Top Three
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson: Marked her historic confirmation to the Supreme Court with a moving speech from the south lawn of the White House: (Text / Video)
"They also tell me that I’m a role model, which I take both as an opportunity and as a huge responsibility. I am feeling up to the task, primarily because I know that I am not alone. I am standing on the shoulders of my own role models, generations of Americans who never had anything close to this kind of opportunity but who got up every day and went to work believing in the promise of America, showing others through their determination and, yes, their perseverance that good — good things can be done in this great country — from my grandparents on both sides who had only a grade-school education but instilled in my parents the importance of learning, to my parents who went to racially segregated schools growing up and were the first in their families to have the chance to go to college."
"To be sure, I have worked hard to get to this point in my career, and I have now achieved something far beyond anything my grandparents could’ve possibly ever imagined. But no one does this on their own. The path was cleared for me so that I might rise to this occasion."
"And in the poetic words of Dr. Maya Angelou, I do so now, while “bringing the gifts…my ancestors gave." I –“I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”
"So as I take on this new role, I strongly believe that this is a moment in which all Americans can take great pride."
"We have come a long way toward perfecting our union."
"In my family, it took just one generation to go from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States."
"And it is an honor — the honor of a lifetime — for me to have this chance to join the Court, to promote the rule of law at the highest level, and to do my part to carry our shared project of democracy and equal justice under law forward, into the future."
Trends Affecting Government and Society: New GAO report identifies a dozen areas of greatest national concern where “GAO can better be prepared to respond." Among the issues:
Science, Technology, and the Innovation Economy
In the U.S., the percentage of public investment in R&D is declining and private investment is growing—but the overall U.S. share of global R&D spending is declining.
The U.S. framework for translating federally funded R&D into commercial technologies has not been updated since it was created in the 1980s.
U.S. firms and federal agencies are looking for workers with strong technical skills, amid concerns that the nation faces a shortage of skilled technical workers.
The loss of domestic manufacturing capacity has created gaps in the U.S. innovation system in sectors where technological advances are tied to the manufacturing process
Policymakers may need to enhance public-private partnerships, such as those between industry and federal labs, may help industry better access publicly funded innovations.
To maintain global leadership and competitiveness, the U.S. must invest in and grow a strong, talented, and diverse STEM workforce.
Online Learning and Technology in Education
It is difficult to predict the effects of online learning on post-pandemic K-12 education or how it will further transform higher education.
Questions remain regarding how many of the students who left K-12 schools or did not enroll in college during the pandemic will return to school.
The quality and effectiveness of online models—from videotaped lectures to artificial intelligence systems that customize student assignments—vary significantly and are not well understood.
Parent Polling: New poll from EdChoice/Morning Consult: Topline / K-12 Parents Crosstabs / Adults 18+ Crosstabs
Roughly one out of six Americans – and one out of five parents – reported a protest or major disruption at their local school board meeting this school year. Most appear associated with COVID-19-related topics such as masking, vaccines, or other pandemic policies.
Four out of five school parents believed that schools should provide multiple learning options for students this school year.
Roughly one out of four parents reported at least one child had to quarantine in late winter due to COVID-19.
Federal
Federal Vaccine Mandate: “The White House told federal agencies Thursday to hold off on reinstating a coronavirus vaccination mandate for millions of employees, hours after an appeals court rejected an earlier injunction that had blocked the executive order,” the Washington Post reports.
“It’s not clear when the agencies might begin enforcing the mandate, which makes unvaccinated federal employees subject to discipline up to and including firing — unless they qualify for an exemption on medical or religious grounds or have such a request under consideration.”
Covid-19 Research
XE: A hybrid of BA1 and BA.2, has a growth rate 12.6% above that of BA.2 according to data from the UK.
"Such recombinants are not uncommon, however health authorities said there is currently not enough evidence to draw conclusions on its transmissibility or severity."
Omicron Spawns Search for Better Kids' Masks, New Standard: "Adult N95 masks are federally regulated and considered a gold standard. They were among the "better masks" U.S. health officials recommended in January to protect against Omicron. For children, no comparable U.S.-regulated mask exists, and some concerned parents turned to kid-sized masks made to South Korea's KF94 or China's KN95 standards instead."
Use of Face Masks Did Not Impact COVID-19 Incidence Among 10–12-year-olds in Finland: Study
"We compared the differences in trends of 14-day incidences between Helsinki and Turku among 10–12-year-olds, and for comparison, also among ages 7–9 and 30–49 by using joinpoint regression. According to our analysis, no additional effect seemed to be gained from this, based on comparisons between the cities and between the age groups of the unvaccinated children (10–12 years versus 7–9 years)."
"Another factor behind the rise in school outbreaks, Ferrer said, is “the change in the state’s quarantine guidance that no longer requires asymptomatic students remaining in school during their quarantine period to wear masks and be tested.”
Why Was There Such an Alarming Number of Deaths During Hong Kong's Omicron Wave?: New study in MMWR found that 96% of deaths in ages 60+ and in this age group, 20X lower among those vaccinated.
Impact of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts: An Update on Averted Deaths, Hospitalizations, and Health Care Costs Through March 2022: Found that vaccines prevented 2.2 million deaths and 17 million hospitalizations since its launch.
