COVID-19 Policy Update #254
COVID-19 Policy Update
THURSDAY 5/13
TOP THREE
CDC Says Vaccinated No Longer Need Masks: CDC Announcement / Infographic / AP article
AFT: Calls for full return to school this fall.
“There is no doubt: Schools must be open. In person. Five days a week"
“It’s not risk free,” Weingarten said. “But we can manage the threat by encouraging people to get vaccines and following guidance from the CDC.”
“We have been planning for fully reopening in the fall for months,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, which represents urban districts. “We welcome the unions in the ongoing planning.”
Parent Poll: Conducted by Hart Research
73% of parents would support their school districts returning for a fully in-person school year in the fall, while 17% were unsure and just 10% said that hybrid or remote classes were still necessary.
81% of parents say their child’s school is providing in-person instruction, either exclusively (33%) or in a hybrid system (48%). Just 18% are remote learning only.
Fully 91% of parents agree (61% strongly) that “this is an opportunity to reimagine public education to meet children’s academic, social, and emotional needs and ensure that all children can thrive.”
By 63% to 37%, parents prefer the “whole child” approach to education that includes emotional and social development, over a focus only on teaching basic academics
FEDERAL
White House DPC: Susan Rice has a new chief of staff at DPC as Meredith Webster is leaving to join Estée Lauder. Erin Pelton will become the new COS.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Getting #VaxToNormal: Governors met with the White House to share best practices and innovations in improving access to COVID-19 vaccines, building confidence, and ensuring vaccine equity.
What Happens If Divorced Parents Disagree About Their Child Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine? Attorneys say it could get messy
Get Vaccinated for the Chance to Wine $1 Million: Ohio will give away millions of dollars to vaccinated people and full scholarships to vaccinated children through special lotteries. Tweets:
Can Schools Require Students to Get COVID-19 Vaccines, and Will They? Via EdWeek
"There’s a host of legal, political, and ethical questions involved in setting a new requirement, especially as COVID-19 vaccines are administered under an emergency-use authorization, which has allowed health providers to administer shots more quickly as the Food and Drug Administration considers more permanent approval."
“Mandates should never be the only thing you are doing,” said Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law and a member of the Vaccine Working Group on Ethics and Policy, “If you are just mandating, you are doing it wrong.”
Schools and Vaccines: Schools unlikely to mandate COVID-19 vaccines anytime soon
"State governments for the most part can order a vaccine be required for a child to attend a K-12 public school, said Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a University of California-Hastings law professor who researches school mandates and the legal issues around vaccines."
"In all but a handful of states, a measure must pass the full legislature to be added to the mandatory vaccine list, Reiss said. No state government has mandated COVID-19 immunizations for schools, she added."
"Because of such reluctance, education leaders should not focus on mandating shots, said Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.7 million-member American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union."
"Right now it's about convincing people of their efficacy," she said of vaccines. "We have to build trust and confidence, particularly amongst our Black and brown parents who have borne the brunt of COVID."
Poll Finds Public Health Has A Trust Problem: Poll published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health:
Only 52% of Americans have a great deal of trust in CDC.
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine: Via CNN: Risk of dying from Covid-19 40 times the risk of rare blood clot after receiving J&J vaccine
STATE
California:
Under the California Comeback Plan, the state will make targeted investments of $20 billion into public education. This includes $3 billion to create thousands of full-service community schools, with wraparound mental health, social and family services; $4 billion over five years to transform the youth behavioral health system to identify and treat behavioral health needs early; and additional billions more toward investments in accelerated learning.
Folsom Cordova Unified School District will offer the students the chance to learn online next year.
Colorado: Polis signs bill to assist schools in reversing COVID-19 learning loss
Massachusetts: AFT Massachusetts is calling for schools to fully reopen this Fall
New York: NYC parents file crowdfunded lawsuit demanding reopening of schools
Tennessee: Chiefs for Change released a case study that outlines how Hamilton County Schools in Chattanooga is working with the state health department to determine the district’s COVID-19 vaccination rate for teachers and staff.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Inflation: Rose at its fastest rate since September 2008 in April. The Consumer Price Index increased 4.2% year-over-year, and 0.8% month-over-month.
JFF's Framework for a High-Quality Pre-Apprenticeship Program: Here.
RESOURCES
Student Mental Health Services Ecosystem: Resources from ECS.
Rebekah Jones, the COVID Whistleblower Who Wasn’t: Quite the piece over at The National Review
Summer Parent-Teacher Planning Tool: From Learning Heroes.
Schools Ditch Student Mask Requirements in Growing Numbers: Via The AP.
Returning this Fall, By Popular Demand: Virtual School. For Communities of Color, it’s Largely a Matter of Trust: Via The 74
Angry White Parents vs. the Public School System: Children are still learning remotely in many cities and some parents are fed up – but the divide could fundamentally change urban public school systems. Via US News & World Report.
It's Almost the Weekend: Work it like Willis.