COVID-19 Policy Update #217
COVID-19 Policy Update
THURSDAY 3/11
One year ago today, on March 11, 2020:
The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic
Tom Hanks announced that he tested positive for COVID-19
The NBA suspended their season
A day later, schools began to close across the country.
TOP THREE
President Biden: In a prime time television address, on the one year anniversary of the declaration of a pandemic. Speech here.
Signed the American Rescue Plan into law earlier today.
Announced that he will direct states to make all adult Americans eligible for a vaccine by May 1.
Reimagining the Future of Public Education After COVID: Good piece by Nina Rees.
"The one-size-fits-all education model should be gone."
"We must broaden the definition of school infrastructure to include portable technology."
"Extended school closures and virtual models taught us that if parents are dissatisfied with what is offered to their children, they will make changes."
"Schools with more flexibility — such as charter schools — and districts like New Orleans adapted more quickly to the needs of their students"
"The traditional school calendar is meaningless and could actually be harmful."
Side Note: Education determined with accelerated learning system hacks.
130 Studies: Today, The COVID Collaborative, United States of Care, the Walton Family Foundation, Opportunity Labs, the Evidence Project, and AEI officially released the report: "Is It Safe to Reopen Schools? An Extensive Review of the Research"
It summarizes more than 130 research studies related to COVID and school reopenings.
Available at AEI and CRPE's Evidence Project
We had a great press panel today with:
FEDERAL
Treasury: Announced new staff:
Under Secretary for Domestic Finance – Nellie Liang
Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy – Lily Batchelder
Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy – Ben Harris
Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs – Jonathan Davidson
COVID-19 RESEARCH
IHME: Weekly update.
Model projects 599,000 cumulative deaths on July 1, 2021. This represents 75,000 additional deaths from March 8 to July 1
Some new data on the new variants too.
Vaccine Outreach:
Values Partnerships, the Ad Council, and COVID Collaborative launched a Black Faith Community Toolkit and Hispanic Faith Toolkit
Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter and former First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Rosalynn Carter will be featured in public service announcements co-sponsored by the COVID Collaborative and Ad Council. Press release and PSAs.
School Reopening Without Robust COVID-19 Mitigation Risks Accelerating The Pandemic: New paper in the Lancet:
Multi-layered mitigations can substantially reduce the risk of transmission within schools and into households.
Associations Between Governor Political Affiliation and COVID-19 Cases, Deaths, and Testing: New study:
From March to early June, Republican-led states had lower COVID-19 incidence rates compared with Democratic-led states.
On June 3, the association reversed, and Republican-led states had higher incidence.
For death rates, Republican-led states had lower rates early in the pandemic, but higher rates from July 4 through mid-December.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Incidence: New data from the CDC.
CDC Guidance Dramatically Under-Represents Classroom Student Capacity Under 6' Social Distancing: New study:
"While the CDC guidelines only allowed 9 students, my layout allows 21 students while keeping all students at least 6-feet from any other student."
AP Poll: 1 in 5 in US lost someone close in pandemic
STATE
Alaska: Opens vaccine eligibility to everyone over the age of 16.
California:
LA secondary school students face mostly online classes even when they return to campus.
"Perhaps the most striking provision is for middle and high schools to essentially trade Zoom-at-home for Zoom-in-a-classroom."
"Stable groups of about 12 students would spend two days a week on campus in an advisory or homeroom classroom working online with noise-cancelling headphones, while the teacher would be conducting classes over Zoom."
Georgia: Atlanta superintendents say virtual option will continue in fall
Kentucky: Student-run thrift shop teaching kids entrepreneurship
Mississippi: Gulfport School District is adding a virtual academy program for 2021-2022 school year
Ohio: Cincinnati Public Schools will resume in-person learning five days per week for all schools at the end of March.
According to district surveys, about 58% of CPS parents and 54% of Walnut Hills parents surveyed said they are comfortable sending children back to classrooms this school year, and 57% of staff agree.
Those surveys also showed about 67% of parents said they are comfortable sending children back in fall, and 86% of staff agree.
Oklahoma: Tulsa Public Schools announces expanded learning opportunities for students
Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Public Schools is taking students to court over truancy.
"As a mother of those two daughters at Obama Academy, Austin is distraught. Since the beginning of the school year, she says neither has been able to connect with the remote classes despite seven trips to the technology support center at the school."
“I can’t get into the account,” said Ciara Austin. “The computers won’t let me in. I can’t get to the teachers and say, ‘Hey, I’m here.’”
"Like scores of other students who — for various reasons — have not been attending their remote classes, the district recently took the Austins to court for truancy. In a statement, the district says it determined there is nothing wrong with the laptops."
South Carolina: Florence School District 3 will offer the option next year for in-person or virtual learning to those students who were successful in the virtual learning platform this school year.
Texas: TEA tells schools that they won't lose state funding for attendance declines if they maintain or increase rate of students learning in person.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Which Metro Areas Are Best Positioned to Lead the Economic Recovery?: Fascinating EIG report.
"The recovery from the Great Recession was led by just a handful of major metro areas. Many others took years to recover the jobs they lost, and some never did."
"An even narrower base of primarily mid-sized metro areas are on track to lead the recovery from the COVID-19 recession."
RESOURCES
6 ft vs 3 ft: Via Washington Post:
“I’m really, really happy that we’ve had the flexibility to go below six feet,” said Ben Lummis, superintendent of Gloucester Public Schools, which has traced just three coronavirus cases to in-school transmission this year. “It’s meant that many, many more kids have the chance to be in school, where we think they should be.”
"The six-foot distancing guideline that has been dogma in the United States for a year is rooted in research that began in the 19th century on how far droplets emitted by sneezes and coughs flew before falling."
"Unpublished research from the Mayo Clinic, based on simulations showing how well masks blocked aerosol particles emitted from mannequins, also found that physical distancing dramatically reduced exposure between an unmasked target and unmasked source. But when both wore masks, the risk was negligible at one, three and six feet."
Gallup Poll: 79% of parents favor in-person learning in their communities right now.
Inside a Long, Messy Year of Reopening Schools: Via the New Republic. Good long piece.
Should Schools Get to Cancel Standardized Tests This Year? Philadelphia Inquirer runs a Pro/Con
The Big Pandemic Tech Challenge: Reliable, High-Quality Internet Experiences for All
Map of 2020-21 Assessment Actions by State: From the Collaborative for Student Success and AssessmentHQ
Two From Fordham:
Inflation Concerns: Are growing among some economists, but the Fed chairs want you to know that they're never going to let you down.