COVID-19 Policy Update #268
COVID-19 Policy Update
THURSDAY 6/3
TOP THREE
They Rage-Quit the School System—and They're Not Going Back: Via Wired:
"Espitia is a part of a wave of parents and caregivers who withdrew their children from US public schools and elected to homeschool because of the pandemic—and she’s part of a group that isn’t going back."
"Over the past year, she was able to shift her kids’ learning schedule outside of the weekday lockstep; because her husband works on weekends, she treats Mondays like a weekend, where kids have less “school” and everyone can spend more time together as a family. She liked that she could teach her kids more Mexican history than they learned in schools. Last year, she joined a Latinos Homeschooling Facebook group, where families share resources such as Spanish children’s books and curriculum ideas. Next school year, she plans to keep teaching her kids herself."
"Cheryl Vanderpool, a new homeschooling parent in the Atlanta area, is using OutSchool.com to help her sons learn Tagalog. Tagalog classes weren’t offered at the private school they attended before; now she can use tech and the flexibility of homeschooling to give her sons a stronger connection to their Filipino heritage. “I like the idea of presenting material to my kids that’s not necessarily the colonized experience,” says Vanderpool"
"But Ali-Coleman, of Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, warns against over-emphasizing the limitations of low-income families. She says that not all homeschooling families are necessarily financially privileged, either, pointing to Fields-Smith’s research on single Black mothers who homeschool their kids in spite of low-income status. Moreover, adequately funded public school systems can still harm children of color: More money won’t shield a child from unequal discipline, a biased curriculum, or a pervasive school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately pushes Black youth out of schools and into criminal justice systems."
“The pandemic broke the rules on what school looks like: where learning occurs, when it occurs, who is performing the role as teacher or facilitator,” says Ashley Jochim.
Schools, Masks, and Vaccines: Via CNN:
Dr. Fauci is "cautiously optimistic" that children younger than 12 will be eligible to get a Covid-19 vaccine by Thanksgiving.
Fauci said if some communities continue to see high levels of infections, children under 12 will likely still have to wear masks when school returns.
Vaccinated Staff at ‘Exceedingly Low’ Risk of Getting COVID-19 From Unvaccinated Students: Via EdWeek who interviewed Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health:
For school staff who have been vaccinated, how would you characterize the risk of being around unvaccinated kids?: Oh, exceedingly low. ... But if we take the severely immunocompromised people out of the conversation, for everybody else, the risk of getting infected from an unvaccinated person is very low. Especially if community transmission levels are reasonably low, which they should be this fall. And even if [vaccinated people] end up getting infected, the chances of getting very sick are exceedingly low.
Even if most of a school’s staff is vaccinated, you still need to keep all the safety measures going because of the variants?: Yeah. And let me be very clear: If you’re talking about older kids, and the kids are vaccinated, and the staff are vaccinated, I would still focus on things like ventilation, but I would not necessarily require mask-wearing. I think mask-wearing among vaccinated people is probably not necessary. So I’m really thinking about masks for under 12.
FEDERAL
Infrastructure: Via Politico:
“Per three people familiar, Biden wants $1 trillion in new spending and is sticking to his guns on corporate tax hikes being part of the pay-fors."
“Republicans weren’t happy, to say the least. Biden, they have said publicly, told them just a few weeks ago in an Oval Office meeting that baseline spending — i.e., money that would be spent under current policy — could be included in the total. In their latest $928 billion infrastructure proposal, they had put forward only $257 billion in new spending, while the White House’s last number was $1.7 trillion.”
“The GOP is considering another counteroffer that could come as soon as Friday, when Capito will be talking to Biden again, this time likely by phone. It’s unclear what that would look like — or even whether Republicans will make a new proposal.”
Also, a procedural wrinkle: Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough quietly issued a new ruling on a key issue driving legislating in Washington right now: Can Democrats use the same budget resolution twice to trigger the fast-track reconciliation process?”
“The answer is yes, but it’s not that easy, and it may impact what happens to the American Jobs Plan and American Family Plan this summer.”
“The majority party — in this case, the Democrats — cannot use reconciliation simply to avoid the regular legislative process, and there have to be reasons beyond political expediency for triggering the majority threshold, such as an economic downturn.”
