COVID-19 Policy Update #256
COVID-19 Policy Update
MONDAY 5/17
TOP THREE
CDC: With some of the confusion around last week's mask guidance, CDC recommends schools continue face masks, social distancing according to guidance released Saturday.
Schools should continue to require face masks “at all times, by all people in school facilities” for the rest of the academic year.
Connecticut: Schools are considering online and blended options for next year:
“At its core, I think this is about: how do any of us learn new things?” said Manchester Public Schools superintendent Matt Geary. “It’s really about flexibility for students and families, and we don’t have all the answers but we’ve definitely done a lot of learning in the last year.”
"Jeff Leake, the president of the Connecticut Education Association, said that the only beneficial use for remote learning is when there is no other option — for instance, during the height of pandemic, during snow days or for a student who is injured or ill and can’t get to the physical classroom."
"While individual school districts grapple with the realities of a changing world, some are advocating not for district-by-district solutions but for a statewide program."
Parents and Vaccinating Children: A new survey from the COVID Collaborative, Ad Council, and the Council of the Great City Schools shows:
61% of parents plan to vaccinate all of their children, 27% will not vaccinate any of their children, 12% remain mixed or undecided.
At least 65% of parents of children ages six to 17 plan to vaccinate their children, only 56% of parents of children under the age of six will vaccinate their children.
"Parents least likely to say they will get their children vaccinated against COVID-19 include those who live in small towns and rural areas (42% will get all children vaccinated), those age 18 to 29 (46%), women 18 to 39 (51%), White mothers (51%), Black mothers (45%), women without a college education (47%), Independents (48%), and Republicans (53%); and most of these groups are among those least likely to say they have been or will get vaccinated themselves."
"A recommendation from their child's pediatricians would earn trust from 83% of parents, and more than three in four say they are more likely to vaccinate their children upon hearing from top scientists and physicians that the vaccine is safe (76%) and 100% effective (77%) in children"
COVID-19 RESEARCH
WHO Director-General Calls On Rich Countries to Prioritize Global Vaccine Equity Over Vaccinating Kids: Via Washington Post
Masking Guidance Spurs Confusion:
Via Axios
Via Washington Post: "The right decision wrongly handled’: Inside the Biden administration’s abrupt reversal on masks."
"Left unsaid by Walensky was that she had already made a decision the night before — approving a recommendation Monday from CDC officials to significantly overhaul its guidance to no longer require fully vaccinated individuals to wear masks or physically distance in most cases."
"But the huge policy turnaround caught senior White House and administration officials, medical experts, elected officials and business leaders completely off guard, and prompted some physicians to criticize the move as premature."
"And when White House officials asked what they felt were basic questions — such as what the new guidance meant for businesses and children under 12 not yet eligible for vaccines — they felt CDC officials did not have sufficient answers. They also worried that the mixed messages over the course of the week would leave many Americans confused and key questions unanswered."
Via Bloomberg: "CDC’s Big Mask Change Went From Science to Secret to Surprise"
Why Is Covid Killing So Many Young Children in Brazil? Doctors Are Baffled: Via NYT
Hesitant Americans Cite Inaccurate Side Effects: Via Axios: "An alarming amount of vaccine-hesitant people who list side effects as a top concern falsely believe the vaccines cause death, DNA alteration, infertility or birth defects according to recent Harris polling."
STATE
California: Newsom’s $7 billion investment in broadband, using ARP funding, would be spent over three years and is aimed at expanding broadband access and building fiber networks, making internet more affordable and increasing access to high-speed service.
Georgia: Metro Atlanta schools see a future in online education
"There are thousands of parents like her — families that tasted the flexibility that online study offers: freedom from wasted time on commutes to and from school, from classes that move too slowly or from distractions with fashion and other teen social pressures."
"Gyimah Whitaker, the deputy chief academic officer for Fulton County Schools. Families have said they want “anywhere, any time school,” she said. “I think virtual is here to stay.”
Kansas: Survey of 71,000 students finds nearly two in five teenagers reporting feelings of depression
Nebraska: "Nebraska's early push to reopen schools during COVID has other states playing catch-up"
New York: Via NYT: What It Would Take for N.Y.C. Schools to Fully Reopen This Fall
"Most Democratic candidates for mayor indicated last week during their first official debate that they would not support a full-time remote option this fall."
"But vaccines alone will not get schools back to normal. Roughly 28 percent of teachers have been granted medical accommodations to work from home through June, which has prompted some large high schools in particular to offer only remote learning, even from physical classrooms."
