COVID-19 Policy Update #124
COVID-19 Policy Update
FRIDAY 10/9
TOP THREE
Schools Aren’t Super-Spreaders: Via Emily Oster:
"Our data on almost 200,000 kids in 47 states from the last two weeks of September revealed an infection rate of 0.13 percent among students and 0.24 percent among staff. That’s about 1.3 infections over two weeks in a school of 1,000 kids, or 2.2 infections over two weeks in a group of 1,000 staff. Even in high-risk areas of the country, the student rates were well under half a percent."
"School-based data from other sources show similarly low rates. Texas reported 1,490 cases among students for the week ending on September 27, with 1,080,317 students estimated at school—a rate of about 0.14 percent. The staff rate was lower, about 0.10 percent."
"One might argue, again, that any risk is too great, and that schools must be completely safe before local governments move to reopen them. But this approach ignores the enormous costs to children from closed schools."
"Democratic governors who love to flaunt their pro-science bona fides in comparison with the anti-science Trump administration don’t seem to be aware of this growing body of evidence."
Phase 4:
Secretary Mnuchin offered a $1.8 trillion relief deal to the Speaker - the largest bid yet from the White House. The latest offer includes $300 billion for state and local government, up from $250 billion last week but still below the $436 billion the House passed last week.
Sen. McConnell was more pessimistic today saying that he thought it was unlikely that Congress would pass another package before the election.
Axios reports that two sources close to Senate leadership said President Trump “is desperate, has zero leverage to push them to support a bill crafted by Pelosi and congressional Republicans aren’t inclined to wrap themselves any tighter to a sinking ship.”
Jordan Weissmann over at Slate urges the Speaker to take the deal. But Paul Kane from the Washington Post notes the problem is likely Senate Republicans, not House Democrats.
Learning Loss: Opportunity Insights just posted new data from Zearn. Early data suggests that usage has nearly recovered, even in schools that saw big drops in April. However there are still gaps among income levels and states.
STATE
California:
How Sacramento City Unified found 'lost' students during distance learning. The district went from more than 1,600 unreachable students to nine.
Berkley School District will begin phasing in reopening schools.
DC: Dana Milbank: "Sure, send our kids back to unsafe schools, even though it isn’t in the best interest of anyone"
Florida: An appeals court sides with Florida in school reopening fight. Copy of the decision here.
Saying that “nothing in the emergency order requires any teacher or any student to return to the classroom,” a state appeals overturned a ruling that said Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran violated the Florida Constitution when he issued a July order aimed at reopening schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unions argued in a lawsuit that the order had violated a constitutional guarantee of safe and secure public education.
The appeals court said "To measure whether the public school system is ‘safe’ and ‘secure,’ the trial court would need to identify standards to make that measurement --- beginning by evaluating the risks posed by COVID-19"
Massachusetts: The Boston Teachers Union is filing an injunction to halt in-person learning at Boston Public Schools
Minnesota: The Governor announced a $3 million investment in CARES Act funding for mental health services for children and families during COVID-19.
New Jersey: KIPP students will stay learning remotely until January.
Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Community Stakeholders, a network of union leaders, business leaders, educators, entrepreneurs and activists working to support Philadelphia’s Black community will begin a pilot program that it hopes to turn into a collaborative of learning pods across the city.
Rhode Island: NYT article on how the state reopened schools. The Governor opened 14 rapid testing locations exclusively for students and teaching staff, and set up a statewide contact tracing system just for schools. The National Guard is also helping to run a 24/7 crisis command center, an operations hub that plans school walk-throughs, deploys substitute nurses and coordinates the statewide response.
INTERNATIONAL
Singapore: The government will provide families with a one time $3,000 cash benefit for every infant born between Oct 1, 2020 and Sept. 20, 2022. The Baby Support Grant will provide additional support in helping couples “defray child-raising costs during these extraordinary times”, said the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
UK: Children's mental health has suffered the "collateral damage" of COVID-19 according to a report from the Welsh Parliament.
RESOURCES
Reopening Schools: Washington Post column from Helaine Olen "It’s past time for schools to reopen."
Public School Enrollment Drops: Article reporting on a number of enrollment drops across the country:
Clayton County, GA: from 3,6000 to 2,912 kindergarten enrollments
Los Angeles: from 42,912 to 36,914 (a decrease of 14%)
Nashville: enrollment is down 1,800 students (a decrease of 37%)
Miami-Dade: 12,518 fewer students than last year.
NPR has more...
You Made It To Friday: Go jump into the weekend...