COVID-19 RESEARCH
After 56 Weeks, We Don't Need This Map: Via Axios, "America's case counts are now so low, and the virus is so well contained, that this is our final weekly map."
Which States Are Falling Behind With Vaccinations: Really good interactive from the NYT.
Vaccine and Rare Heart Condition for Young Men: Israel reports link between rare cases of heart inflammation and COVID-19 vaccination in young men
"In a report submitted today to the Israeli Ministry of Health, they conclude that between one in 3,000 and one in 6,000 men ages 16 to 24 who received the vaccine developed the rare condition."
"But most cases were mild and resolved within a few weeks, which is typical for myocarditis."
“I can’t imagine it’s going to be anything that would cause medical people to say we shouldn’t vaccinate kids,” says Douglas Diekema, a pediatrician and bioethicist at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
But...Tracy Høeg said she would "vote for delaying 2nd dose in this demographic until more info available."
Boosters: AP reports that vaccine protection may diminish need for yearly boosters. “I’m pretty optimistic. I wouldn’t rule out the need for boosters, but the immune response so far looks actually quite impressive,” University of Pennsylvania immunologist John Wherry said."
Grief Pandemic: Via KHN: “With nearly 600,000 in the U.S. lost to COVID-19 — now a leading cause of death — researchers estimate that more than 5 million Americans are in mourning, including more than 43,000 children who have lost a parent."
Vaccinating America’s Children Depends on Parent Approval, Not FDA Approval: I have a small piece up on Inside Sources.
STATE
Arizona: A for Arizona launches new PreK-12 Southern Arizona microgrant opportunity.
"This microgrant opportunity is funded by private philanthropic support in collaboration with the VELA Education Fund, Burton Family Foundation, Pima IDA and Community Investment Corporation, as well as generous individuals in the community."
Colorado: Will offer $50,000 scholarships for young people to get vaccinated.
New York: De Blasio is turning his back on remote learning innovations
INTERNATIONAL
UK: Ministers defend catch-up lessons plan for England's schools
"Sir Kevan Collins said a £1.4bn fund announced this week fell far short of what was needed and accused ministers of potentially “failing hundreds of thousands of pupils”.
"The Department for Education said the funds would support 6m sets of 15-hour tutoring courses for disadvantaged children and expand tuition for those aged 16 to 19."
"The Education Policy Institute has said £10bn-£15bn would be required to support learning after face-to-face teaching was suspended during the coronavirus crisis."
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Wage Growth Holding Up: Via NYT:
“Workers in retail, hospitality and other service industries bore the brunt of last year’s mass layoffs. But unlike low-wage workers in past recessions, whose earnings power eroded, many of those who held on to their jobs saw their wages rise even during the worst months of the pandemic.”
“Now, as the economy bounces back and employers need to find staff, workers have the kind of leverage that is more typical of a prolonged boom than the aftermath of a devastating recession.”
Made in the Southwest: From January 2017 to January 2020, five states in the Southwest—Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nevada—accounted for 30% of the job growth in manufacturing
Skill Building: In a recent McKinsey Global Survey, 69% of respondents said that building the skills of existing staff is more important than any other method of talent building, including hiring
RESOURCES
Why Are Parents So Mad in One of America’s Best School Districts? Via CSM which covers all the debates playing out with Fairfax County Schools.
New Emails Between AFT and CDC: The Fairfax County Parents Association published a series of FOIAed emails. Not much new in substance, but there were a number of White House officials cc'd on a number of requests made to the CDC.
Four Ways K-12 and Higher Education can Collaborate on Pandemic Recovery: Via Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Rethinking the high-school-to-postsecondary-transition
Accelerating learning with evidence-based student supports
Supporting teacher development
Prioritizing research and evaluation
What It Takes to Run a Great Hybrid Meeting: HBR column with some great advice in an as organizations gradually begin reopening offices while some employees are still home.
Up your audio game.
Explore a technology boost.
Consider video from the remote participant perspective.
Make remote participants full sized.
Design meetings for all attendees.
Provide strong facilitation.
Give each remote participant an in-room “avatar.”
Interactive School COVID Testing Dashboard: From Mathematica, a new dashboard allows users to determine the best testing strategy for a given school. Super helpful for schools with their planning.
Dog vs Deer Speed Test: I think the deer was bucking the system.