COVID-19 Policy Update #236
COVID-19 Policy Update
MONDAY 4/19
Tonight's update pairs well with a Gin and Tonic. Gin is one of the most diverse categories of spirits with four different types that all begin with juniper but different herbal combinations (botanicals) produce distinct flavors and styles. Tonight's G&T is with Gray Whale gin which uses the migratory path of the California Gray Whale as its inspiration for California-sourced botanicals including juniper, kombu, almonds, limes, fir tree and mint.
TOP THREE
Some Poor Districts Stand to Lose Out Again: Via US News & World Report
"While Upper Darby is getting $2,700 per student from the latest round of federal relief, neighboring Philadelphia is getting nearly $13,000 per student."
"The reason lies in a complicated and outdated formula that was used to distribute the money – a formula that's resulted in decades of significant funding discrepancies that can shortchange school districts with high concentrations of poverty and benefit larger districts and big urban areas instead of poorer, rural districts and smaller high-poverty urban districts, like Upper Darby."
"Anyone you ask would agree that the Title I formulas aren't perfect," Ary Amerikaner, vice president of P-12 policy at The Education Trust, says. "It's by far the best we have in terms of existing federal formulas and in terms of the targeted nature of the formula. I totally believe it was the right thing to do for a stimulus or stabilization package where you're trying to get a lot of money out the door fast."
Parents of Black and Hispanic Kids More Hesitant On In-person school. Show Them It's Safe: USA Today OpEd from Vladimir Kogan and Nat Malkus
"Crucially, the two sides of the story — families’ access to open schools and their hesitancy to return — are strongly related. According to a new analysis of Understanding America Survey data, the single best predictor of whether parents are willing to send their children back to schools is whether their own school reopened.That’s right, districts’ decisions to reopen schools could shape their parents attitudes on reopening schools as much as they are shaped by them. This means that districts have a more profound influence on actually returning students to classrooms than previously thought."
"If families of color continue to opt out of in-person learning at higher rates — including next fall when full-time in-person schooling (hopefully) becomes the default — the pandemic-fueled growth in achievement gaps will continue. To avoid that, education leaders need to act decisively and act now to reopen schools for all students and — even more challenging — persuade parents to trust that in-person learning can be done safely. Building that trust requires a three-pronged approach."
"First, reopen confidently and learn from the schools that have made in-person learning work."
"Second, reopen as soon as possible. With vaccine availability high and the risks to students low, there are few justifiable excuses for continued delay."
"Third, and most important, show — don’t just tell — parents that schools are safe."
Vaccine: All U.S. adults now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Dogs Sniffing Out COVID: New study from U. of Penn School of Veterinary Medicine found dogs could identify positive COVID samples with 96% accuracy.
Vaccine Hesitancy: The counties with the most vaccine-hesitant residents generally also voted for Donald Trump in 2020 by large margins, whereas the counties with the lowest levels of hesitancy generally also had fewer Trump voters. More via Axios and NYT
Irrational Covid Fears: Good David Leonhardt piece on how we think about risk.
"It’s a classic example of human irrationality about risk. We often underestimate large, chronic dangers, like car crashes or chemical pollution, and fixate on tiny but salient risks, like plane crashes or shark attacks."
"To take just one example, major media outlets trumpeted new government data last week showing that 5,800 fully vaccinated Americans had contracted Covid. That may sound like a big number, but it indicates that a vaccinated person’s chances of getting Covid are about one in 11,000. The chances of getting a version any worse than a common cold are even more remote."
"Victory over Covid will not involve its elimination. Victory will instead mean turning it into the sort of danger that plane crashes or shark attacks present — too small to be worth reordering our lives."
"That is what the vaccines do. If you’re vaccinated, Covid presents a minuscule risk to you, and you present a minuscule Covid risk to anyone else. A car trip is a bigger threat, to you and others. About 100 Americans are likely to die in car crashes today. The new federal data suggests that either zero or one vaccinated person will die today from Covid."
STATE
Arkansas: Schools in central Arkansas begin offering COVID-19 vaccine clinics for students
California: LA schools served 123 million meals during COVID shutdown
Connecticut: While schools offer return, some Bridgeport families stick with distance learning
DC: D.C. is expanding in-person learning. But most of the new seats will be in the city’s wealthiest schools.
"The school system plans to add more than 4,100 seats for the quarter. Just 48 of those seats will be in Wards 7 and 8 — the areas of the city with the highest concentrations of poverty."
Georgia:
Bibb Schools offers virtual learning program option for students next fall
Nearly all of Gwinnett County students have chosen in-person schooling for the fall
Just about 4,000 of the county's roughly 177,000 students have chosen to continue with digital learning.
Maine: Nearly 70% of Maine's active COVID-19 outbreaks are now in schools
"But that doesn’t mean the virus is spreading rampantly within schools, where strict masking and social distancing and other arrangements to minimize student contact have kept transmission in check. Rather, the outbreaks are more a reflection of students contracting the virus outside of school, according to school officials and an expert who has tracked COVID-19 cases in schools nationwide."
16% of Mainers ages 16-19 have received their first shot after becoming eligible on April 7
Nevada: Clark County schools to offer new summer school 'acceleration' option
New Jersey: OpEd from Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, founder of the LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden: "The impact of COVID will be felt by urban schools for years"
Ohio: Lakota’s virtual academy became a 24th school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pennsylvania:
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials are still scrambling to find a solution to a major shortage of bus seats as thousands of students prepare to return to physical classrooms next month.
Pittsburgh Public Schools launch new summer learning program
South Dakota: Most Virtual Academy students who failed were economically disadvantaged, but experts can't pin it on that reason alone.
"As many as one-third of elementary students, half of middle school students and nearly two-thirds of high school students did not meet grade-level standards when they were in Virtual Academy, assistant superintendent of academic achievement Teresa Boysen said in a February school board meeting."
Utah: Data shows strong teacher retention despite pandemic
West Virginia: School systems plan robust, innovative summer programs.
"54 of the state’s 55 school systems applied for money from the state’s discretionary CARES Act funding through the Summer Opportunities for Learning and Engagement (SOLE) Grant program, which is designed to pay for summer remediation programs that will target learning loss caused by the pandemic."
"Sonya White, the state Department of Education’s senior teacher and learning officer, spoke about the kinds of summer remediation programs being planned to engage students academically, socially, emotionally or with experiences."
"The reimagined summer school program will be available to all Taylor County students in grades 1-12 and will include personalized lessons, free transportation and meals, afternoon enrichment activities, field trips and weekly trips to the pool."
"The Jefferson County School Summer Experience will be open to all students and provide a blend of traditional instruction, hands-on learning and socialization with an emphasis on social-emotional support as well as science, the arts and mathematics in the form of a six-week program held at five different sites throughout the summer"
Wisconsin: Public records show students struggling across SE Wisconsin.
INTERNATIONAL
Belgium: The Belgian Pediatric Covid-19 Task Force said fully reopening schools should remain a priority to safeguard the mental health of children in the long run
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
The Right Way to Rebuild Cities for Post-Pandemic Work: Good piece at Bloomberg CityLab
Teacher Villages: Invest Atlanta Board approves funding for teachers village
Child Care: COVID-19’s disruptions disproportionately hit child care workers. New report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
RESOURCES
Zoom VC: Zoom boosts its app ecosystem with $100M venture fund
What the Pandemic Has Done to the Class of 2020: Via The Atlantic
Post Crisis Innovation: Interesting framework - H/T Jason Weeby
Ingenuity Takes Off: