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This is our biweekly briefing on the pandemic鈥檚 long-term impact on America鈥檚 educational system. .

This Week鈥檚 Top Story

• “The story is this. When COVID arrived on American shores, the United States did not have to collapse into COVID partisanship, with citizen turning against citizen and each party vilifying the other as the source of our national misery. Instead, political leaders could have moved forward more or less in unison, navigating epidemiological uncertainties unencumbered by the weight of the culture war.”
  
• “This is one of the revelations of 鈥�,鈥� by 34 experts, published in April by PublicAffairs.”
  
• “Probably the most explosive and long-lasting fight was over school closings, but those fights didn鈥檛 take off in earnest until September 2020 at the earliest. According to a database maintained by Education Week, all but nine states ordered their schools closed for the remainder of the academic year in spring 2020. Of the nine that didn鈥檛, three with Democratic governors, including California, and four with Republican governors, including Florida, recommended it. Two controlled by Republicans left the question up to local school districts.”

鈥楨ducation鈥檚 Long COVID鈥�: Recovery Stalled for Most Students, Data Show

• Via 蜜桃影视: 鈥溾�嬧�婸andemic recovery has essentially stalled for most of the nation鈥檚 students, new data shows, and upper elementary and middle school students actually lost ground this year in reading and math.鈥� 

• 鈥淥n average, students need four more months in school to catch up to pre-pandemic levels, according to the results from NWEA, a K-12 assessment provider. This fall鈥檚 ninth graders need far more 鈥� roughly a full extra school year.鈥�
  
• .

• : “Efforts to develop the next generation of COVID vaccines are running up against bureaucratic hassles and regulatory uncertainty, scientists say, obstacles that could make it harder to curb the spread of the coronavirus and arm the United States against future pandemics.”
  
• “Project NextGen, conceived with COVID deaths at their lowest level, has neither Warp Speed鈥檚 vast money nor the mandate to purchase shots in bulk.”

• : 鈥淒ire warnings of teacher shortages are nothing new, especially during the pandemic, and are sometimes overblown. But a confluence of warning signs suggest that the country is at a post-pandemic inflection point.鈥�
  
  • 鈥淢ore teachers left the classroom last year, new data confirms鈥�
    
  • 鈥淭eacher morale has dropped sharply since the pandemic鈥�
    
  • 鈥淔ewer people want to become teachers鈥�
    
  • 鈥淪ome schools and subjects have longed faced major shortages 鈥� and continue to鈥�

$190 Billion Later, Reason to Worry Relief Funds Won鈥檛 Curb COVID鈥檚 Academic Crisis

• Via 蜜桃影视: A 鈥�10-month examination by 蜜桃影视 shows that many districts haven鈥檛 used the funds with the urgency intended. Some have barely tapped monies advocates say are critical for academic recovery, while others have pumped millions of dollars into major classroom additions, upgrading athletic fields and other expenditures unrelated to the pandemic.鈥� 

• 鈥淲ith just over a year left to allocate the funds, the question isn鈥檛 only if districts will hit the September 2024 deadline, but whether the unprecedented windfall will leave students better off.鈥�

• The catch: 鈥淒istricts have not made it easy to answer those questions.鈥� 

• : 鈥淏eginning Sept. 30, 2023, states will face a steep dropoff in federal child care investment. Without congressional action, this cliff will have dire consequences. More than 3 million children are projected to lose access to child care nationwide. Seventy-thousand child care programs are likely to close.鈥�
  
• 鈥淚n addition, we project that millions of parents will be impacted, with many leaving the workforce or reducing their hours, costing families $9 billion each year in lost earnings.鈥�

• : Recently, 鈥淭he New York Times the pandemic is over. We are in a very different place. And, I understand the desire for a 鈥榯hank goodness that鈥檚 done鈥� mindset. And I hope COVID-19 isn鈥檛 always on top of your mind.鈥�
  
• But: 鈥淐OVID-19 is increasing; don鈥檛 be surprised to hear more people getting infected around you. I already am. This isn鈥檛 enough reason to change my personal behaviors, but that time may come this fall.鈥�

鈥� And on a Lighter Note

Kids.. 馃槀

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden)

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