Covid-19 Policy Update #558
Tuesday 8/30
Top Three
CDC Advisers to Decide on Omicron-retooled Boosters on Sept 1: The advisers will meet on Thursday to vote on whether to recommend the use of two COVID-19 vaccine boosters tailored against the Omicron variant.
Most Kids Have Caught Covid: According to the CDC, via Axios.
Burbio on School ESSER Spending: Burbio looked at data from 15 states where reporting has been updated as of June 30th, 2022 and found 39.9% of districts have spent less than 20% of ESSER III funding, and 55.8% have spent less than 30%.
Federal
CHIPS:
White House executive order that also establishes an Implementation Council.
Commerce launches CHIPS.gov for CHIPS Program Implementation
FCC: The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau is seeking nominations for six positions on the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Board of Directors which oversees, among other programs, the E-Rate.
NTIA: Issues third FAQ for Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program.
State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF): New report from Brookings.
"Beyond these priorities, large cities and counties supported a diverse portfolio of equity-oriented projects through the end of 2021. Projects in affordable housing, broadband, mental health, nutrition and food assistance, and adult and youth workforce development all accounted for between $300 million and $500 million in total SLFRF commitments."
Covid-19 Research
SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Kids after COVID May Peak at 1 to 3 Months: CIDRAP on a new study.
"SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody levels peaked at a median of 84% roughly 1 to 3 months after infection and remained at roughly 69.8% after 9 to 13 months."
"The findings suggest that risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in younger children is lower than in adults, which has important implications for scheduling COVID-19 vaccination after infection," the study authors wrote. "The findings also broaden the understanding about less severe clinical disease in younger children."
We Should Expect More — And Worse — Pandemics to Come: Via Matthew Yglesias
"While some avian flus can cross over to humans, this particular strain does not seem to have that ability. But that’s essentially thanks to good luck on our part, though the longer it circulates, the higher the risk of a crossover event. Similarly, monkeypox turns out to not be as deadly as prior research indicated. And in both cases, these new epidemics, though bad, are not nearly as bad as the Covid-19 pandemic. But our failure to control either of them wasn’t a calculated decision based on the relatively low risk — we just weren’t able to do it."
I’m a Doctor. Here’s Why My Kids Won’t Wear Masks This School Year: Via Leana Wen in the Washington Post along with a Twitter thread.
"I accept the risk that my kids will probably contract covid-19 this school year, just as they could contract the flu, respiratory syncytial virus and other contagious diseases. As for most Americans, covid in our family will almost certainly be mild; and, like most Americans, we’ve made the decision that following precautions strict enough to prevent the highly contagious BA.5 will be very challenging. Masking has harmed our son’s language development, and limiting both kids’ extracurriculars and social interactions would negatively affect their childhood and hinder my and my husband’s ability to work."
State
California: Passes sweeping online safety rules for kids: California Age Appropriate Design Code (advocacy site here)
"Aimed at making online platforms safer for children, it requires web services “likely to be accessed by children” to conduct a survey assessing the potential risks for users under 18."
"The sites must limit using personal information from minors and avoid collecting geolocation data unless “strictly necessary,” among other restrictions."
"It similarly restricts using “dark patterns,” a general term for manipulative design features that isn’t defined in the text."
"And the bill requires services to establish the age of child users with a “reasonable level of certainty” to implement higher standards for privacy and safety."
Colorado: Denver Public Schools’ director of talent acquisition is still looking to hire 150 teachers, 275 paraprofessionals, and up to 45 bus drivers.
"According to the 2021-22 educator shortage report, Colorado schools couldn’t fill 8% of their open teaching positions last year nor 17% of their special service provider positions. Roughly 9% of paraprofessional or classroom aide positions went unfilled."
Illinois: "Chicago Public Schools reported more than 400 new COVID-19 cases among students and hundreds more among staff during its first week of the school year, three times the number recorded during the same period last year, data shows."
