TOP THREE
Boosters: The Biden Administration is expected to recommend COVID booster shots for most Americans at 8 months. More via Axios and Stat.
"That action is expected for the Pfizer shot in the coming weeks and for Moderna some time later. Officials were continuing to collect information about the J&J vaccine"
Reopening Plans for the 100 Biggest School Districts Are Changing Fast: Via the NYT's Upshot using CRPE data.
Educating K–12 Students Amid COVID-19: The Parental Perspective: New interactive from McKinsey. Do spend some time with the data. You can drill down by state, ethnicity, income, and grade.
FEDERAL
Treasury: Announced that Code for America is developing a portal, GetCTC, that will make it easy for families with low or no incomes to secure their credit.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Go Ahead. Vaccinate the Kids: Aaron Carroll argues in The Atlantic, "The risk of vaccinating children will never be zero, but the alternative is so much worse."
The Delta variant’s predominance has further complicated the discussion. Last year, one could argue that kids were less likely to get infected than adults, less likely to transmit disease if they did, and less likely to be symptomatic as well."
"That’s no longer clear. Because Delta is so much more infectious, children seem to be getting sick in larger numbers. Pediatric wards are more crowded, especially in areas of low vaccination, and there’s renewed concern that schools could become centers for outbreaks this fall."
"That’s a bigger reason to immunize children—to protect those who cannot protect themselves."
Ongoing Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Children’s Health and Well-Being: Via KFF
As More Children Get Infected by Delta Variant, Parents Open Up to Vaccinations: Via WSJ
The Back-to-School Mask:Via Axios
"A cloth mask surely can give you some protection. But it's not the kind of protection that you'll get when you use a much more effective mask. We have not talked about that nearly enough," Michael Osterholm said on NBC's Meet the Press.
Axios-Ipsos poll: Most Americans favor mandates. Just one in three Americans supports state laws prohibiting local governments from requiring masks.
What’s Safe During The Covid Surge?: STAT asked public health experts about their own plans
STATE
Alabama:
Huntsville ISD superintendent says 'about half' of students are choosing to mask.
Parents of high-risk students face tough decisions amid COVID surge.
“Here’s my child who has all these special needs and I can’t provide an adequate education for him at home. But I can’t send him to school either. What am I supposed to do? What’s his option?” said Malone.
Arizona: Governor Ducey announced $64.9 million in state and federal funding for programs that improve K-12 literacy, support adult education and expand teacher professional development. Includes:
$3.5 million to develop 50 microschools
$10 million to fund transportation solution grants for school initiatives
$6 million for the A for Arizona's Expansion and Innovation Fund to award grants to schools that find innovative ways to best serve their students' unique needs.
$2 million for the Arizona Personalized Learning Network
$10 million for COVID-19 Educational Recovery Benefit that will fund up to $7,000 per student for needs related to child care, transportation, online tutoring and tuition. Eligible families are those whose students are isolating, quarantining due to COVID or those who wish to opt out of masking or vaccination requirements.
California:
San Francisco public schools kick off the first day of in-person learning.
San Diego Unified launches Virtual Academy to give students the option to learn from home.
Colorado: Jefferson County Schools change policy, require all students to wear masks in school
Florida: Miami-Dade COVID-19 task force recommends mandatory student masks.
Texas: Gov. Abbott tests positive for COVID-19
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Workers Quit at Historic Rate: 3.87 million workers quit their jobs in June, according to the BLS’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. This is close to the record, set in April, of 3.99 million.
Census: New presentation deck from Census on Race and Ethnicity. Also, more than 400 counties are now minority white.
RESOURCES
One Barrier to In-Person Learning - Lack of Bus Drivers: The Washington Post: "Schools are paying parents to drive their own kids as economic disruptions hit classrooms."
Back to School Mental Health Toolkit: From Little Otter
Just Because You're Vaccinated: Doesn't mean you'll be protected from this poor decision.
Toddler Can't Stop Laughing: As he 'plays drums' with dad