal relief programs.
Second Chance Pell Grants: Kentucky Association of Manufacturers oped on how lifting the ban on Pell Grants will help incarcerated people and small businesses.
Evictions: Heartbreaking CNN segment on evictions in Houston.
Good Jobs: Interview with MIT’s Zeynep Ton. Good jobs benefit workers and boost corporate performance, so why aren’t there more of them?
LEARNING PODS
Pandemic Learning Pods Reveal The Cracks In Our Education System: Huffington Post oped: "Pods are a way for well-resourced families to bypass a broken system, creating automatic inequity. We need to act quickly before our communities stratify into two streams: well-resourced homeschools and risky classrooms."
Co-Learning Space: SOM Space is a co-learning community for homeschoolers, distance-learners and enrichment seekers.
DIY Learning Pods: Backyard School Pods, aims to create options for a broader range of families. “Now’s not the time to pull your kid out of public school and start a private pod,” said long-time Chicago educator Elizabeth Shaw, who launched the effort.
Churches: Open Virtual Learning Camps for Marion County students.
RESOURCES
Hazel Health: Raised $33.5 million in Series C funding, led by Owl Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures, along with Uprising, UCSF Foundation Investment Company, and Centene Corporation. In a blog post, Josh Golomb discussed how school systems are using Hazel's telemedicine services to serve more than 1.5 million students. More than 40% of enrolled families indicate that they do not have a primary care physician, typically relying on more costly ER and urgent care.
Nicholas Kristof: ‘Remote Learning’ Is Often an Oxymoron
"Prolonged school closures will worsen dropout rates across the nation, for missing just 10 percent of class days is associated with a sevenfold increased risk of dropping out."
"It’s absurd that we have allowed liquor stores, gyms, gun shops, restaurants and marijuana dispensaries to operate while keeping schools shut."
"Let’s also embrace Bandwidth for All, modeled on rural electrification in the 1930s and ’40s. The internet is as essential today as electricity was then."
Balloons: A real life human UP.
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