TOP THREE
Student Vaccine Mandates: Dr. Fauci backs COVID-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. school children, reports Reuters.
"I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea," Fauci told CNN’s "State of the Union" program. "We've done this for decades and decades, requiring polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis" vaccinations."
"I think there's a reasonable chance" that the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines could get FDA clearance for kids under 12 before the upcoming holiday season."
LAUSD Negotiations on Student Vaccine Mandates and New Remote Learning Challenges: L.A. teachers union calls for vaccination mandate for eligible students, stricter quarantines
"The proposal submitted at the bargaining table, calls for students “to achieve full vaccination no later than 12 weeks following the birthday in which they become eligible,” subject to medical and religious exemptions laid out in state and federal law."
"With quarantines spreading rapidly across the vast school system, some schools responded immediately by setting up Zoom sessions or simulcasts, but then backed away — concerned about potentially violating state rules or union agreements. Other schools did just the opposite, at first refusing to offer live online classes but then reversing course."
"Under the new guidelines, teaching will move to Zoom when an entire class and teacher are in isolation due to an infection or quarantine because of exposure to an infection. When some students are in class and others at home, the teacher must provide a simulcast. If the teacher is the one at home in quarantine — but not sick — the teacher will provide live instruction online and a substitute will manage the students present on campus."
Kyle Stokes has more in this Twitter thread.
Meet The Overlooked: The Movers, The Missed, The Muted: New Bellwether Education Partners report with the Walton Family Foundation
"11.3 million children lacked access to the learning options they needed during COVID-19"
More via Axios
FEDERAL
ED: Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opens investigations in five states regarding prohibitions of universal indoor masking
"OCR is concerned that state mask restrictions on schools and school districts "may be preventing schools…from meeting their legal obligations not to discriminate based on disability and from providing an equal educational opportunity to students with disabilities who are at heightened risk of severe illness from COVID-19."
"The investigations will also explore whether statewide prohibitions on universal indoor masking violate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits disability discrimination by public entities, including public education systems and institutions."
More via USA Today, Washington Post, and NYT
IES: Update on the IES Use of ARP Funds
Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: Was criticized for a tweet on Sunday that compared "anti-mask and anti-vax people" with suicide bombers.
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Pfizer Timeline for Children Vaccine: Clinical trial results in Sept for ages 5-11, potential FDA clearance late Nov, early Dec. Results for ages 2-5 in Nov.
Vaccination Rates Among 12-17 Yr Olds: The CDC reports that as of July 31, coverage with ≥1 dose of COVID-19 vaccine was 42%, and 32% had completed the series.Series completion rates varied widely by state, ranging from 11% to 60%, and was 25% for adolescents aged 12–13 years, 30% for those aged 14–15 years, and 40% for those aged 16–17 years.State-by-state data here.
Delta Variant Doubles Risk of Hospitalization: “New research from England’s public health service has confirmed a suspicion spawned by bursting hospital wards across the United States: The Delta variant of the coronavirus not only spreads 50% more readily than the Alpha variant it rapidly overtook, it’s also making unvaccinated people sicker,” the LA Times reports.
Vaccine Hesitancy: New Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index finds opposition to getting the coronavirus vaccine at its lowest level ever.
Almost seven in ten (69%) support their local school districts requiring teachers, students, and administrators to wear masks in schools.
Democratic support for school mask mandates is near universal (92%), while only two in five (44%) Republicans support school districts requiring masks.
Three-quarters (77%) oppose state governments withholding funding from school districts or local governments that implement mask requirements.
Parents' COVID Concerns:Economist/YouGov poll
Only 52% think children need to be required to wear masks in schools.
About half of parents of children under 12 say they plan to get their children vaccinated when they become eligible.
How the Delta Variant Infiltrated an Elementary School Classroom: NYT story on the CDC report we shared last week.
STATE
California: Interview with LA Teachers' Union President Cecily Myart-Cruz"There is no such thing as learning loss...Our kids didn’t lose anything. It’s OK that our babies may not have learned all their times tables. They learned resilience. They learned survival. They learned critical-thinking skills. They know the difference between a riot and a protest. They know the words insurrection and coup.” She even went so far as to suggest darkly that “learning loss” is a fake crisis marketed by shadowy purveyors of clinical and classroom assessments."
DC: How an after-school program achieved a high vaccination rate in a Black neighborhood where most young adults are unvaccinated.
Florida: The state withholds money from school districts over mask mandates.
Georgia: DPH says half of state's recent COVID-19 outbreaks traced to schools
Illinois: CPS experiencing shortage of bus drivers. "The district already had a shortage before last week and planned accordingly, but then 73 drivers resigned Friday, with a total of 10% quitting since the start of last week. The district now has 770 drivers — about 500 fewer than what’s needed."
Indiana: Record numbers of COVID-19 cases reported in Indiana schools.
Tennessee: TN DOE is considering virtual waivers to schools as COVID cases spike.
Texas: More Texas students tested positive for COVID-19 last week than at any time last school year
West Virginia: AFT President Randi Weingarten urged Governor Justice to implement statewide masking and vaccination mandates in schools.
Virginia: Pass rates in the 2020-2021 school year were just 69% for reading, 54% for mathematics, and 59% for science.
INTERNATIONAL
UK: Education secretary vows less Covid chaos when schools in England return, the FT reports."Schools that experience a surge in cases — measured as five positive cases who are likely to have mixed closely over a 10-day period — will be required to implement a “contingency framework” that includes reinstating mask-wearing, additional testing and opening more windows."
India: The Indian children who have forgotten how to read and write.
RESOURCES
Atlanta Students Attended Less School Online Than in Classrooms, and Did Worse: "Researchers with the Metro Atlanta Policy Lab for Education determined that the average student logged into the school district’s learning platforms about 14 hours a week. Per the bell scheduled, those students would have attended 33 hours a week prior to the pandemic."
"Girls logged more time than boys, and Black students spent more time in live sessions with teachers than white students."
School Disruptions: Burbio identified closures of just under 700 schools in 158 districts across 25 states.
The average in-person learning disruption (across all categories) is 9.7 days.
Through 8/27 approximately 75% of US K-12 students had started school
Leading Schools With Vision in a Time of Change:ViaKathleen Porter-Magee
Knowing your “why.”
Mastering your “what.”
Leading with conviction
‘Community Schools’ See Revival in Time of Heightened Need: Via US News
How Are States Planning to Leverage Their ARP Funding?New report from CCSSO.
Districts Begin Mandating COVID-19 Vaccines for Eligible Students: Via K-12 Dive on NYC (for sports), Culver City, and Hoboken.
Parents Have Few Paid Leave Rights as Covid Closes Schools Again: Via Bloomberg Law.
“Working parents in most states and cities are facing an uncertain fall,” said Vicki Shabo, senior fellow for paid leave policy and strategy at New America’s Better Life Lab. “Parents are essentially playing the boss lottery if a child is sick and needs to stay home.”
As Schools Reopen, Child Psychiatrists Expect To See A Surge Of Kids Who Need Help: Via NPR.
2021 Education Next Survey of Public Opinion: "Our survey results should temper expectations for major shifts in any political direction—and perhaps post a warning to advocates of any stripe. At least when it comes to education policy, the U.S. public seems as determined to return to normalcy after Covid as it was after the flu pandemic a century ago."
A Beautiful Picture: Nightbirde returns to AGT after her fight with cancer took her off the show. "A beautiful picture of the human spirit and the triumph of the human spirit and it's restored my faith in humanity. We all hurt. We all suffer. And we all have the potential to overcome."
The original performance