"Teachers have been eligible for the vaccine since January, and well over half have been vaccinated. But that has not changed the fact that some schools are offering only sporadic in-person classes, even for young children."
North Carolina: Student absence in Richmond County Schools increased by 1,305% from previous year.
"From August of 2020 to March of 2021, there have been 10,439 letters mailed out to families of K-12 students alerting them that their student had reached 3, 5 and 10 unexcused absences"
"The reasons why students miss school range from the tragic to the apathetic, or to simply getting a job and meeting other responsibilities."
"Babysitting is a common response as to why students aren’t in school. Family responsibilities, including taking parents to doctor’s appointment, are increasingly common. Sickness due to COVID was another legitimate excuse."
"One of the most concerning responses from students is that they fear of already being too far behind in their learning and essentially giving up."
Texas: "In a move to create educational equity, Texas is set to offer some of its best teachers more than $100,000 annually, rewarding them for work in the state’s poorest schools where COVID-19 has devastated communities resulting in months, if not years, of learning loss."
West Virginia: OpEd: "Education recovery begins with a student’s well-being"
INTERNATIONAL
Canada: Rocky View Schools is opening two fully online schools for next year.
Singapore:
"The B1617 strain, commonly known as the double-mutant variant of the coronavirus first detected in India, appears to be affecting younger children more. This is why schools here are taking a more cautious approach this time around, the Government’s Covid-19 task force said."
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
School Closures Contributing to Labor Shortage: UBS economists say people with young kids and those over 55 have driven the drop in the labor force. Notably, they say "In our view, these facts suggest that the lack of full school reopening, as well as some Covid fears among the older cohorts, are among the main drivers of the lack of labor supply."
Rural Areas Are Looking for Workers. They Need Broadband to Get Them: Via NYT.
"Quantifying that divide, and its economic cost, is difficult, in part because there is no agreed-upon definition of broadband. The Federal Communications Commission in 2015 updated its standards to a minimum download speed of 25 megabits per second. The Department of Agriculture sets its standard lower, at 10 m.p.s. A bipartisan group of rural-state senators asked both agencies this year to raise their standards to 100 m.p.s."
"But broadband experts say there is no way that rural areas will get access to high-speed, reliable internet service without government help. If a place doesn’t have internet access in 2021, there is a reason: generally too few potential customers, too dispersed to serve efficiently."
Not Qualified for a Job? These Companies Will Reskill You": Via WSJ
RESOURCES
When Teachers Succeed, Students Do, Too. How to Support Educators After One of the Most Traumatic Years of Their Lives: CZI's Sandra Liu Huang in The 74
States Differ On Whether Parents Need to Sign Off On Teens’ Vaccinations: CNN with a list of states that require parent consent.
Now Teachers Unions Face a Remote Threat: OpEd in the WSJ:
"When Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers called last week to reopen public schools fully in the fall, she was like an arsonist seeking praise for extinguishing a fire she lit."
"But it’s increasingly clear the AFT set its own house ablaze. When the unions pressed school districts to offer virtual options last fall, they inadvertently spurred the largest experiment in the history of U.S. education policy. To stop it, they’re condemning the education technique they imposed."
Schools Face New Pressures to Reopen for In-person Learning: Via The Hill
What It Was Like for the High School Class of '21: Great 21 page spread in the NYT.
Lessons From Remote School, Captured by Twin Sisters Who Pulled Through: Good long piece from the WSJ
Believe in Better: New campaign launched by 50CAN: "As we seek to recover, rebuild and renew our commitment to education, our students deserve MORE than a return to normal, they deserve to… Believe in Better."
The education that’s right for you, because every student learns differently.
Tutoring and care for every student in every community.
A world of open and connected learning, so that you have the tools you need to strengthen your community and succeed in life.
A family’s right to know what’s working–it’s all about accountability.
A clear path to the career you choose. It’s about finding your fit, and your pathway to a meaningful life.
Virus Testing Strategies Vary Widely: Via EdWeek
More Parents Pick Home-schooling After Pandemic: Via The Hill
Kids are Returning to School Broken. Here's What We Need to Do About It: OpEd from Amy Kennedy, the Education Director of The Kennedy Forum and Paul Gionfriddo, President and CEO of Mental Health America.
King Cobra: One in five men think they could beat a chimpanzee (22%) or king cobra (23%) in a fight, while only 8-12% of women feel the same way. Compared to women, men feel most able to take on medium-sized dogs and geese.