Booster RCT: Study which finds, "Fourth dose COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccines are well-tolerated and boost cellular and humoral immunity up to, and beyond peak levels achieved following third dose boosters."
Why the BA.2 Subvariant Could Cause Covid-19 Cases to Rise: Via WSJ:
State
California: School coronavirus outbreaks rise in L.A. County after mask orders are lifted.
"One of the outbreaks, at a high school, has involved dozens of infected people. It was initially reported to have 26 coronavirus cases linked to one another; the outbreak has since grown to 60 cases in that school."
"The 60-case outbreak was fueled by the more contagious Omicron BA.2 subvariant, Ferrer said, estimated to be 30% to 60% more contagious than the earlier version of Omicron that swept the globe last fall and winter."
Colorado: Greeley-Evans School District 6 is being recognized by Colorado Succeeds for their efforts to help every student learn in the way that is best for them through personalized learning.
Illinois: CPS is cutting about 40% of its school budgets, citing steep enrollment declines. Some advocates question the timing.
Maine: Is offering every school free at-home COVID-19 tests for students, staff.
New Mexico: The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education voted 5-2 to continue to allow individual schools to decide in collaboration with students, staff, and families whether to extend their school year and, in the case of elementary schools, lengthen the school day.
New York: NYC set aside about $200 million of federal stimulus funding to enable every school to create their own after-school and Saturday programs, offering small group sessions in reading and math or services like speech and physical therapy that had been difficult to deliver remotely.
Ohio: "Kids in southwest Ohio are struggling with their mental health, and area experts say the novel coronavirus pandemic spurred the problem."
"Prevention First's Student Survey of 26,260 seventh- through 12th-grade students in Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties shows that more than half of them (53.3%) report having high levels of stress. One in 10 said they have suicide ideation. And 60% struggle to pull themselves out of a bad mood."
"In addition: 38.8% responded that they felt nervous or anxious all or most of the time. Just over 24% responded feeling depressed, sad or hopeless most of the time and 29.2% said they desired to be alone all the time. There's also an indication that kids surveyed need more adults they trust, outside of their parents, to help them with their moods."
International
China:
Shanghai authorities are preparing to open its largest makeshift hospital, with 50,000 beds.
"Three local officials in Shanghai have been sacked over a slack response to the COVID-19 outbreak in China’s largest city, where residents are complaining of harsh lockdown conditions leading to shortages of food and basic necessities.
A Covid worker beat a dog to death in Shanghai after its owner tested positive
"With Chinese commerce, shipping, transportation and manufacturing hobbled, global consumers could feel the effects in the form of continued supply chain issues and higher inflation."
Economic Recovery
Blue-Collar Workers Make the Leap to Tech Jobs, No College Degree Necessary: Via WSJ
"In the Oliver Wyman poll, U.S. workers who described themselves as blue collar prepandemic said that enrolling in a specialized course or boot camp, or acquiring another credential, had unlocked new kinds of jobs in sectors such as tech, data processing, healthcare and electronics manufacturing.”
“LinkedIn Learning, a major online credential platform, saw completions of certificate-eligible classes, such as project management, rise more than 1,300% between 2020 and 2021."
Resources
A Survey on Global Mental Well-being Shows that the Kids Are Not All Right: Via Vox. "The group last month released its second annual Mental State of the World report, surveying over 220,000 people in 34 countries with its Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) questionnaire."
Building A Pipeline To Address The Children’s Mental Health Provider Workforce Shortage: Via NGA. State tools include:
Tool 1: Align curriculum between 2-year community colleges and 4-year colleges to guarantee seamless credit transfer for mental health-related degrees, such as social work and psychology; and
Tool 2: Offer creative incentives to offset the higher cost of programs requiring certifications and/or higher education and to attract workers into high-demand fields, such as social work; and
Tool 3: Adapt apprenticeship models to support the social services and mental health workforce to create mental health provider pathways that provide valuable experience for students, lessen the financial burden of education and provide support to existing full-time social workers.
A ‘Stunning’ Level of Student Disconnection: Professors are reporting record numbers of students checked out, stressed out, and unsure of their future.
They Were Facing Jail Time: Instead, they’re training shelter dogs.
"He already knew that Canine CellMates placed shelter dogs with inmates in their jail cells on the condition that they would train the dogs for adoption, he said, and he knew it had helped men rehabilitate their lives."
"Inmates who were recommended for this diversion program, Beyond the Bars, would be released from jail if they agreed to stay with the project for one year. And if they successfully trained a dog and finished the required self-help classes — including conflict resolution, parenting skills and time management — the charges against them would be dropped."
“He was locked up, and I was locked up,” he said. “We’d both gone through some tough things in life. And now we were both getting a second chance.”
"Simmons, who was in the first group of seven trainers, said he still misses Blazer, who was adopted after he graduated from training in December.
“Saying goodbye was really hard; I was in tears,” he said. “Blazer is a sweet dog who loves to be held and snuggled. I told him that he was going to a good home and that he was a lucky dog, and he seemed good with that.”
Related: April is Second Chance Month (White House Proclamation)
Something Different: Crazy drone video flying through the new Tesla Gigafactory in Germany.