Ukraine
A brief update on the rapidly unfolding events in the Ukraine:
Russian forces began to invade Ukraine early this morning after President Putin ordered an offensive that seeks to topple the government in Kyiv.
Live updates via the WSJ and the NYT including a map/tracker. Noah Smith has a good Twitter list for real-time information.
Statements:
President Biden: “Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences. Today, I’m authorizing additional strong sanctions and new limitations on what can be imported to Russia.”
President Bush: "Russia’s attack on Ukraine constitutes the gravest security crisis on the European continent since World War II. I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine."
President Obama: "Last night, Russia launched a brazen attack on the people of Ukraine, in violation of international law and basic principles of human decency."
China refuses to call Russian attack on Ukraine an "invasion"
Bhavisha Patel, "A father in Ukraine says goodbye to his kids as he sends them to safety. He is staying behind to fight for his country."
Economist on the economic consequences: “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to break this pattern, because it will result in the isolation of the world’s 11th-largest economy and one of its largest commodity producers. The immediate global implications will be higher inflation, lower growth and some disruption to financial markets as deeper sanctions take hold. The longer-term fallout will be a further debilitation of the system of globalized supply chains and integrated financial markets that has dominated the world economy since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.”
One interesting differences with this conflict is how it unfolded on TikTok, Twitter, crowdsourced maps, and even Google Maps.
Top Three
How State Education Agencies are Leveraging Federal COVID Relief Funds: New resource from CCSSO.
MIS-C Rare in Vaccinated Teens: CIDRAP on a new study which finds MIS-C is "rare among 12- to 20-year-olds who have received COVID-19 vaccination."
The study was based on 9 months of follow-up data on US children and young adults ages 12 to 20 who had received at least one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine from Dec 14, 2020, to Aug 31, 2021.
Only 21 cases out of more than 21 million vaccinated adolescents developed the rare disorder.
Omicron BA.2:
"This week, the WHO reiterated the subvariant, dubbed BA.2, is a "variant of concern" while also saying it would continue to be classified as Omicron."
Via Axios. "The bottom line is we're relatively optimistic that things will continue to improve through the spring and the summer under Omicron," Matt Craven, a partner at McKinsey who specializes in public health and infectious disease, said Wednesday during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event."
"Some countries have had more trouble shrugging off Omicron. In Denmark, where an estimated 92% of cases were BA.2 as of mid-February, a peak at the end of January was followed by another two weeks later."
Via Katelyn Jetelina:
"We now have consistent data showing that BA.2 outcompetes BA.1."
"In a recent lab study, immune escape was similar for BA.2 compared to BA.1. In the real world, we have evidence that boosters continue to work against BA.2, but just like BA.1, protection against infection wanes over time."
"We’ve gotten mixed signals as to whether BA.2 induces more severe disease than BA.1. A recent lab study in Japan found that BA.2 is more severe in hamsters. Hamster models have helped us out a lot in the past, but they certainly have limitations. A “real world” study in South Africa found something different: BA.2 had similar risk of hospitalization as BA.1. Because hamsters are not people, and because the lab is not the real world, I tend to have more confidence in South Africa’s conclusion that BA.2 is not more severe than BA.1."
Federal
ED: Secretary Cardona, "Tomorrow's problems can't be solved with yesterday's designs"
COVID-19 Research
EMA Backs Pfizer COVID Booster For Teens, Moderna Shot 6-11: View Reuters. EMA statement.
My School or Child Care Is Going Mask-Optional, and I’m Afraid: Via Emily Oster
Children Release Fewer Respiratory Droplets and Aerosols: According to a new study which offers a clue to understanding Covid-19 transmission. More via CNN.
"Children ages 8 to 10 put out about a quarter of the aerosolized particles as adults do when breathing, speaking and singing."
"In the context of a pandemic, kids on average release fewer respiratory droplets and aerosols than adults do, and may be less likely to transmit [Covid-19]," Marr told CNN. However, she also cautions that there is a lot of variability in particles emitted from person to person, "so even though on average kids emit less, a high-emitting kid still emits more than a low-emitting adult."
"As states weigh decisions on lifting school mask mandates, Piedro says it's important to "not let down our guards and say that masking is not needed." Even though children "may not be able to generate the same energy in their voice for emission of small particle aerosols, they're still very efficient transmitters," he said."
COVID-19 in Pregnancy Tied to Poor Birth Outcomes: "A new study (Press Release) of more than 4,000 pregnant women hospitalized in the United Kingdom with COVID-19 during the first 18 months of the pandemic shows severe illness was linked to poor birth outcomes, including pre-labor caesarean birth, very or extreme preterm birth, stillborn birth, and the need for admission to a neonatal unit."
COVID-19 Vaccination Schedule for People Who Are Moderately or Severely Immunocompromised: Via the CDC.
Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report from AAP.
"Reported COVID-19 cases among children spiked dramatically in 2022 during the Omicron variant surge, over 4.6 million child cases were reported since the beginning of January."
Red Parent, Blue Parent: Olga Khazan in The Atlantic, "When it comes to masks, vaccines, and curricula, parents are divided over what matters most: parents’ rights, or the common good?"
"Education is supposed to be the great equalizer, but it’s become more like the great divider. Throughout the pandemic, Republican and Democratic parents have expressed wildly different ideas about how public schools should work."
State
California:
Los Angeles County removes the mask mandate for indoor public places, but not for schools.
San Diego Unified’s student vaccine mandate is delayed, again, to next school year
California proposal would require school COVID testing plans.
Colorado: How Colorado plans to bring back school ratings after pandemic disruptions.
"Senate Bill 137 would have the State Board issue school and district ratings next fall based on test scores from this spring and how much students have improved from last spring, as would happen in a typical school year. However, those ratings won’t be used to move schools further along the accountability clock or start the clock for a district that wasn’t previously on the state performance watchlist."
"The accountability clock won’t restart until fall 2023. When it does, the state will compare student progress from 2022 in determining new ratings but will compare the new ratings with those from 2019, the last pre-pandemic year."
DC: Most parents satisfied with schools during pandemic, Post poll finds
Illinois: Chicago comes closer to solving school bus woes six months into the school year.
Michigan: Enrollment ticks up, but pandemic losses continue for city districts.
International
Hong Kong: "Schools will be closed and turned into response centers to tackle a surge in the Covid-19 Omicron variant, a rush occurred among foreign residents to find a way out of the city."
Economic Recovery
The Key Role Of Community Colleges In Scaling Apprenticeship Programs Statewide: Via NGA.
Global Fiscal Policy in the Pandemic: New analysis and report from Moody's which estimates there would have been higher unemployment and higher risk for a double-dip recession had it not be for additional federal relief funding.
Resources
System-Level Student Wellbeing Data Review Tool: Via CFC (Press Release)
Leading Schools in Tumultuous Times: 7 Lessons From the Nation’s Best District Leaders: Via EdWeek
Be brave. Be tenacious.
Give students a voice.
Enlighten and engage your community about school finance.
Collaborate.
Communicate.
Ground decisions in data.
Be humble.
I'm Thinking About These Kids Tonight: Color Music Children's Choir from Ukraine.