New Hampshire: Via The 74, "Too Good to Be True’: NH Gives Students $1,000 for Tutoring — Yet Sign-Ups Lag." Any student whose learning was impacted by COVID is eligible, but only 724 youth have opted in, utilizing less than one-third of program capacity"
"The state is entering its second year offering the Yes, Every Student scholarship, which uses a digital wallet to provide $1,000 for private tutoring to any young person whose education was negatively impacted by the pandemic. The scholarship is available to all students, regardless of need, and can be applied toward tutoring from state-approved educators."
Economic Recovery
What Gen Z and Employers Think About Education-to-Career Pathways...and How Those Views are Changing: Via JFF and ASA.
The Remote Work Revolution is Already Reshaping America: Via the Washington Post.
"The places with the highest remote-work rates in the country include the dense urban cores of Manhattan, D.C. and San Francisco, along with much of Northern Virginia’s suburban heartland, including Arlington, Falls Church, Alexandria, and Loudoun and Fairfax counties. Also in the top 10 are the federal science hub of Los Alamos County, N.M., and the wealthy lakeside enclave of Forsyth County, Ga., northeast of Atlanta."
“What we’re definitely seeing is a shift away from these top 10 cities and toward both medium-sized and smaller metro areas — and actually a pretty big jump for rural employment,” said Gusto’s Wilke."
Resources
(Re)Creating School for Every Child: Emily Oster interviews Michael Horn. Well worth your time.
From Pods to Public Schools: Bringing the best of pandemic learning to traditional systems, via CRPE.
"Pods unlocked new opportunities to explore and redesign the how, what, when and where of learning."
"Pods often hired community members adjacent to traditional teaching roles, which brought new competencies into learning environments and supported and validated students’ well-being, identity, and belonging."
"Pods represented a power shift, providing parents, educators and community based organizations unprecedented control over learning."
Electrification is Poised to Turn School Buses into Money-making Arbitrage Assets: Via TechCrunch
"When electricity demand surged, the city’s small fleet of electric school buses sprang to life, sending electricity stored in their massive batteries back into the grid to prevent brownouts and blackouts. So far, the buses have contributed 10 MWh of electricity on 30 separate occasions to National Grid, the regional utility, according to Highland Electric Fleets, which supplies and manages the buses."
Seven New Studies on the Impact of a Four-Day School Week: Via Hechinger.
"Researchers at NWEA, led by Morton, and at Oregon State University began by analyzing the test scores of 12,000 students at 35 schools that had adopted four-day weeks in six states: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming."
"Like the more recent crop of studies, they found that four-day weeks weren’t great for academic achievement on average. The test scores of four-day students in grades three through eight grew slightly less during the school year compared to hundreds of thousands of students in those six states who continued to go to school five days a week."
Learning Losses Were a Problem Way Before the Pandemic. Outdated Teaching is to Blame: Via Jeb Bush.
States Collect Record-High Tax Revenues. How This Could Influence K-12 Spending: EdWeek on NASBO's new report on state revenues.
"A number of factors contributed to fiscal 2022’s revenue growth including economic gains following the initial effects of the pandemic, the role of federal COVID-19 relief aid, and the impact of inflation on both salaries and the price of goods."
"Strong growth in tax collections and revenues exceeding forecasts led many states to report their largest surplus in state history."
"As states move into fiscal 2023, they are anticipating slower growth in tax collections. Governors’ budgets for fiscal 2023 assume a 1.4 percent growth in revenue compared to fiscal 2022."
Related: The Economist: “States across the country have smashed revenue records in the past fiscal year. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit outfit, state governments saved $217.1bn in 2021, exceeding the 2019 record by nearly $100bn.”
The New Book 'The Stolen Year' Details How the Pandemic Disrupted Children's Lives: Via NPR and more via The 74.
Work From Home: This new option could be yours for just $49,000. Hurry before Rotherham buys it.
It's Football Season!:
Favorite night at preseason football practice? Mom's night at Washington. Players' moms learn about equipment, rules, plays... and did we mention they get to tackle their sons? Great moment at 0:47 mark.
No social media for kids under 18. The downsides vastly exceed the upsides. Text only. SM is NOT harmless.
No social media for kids under 18. The downsides vastly exceed the upsides. Text only. SM is NOT harmless.