COVID-19 Policy Update #305
COVID-19 Policy Update
WEDNESDAY 7/28
TOP THREE
Infrastructure Deal: A bipartisan group of 10 negotiators reached agreement on a $1.2 trillion "hard infrastructure" package. Details / White House Statement / Good summary from Axios.
The education provisions include support for EV and low-emission school busses. Plus $65 billion for broadband which includes the Digital Equity Act.
Procedural vote could come as early as tonight. Senate Minority Whip Thune told CNN he expects there will be 10 Republicans who will be a “yes”
COVID-19 Impacts During the 2020-21 School Year: NWEA report (NYT story)
"Third graders who attended a low-income school tested 17 percentile points lower in math this spring compared with similar students in 2019"
"Latino third graders performed 17 percentile points lower in spring 2021 compared with the typical achievement of Latino third graders in the spring of 2019. The decline was 15 percentile points for Black students."
"In one surprising finding, NWEA researchers found that students made some gains in the fall, but that the pace of learning stalled more significantly from winter to spring, even after many schools had returned in person."
Re-engage for all students, with a focus on historically underserved students.
Continue to support access to remote learning technology for students and families.
Attend to physical, social, and mental health needs of students and families.
Measure student progress, rethink assessment systems, and use data to support recovery.
Support and train teachers and leaders.
Move from restarting to reimagining accountability and school improvement.
Mask Confusion:
CDC Director Dr. Walensky said today that the revised masking guidance is based on "New data show fully vaccinated people who are infected with Delta variant might be infectious & potentially spread COVID19 to others."
There's been a bunch of chatter on Twitter over what research/data informed the CDC's decision.
Via the Dispatch: "An anonymous administration official, however, told STAT News that public health officials don’t actually have studies proving fully vaccinated people are transmitting the virus—they have studies showing that fully vaccinated people who come down with the Delta variant may infect others because they have a higher amount of virus in their noses and throats."
"Republican governors revolt against CDC mask guidance," The Hill reports.
In Pennsylvania, Wolf Administration will not require students to wear masks in school
FEDERAL
2021 Q2 Analysis of Congressional Tweets: Via Hamilton Place Strategies.
Education was tweeted about more than immigration, energy/environment, and racial inequality.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Boosters: Pfizer released data showing that a third dose of their vaccine can "strongly" boost protection against the Delta variant -- beyond the protection afforded by the standard two doses.
"If the vaccine’s efficacy continues to decline at the rate observed in the paper, it would fall below the 50% threshold — a benchmark for vaccine utility — within 18 months of vaccination."
mRNA Vaccinations vs COVID-19 Risk in Teens – Vaccinations are Safer: Study out of Case Western Reserve University
"Even with our calculations made to qualify possible gaps in the data from this large dataset, our findings still point to a higher risk of myocarditis/pericarditis among teens who get COVID-19,” said Kaelber. “Based on our findings, on my daughter’s 12th birthday, we went to get her a COVID-19 vaccination to be sure she is protected, and to protect other members of our family. With the highly contagious Delta variant going around, and the new school year around the corner, this is a good time for parents to be reassured that vaccination is safer for their kids than getting COVID-19.”
Parents Hesitant to Vaccinate Younger Children: CUNY survey of 2,074 U.S. and 1,119 NYC parents in March and April of 2021. (Results)
Only 49% of parents reported planning to vaccinate their youngest child when a Covid-19 vaccine is approved for children. 26% said they were unsure and 25% said they will not vaccinate their child.
"Almost a quarter reported that children are at low risk for COVID-19 infection and do not need to be vaccinated."
STATE
California:
A bunch of stories out on Gov. Newsom sending his kids to summer camp not enforcing state mask rules. He apparently pulled them out of the camp today.
Long Beach Unified, CA's 4th biggest district, says proof of vaccination is not a mandate but under consideration. 70% of teachers there are vaccinated.
Florida: Several online enrollment figures:
Duval County: 1,369 students are enrolled in Duval Virtual Instruction Academy.
Clay County: 260 students are enrolled full-time in virtual learning and more than 1,000 others are enrolled part-time.
Flagler County: 301 students are enrolled in virtual learning.
New York:
Gov. Cuomo warns of schools becoming superspreaders amid increase of COVID cases.
NYT: As Delta Variant Spreads, N.Y.C. Parents Worry About Coming School Year
Texas:
Texas State Teachers Association calls on Gov. Abbott to allow schools to require masks
In reversal, Austin schools to offer virtual learning for K through 6th grade
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Return-to-Work Bonuses Will Only Increase Employment If People Can Access Them: Via Niskanen Center
Walmart to Pay 100% of College Tuition for Employees: Announcement.
"The program includes 10 academic partners ranging from the University of Arizona to Southern New Hampshire University. Participants must remain part-time or full-time employees at Walmart to be eligible."
Internet Access and its Implications for Productivity, Inequality, and Resilience: Via the Aspen Economic Strategy Group.
Argues that high-quality internet access would boost economic output by $160 billion a year
"Moving to high-quality, fully reliable home internet service for all Americans would raise earnings-weighted labor productivity by an estimated 1.1% in the coming years.
"Better home internet service during the pandemic is also associated with greater subjective well-being, conditional on employment status, working arrangements, and a battery of other controls."
The Lasting Effects of Early Childhood Education on Promoting the Skills and Social Mobility of Disadvantaged African Americans: NBER paper.
"There are long-lasting beneficial program effects on cognition through age 54, contradicting claims of fadeout that have dominated popular discussions of early childhood programs."
"Children of the first-generation treatment group have higher levels of education and employment, lower levels of criminal activity, and better health than children of the first-generation control group."
RESOURCES
I'm a Pandemic Dad Who's Been Covering COVID-19. I Don't Know How to Think About the Risk Anymore: Via Alex Fitzpatrick at Time.
"Judging the risk to my son, unfortunately, is far harder. ... Children mostly do not get seriously sick from COVID-19; only about 350 have died of the virus in the U.S. so far, per the American Academy of Pediatrics, a vanishingly small case fatality rate of 0.01%. "
"My fellow pandemic first-time parents, meanwhile, are—again, speaking generally—freaked right the hell out."
"I have more or less accepted that the draw-dropping transmissibility of the Delta variant means that I, my son and my wife will all probably be exposed at some point or another, no matter the effort we make to avoid it. When and if that happens, I have to trust that the vaccines will protect my wife and I, while my son will fend it off by virtue of his age."
Pandemic Learning Reveals the Value of High-Quality Instructional Materials to Educator-Family-Student Partnerships: Report from Overdeck, Robin Hood Learning + Technology Fund, the Louis Calder Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL)
5 Ways Principals Can Make Federal Relief Money Matter More for Their Students: Via NAESP and Edunomics Lab.
Education Recovery Benefits: I have a paper out via AEI proposing how governors can use some of their $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to help low-income parents address the education and well-being needs of children in disproportionately impacted populations and communities. The concept leverages the mechanism of direct cash benefits used throughout the pandemic and applies it to help families cover the cost of tutoring, therapies, mental health services, books, etc to address the inequities exacerbated by closed schools and poor-quality remote learning.
Higher Love: This song has been stuck in my head all day. (Another great performance with Kygo and here they are unplugged during COVID).