Top Three
Mask Mandates:
California will lift mask mandate for vaccinated residents in indoor public places next week. "State officials also announced Monday they are working to update school masking requirements."
Oregon Health Authority to lift indoor mask mandate by end of March
"For schools that do away with universal masking, rules about COVID-19 exposures and testing policies will change. Rules and definitions of what counts as exposed to COVID-19 may mean more quarantines for unvaccinated students and staff and classroom disruptions due to staff absences."
"Mask-optional schools will not be able to use test-to-stay programs and Gill said “schools should anticipate significant increases in workload from contact tracing and notification” without universal masking."
New York Gov. Hochul hints New York mask mandate may end soon.
Via The 74: "Vax Up, Masks Down: Maryland, Massachusetts Lead Effort to ‘Off-Ramp’ Face Coverings in School."
CDC stands by K-12 school masking guidance:
"Now is not the moment" to drop mask mandates in schools and other public places, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Reuter."
"Walensky said the CDC has always acknowledged that state and local jurisdictions are responsible for masking policies, but the agency's guidance remains unchanged."
The American Academy of Pediatrics tells U.S. News in an email that it “has not changed its recommendation calling for universal masking in the schools.”
The Mask Debate: NYT's David Leonhardt jumps into the debate:
"The evidence suggests that the benefits of mandated school masking are modest and that the costs are meaningful for some children, particularly after two years of pandemic life. This combination suggests that the removal of statewide mandates will probably do more good than harm, given that Covid cases are now plummeting."
"But there is an important caveat: If another big Covid wave comes — and it may — the argument for a temporary return of masking will become stronger. When hospitals are overwhelmed, even small differences in caseloads can save lives. Different moments call for different Covid policies."
Parents’ Views About Keeping Schools Open: Via Pew:
"A narrow majority of parents of K-12 students (53%) say schools in the United States should be providing a mix of in-person and online instruction this winter."
"Upper-income parents are the most likely to say their children are getting in-person instruction only: 84% say this in the new survey, compared with 77% of those with middle incomes and an even smaller share of those with lower incomes (58%)."
Federal
ED: Updated the College Scorecard
Updates to the College Scorecard also include an annual refresh of the cumulative loan debt of student borrowers at both the institution-level and by field of study within each institution, as well as federal student loan repayment rates for the institution.
COVID-19 Research
Pfizer: EU regulator reviews extending Pfizer COVID booster for kids aged 12-15.
"The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a separate report on Tuesday that findings so far suggest an increase of vaccine effectiveness against infection in adolescents who received a booster compared to adolescents who have recently completed the primary vaccination course."
New COVID Polling: Via Axios/Ipos
21% of overall respondents (43% of Republicans but just 3% of Democrats) said "open up and get back to life as usual with no coronavirus mandates or requirements."
23% overall (14% of Republicans and 34% of Democrats) said "mostly keep coronavirus precautions and requirements."
51% of respondents support businesses requiring proof of vaccination to enter — 25% of Republicans, but 72% of Democrats.
Fewer parents also think it is a large or moderate risk to send their child to school or daycare (47% now, compared with 55% one month ago and 63% two weeks ago).
Parent Poll: Via YouGov/Economist
State
Arizona: Families use ridesharing service to get kids to and from school in Tolleson. An A for Arizona grant competition allowed the district to run a pilot program with HopSkipDrive, helping kids in specific populations get to school in a new way.
California: LAUSD school board to discuss launching up to six new online programs next school year for students who can't or who wish not to return to in-person learning.
Massachusetts: The Boston Teachers Union filed a federal lawsuit against Boston Public Schools, claiming BPS violated federal disability laws.
Missouri: The only known state not yet distributing federal COVID-19 funds to K-12 schools.
North Carolina:The N.C. Department of Public Instruction announced today a collaboration with Microsoft and Prodigy Learning to bring the ‘Coding in Minecraft’ credential program to all middle school students across the state over a three-year period.
Economic Recovery
Governors’ Leadership Remains Key To Advancing Apprenticeship In America: Via NGA.
Gender Gap for Jobs: Via Axios: Men's labor force participation rate was up to 70% in January, according to numbers from the Labor Department released Friday. The women's rate is 58%.
"Issues with schools and daycare centers kept women, who are typically primary caregivers to children, out of the workforce throughout the pandemic — and it's still happening."
Resources
Revenge of the Covid Moms: Via Common Sense
"After a beat or two, she adds: “This is the year that parents say, ‘You’re either with us or against us.’”
"They wanted to know how this had happened, and they didn’t trust the Very Important People to do whatever was in their children’s best interest. “The people who were supposed to be protecting our kids,” says Burns—she means the teacher’s unions, the school boards, the politicians, the white coats at the American Academy of Pediatrics, the bureaucrats at the CDC and the WHO and the FDA who oversaw the countless lockdowns and advisories—“they all abandoned their responsibility.”
"These women don’t really care about The Big Lie or Russiagate or filibuster reform. They could not care less about Big Abstract Theories Of Government. They traffic in hashtags like #TeamReality, #RationalGround and #SmilesMatter.”
“After so many years of endless yammering about conservatives, neoliberals, progressives, alt-righters, the woke, the anti-woke, the only thing they really care about is what works. What is actually happening in the real world. What is being done to their children. And they are willing to vote for whoever can actually bring a return to normal."
Faith and Comedy: Really amazing and powerful conversation between Dua Lipa and Stephen Colbert.