COVID-19 Policy Update #120
COVID-19 Policy Update
MONDAY 10/5
TOP THREE
Youth Suicide: The Other Public Health Crisis: Researchers are worried that a surge in youth depression and anxiety could drive a spike in youth suicide rates. Sandy Hook Promise, which runs an anonymous reporting tool, has seen a 12 percent increase in suicide-related reports since March.
Delaware: Paul Herdman, President and CEO of Rodel, is out with an oped: COVID-19 forces us to rethink high school — and that may be a good thing. He covers a lot of territory including blended learning (including the Summit Learning Platform), opportunity pathways, coding, pods, and more.
Vaccine Distribution: The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued recommendations for the distribution and prioritization of a vaccine.
The panel recommended health care workers and first responders get first priority as part of Phase 2. Phase 2 would include teachers and childcare workers.
The report also encourages the prioritization of people of color given the disproportionate impact: “Inequity has been a hallmark of this pandemic, both locally and globally... an awakening to the power of racism, poverty, and bias in amplifying the health and economic pain and hardship imposed by this pandemic.” T
he authors also recommended that the US join the international COVID-19 vaccine pool known as COVAX arguing, "Joining COVAX and allocating part of the U.S. vaccine supply would not only increase the U.S.' chances of accessing effective COVID-19 vaccines but also help the country regain its position as a global health leader."
FEDERAL
Phase 4: CNBC reports that Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin spoke for about an hour Monday but emerged without a relief package agreement.
CDC:
Updated its guidance which now acknowledges that COVID-10 can spread through the air, particularly in poorly ventilated areas.
Politico reports on an incident of a HHS staffer pressuring to change a CDC report on COVID and children. It comes on the heels of last week's NYT story that the White House pressured the CDC to change its guidance on reopening schools which we discussed in the
STATE
Michigan: More than 10,000 Grand Rapids students have opted to take in-person classes, 5,201 students chose hybrid learning (along with another 5,315 students who were automatically placed in the hybrid learning plan after not responding to the commitment letter), and 4,670 decided to remain with online learning.
Minnesota: State health officials released a new dashboard of COVID cases in schools.
New Jersey: Learning Heroes parent survey with some great insights into what parents experienced in the spring and what they want in the fall.
New York:
NYC to shut down 9 neighborhoods due to a spike in cases.
NYC will pay school bus companies $106 million for two of the months in which they stood idle during the COVID-19 shutdown
Ohio: The Cleveland School District is proposing a 12% property tax increase to support, among other things, the new 1:1 environment that emerged due to COVID.
Texas: 850 teachers in the Austin Independent School District have pledged not to return to classrooms when schools reopen for in-person learning for up to 25% of its students.
Virginia: Prince William Co. Public Schools plans to move to 50% in-person classes on Nov. 10.
INTERNATIONAL
Canada: NBER paper studying the impact of mask mandates and finds "in the first few weeks after implementation, mask mandates are associated with a reduction of 25 percent in the weekly number of new COVID-19 cases. Additional analysis with province-level data provides corroborating evidence."
India: Delhi schools will remain closed until October 31.
Philippines: Laguna State Polytechnic University (LSPU) converted its regular buses to “e-learning laboratories” in preparation for the opening of classes. Each bus can accommodate 15 students and is equipped with computers and an internet connection.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Preparing the Workforce for 2030: A Pillar of Trade Leadership: New report from CSIS with recommendations from an all-star commission including Byron Auguste (Opportunity@Work), Ajay Banga (Mastercard), Dr. Craig Barrett (former Chairman and CEO of Intel), Josh Bolten (Business Roundtable; former White House Chief of Staff), David Cohen (former Deputy Director at the CIA), and Henry H. McVey (KKR). Well worth the read but here are the topline recommendations:
Establish federal programs for affordable lifelong learning
Replace Trade Adjustment Assistance with reformed Unemployment Insurance
Restore funding to programs that get Americans back to work
Closer cooperation between educational and training institutions, and employers
Ensure accountability for outcomes
Provide free online basic STEM education for adult learners
Ease the registered apprenticeship process for small and medium-sized enterprises
Align U.S. immigration policy with workforce demands
Improve congressional-executive communication when crafting trade policy
Warehouse, Parcel Operators Add Thousands of Jobs Ahead of Holidays: Businesses are preparing for an anticipated surge in holiday e-commerce orders, with over 32,000 warehouse and storage jobs added to payrolls in September following the addition of 34,000 jobs in August, which doubles sector employment over the past decade to a total of 1.25 million. Courier and messenger companies added 10,300 jobs last month while trucking firms added 4,600.
Capitalism After the Pandemic: Mariana Mazzucato argues in Foreign Policy that "it is not enough for governments to simply intervene as the spender of last resort when markets fail or crises occur. They should actively shape markets so that they deliver the kind of long-term outcomes that benefit everyone."
How State Agencies Are Grappling with Increased Demand of Services: A conversation with AEI's Angela Rachidi and with Russell Sykes, former New York State Deputy Commissioner, on SNAP administrative challenges.
Private Equity During COVID: New NBER paper where researchers surveyed more than 200 private equity (PE) managers from firms with $1.9 trillion of assets under management. Managers believe that 40% of their portfolio companies are moderately negatively affected and 10% are very negatively affected by the pandemic. They expect the performance of their existing funds to decline.
6 Months After Coronavirus Shutdowns, the Shape(s) of the Economic Crisis: Great NYT visualization of the "shape" of the labor market recovery, including the growing number of permanently laid off.
RESOURCES
#SchoolsIn: WFF launched the #SchoolsIn campaign, spotlighting innovation in education and asking families, educators and students to share their experiences this school year.
"Strong Future Maryland:" Former Secretary of Education John King launched a new 501(c)(4) “to help the state recover from multiple pandemics in a more equitable way.”
Household with Children Hardships: NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Poll which found 61% of households with children report facing serious financial problems during the coronavirus outbreak.
Working Parents: 42%, of parents say they’re scared that taking advantage of child-care benefits that companies are providing right now, such as increased paid time off or flexible work hours, would risk their employment.
Teachers Crowdfunding: Teachers turn to crowdfunding for pandemic supplies.
Bouncing Back: America Succeeds released a report outlining policy recommendations for school finance, SEL, teachers & leaders, and assessment.
Digital Messaging to Improve College Enrollment and Success: NBER paper with insights that could be valuable in helping to engage students struggling with remote learning. Researchers worked with College Board and uAspire to implement text-message based outreach and advising to students in over 700 high schools. Students who were contacted once every one to two weeks from their high school counselors saw significant impacts on several college-going steps and on college enrollment.
Vox on Reopenings: 10 facts about school reopenings in the COVID-19 pandemic.
How to Track COVID-19 Trends on Google Maps: Via LifeHacker.
Cardio Desk Drumming: Grab some pool noodles and join these kids.