蜜桃影视

This is our weekly briefing on how the pandemic is shaping schools and education policy, vetted, as always, by AEI Visiting Fellow John Bailey. Click here to see the full archive. Get this weekly roundup, as well as rolling daily updates, delivered straight to your inbox 鈥� sign up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter.

Americans value “health and safety” over in-person learning:

• “44% [of American adults] said it’s more important to have schools open for in-person learning to avoid further interrupting students’ education” in a new Harris Poll
• “More than six in 10 Gen Z, millennial and Gen X respondents chose health and safety over in-person learning, as did 62% of parents with children younger than 18. Only 48% of boomers 鈥� or respondents 57 and older 鈥� said the same.”
• Read more from 蜜桃影视.

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The Big Three 鈥� Jan. 14, 2022

Guidance for in-person education in K-12 educational settings :

• 鈥淐ontinue indoor masking requirements within buildings and at school activities, regardless of vaccination status.鈥�
• 鈥淓mphasize to family and staff that individuals with respiratory illness stay home while symptomatic.鈥�
• 鈥淪tudents and teachers with mild symptoms consistent with COVID-19 may consider testing, if available.鈥�
• 鈥淒iscontinue required weekly testing of asymptomatic students, teachers and school staff.鈥�
• 鈥淎llow COVID-exposed, but asymptomatic, staff and students to continue attending school in person under a seven-day 鈥榤odified quarantine鈥� during periods of high community transmission (otherwise known as 鈥榤ask to stay鈥�).鈥�
• 鈥淓ncourage all staff and students to update vaccinations.鈥�
• has more details.

The COVID Generation: How is the pandemic affecting kids鈥� brains?: Via :

• “Although children have generally fared well when infected with SARS-CoV-2, preliminary research suggests that pandemic-related stress during pregnancy could be negatively affecting fetal brain development in some children. Moreover, frazzled parents and carers might be interacting differently or less with their young children in ways that could affect a child鈥檚 physical and mental abilities.”
• Edward Tronick, a psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Boston, with 鈥渉is colleague, psychologist Nancy Snidman 鈥� conducted an experiment (which has not yet been peer reviewed) in which parents used smartphones to record interactions with their babies before, during and after they put on face masks. Although babies noticed when their parents put on masks 鈥� they would then continue interacting with their parents as they had before.”
• “Face masks don鈥檛 seem to interfere all that much with emotional or language perception, either. A study published in May reported that 2-year-olds were still able to understand words spoken by adults in opaque face masks.”

White House plans to send COVID tests to schools: The Biden administration announced that . White House and highlights:

• The White House will send 5 million rapid tests and 5 million PCR tests to schools at no cost.
• Federal agencies 鈥渁re working with state, territorial and tribal partners to address testing needs in communities and stand up federal testing sites.鈥�
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 鈥渨ill release additional materials for schools on how to implement test to stay programs, including a school checklist and frequently asked questions and answers.鈥�
• More from 蜜桃影视: As districts scramble to keep up with Omicron surge, White House bolsters schools鈥� testing supply

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Omicron

First U.S. Report of Omicron Outcomes: of 53,000 cases from Southern California. There were about 50% fewer hospital admission, and 70% reduction in hospital length of stay with Omicron cases as compared with Delta.

Health Advisers to Biden鈥檚 Transition Team Call for a New COVID Strategy: :

• Six former Biden advisers 鈥渉ave gone public with an extraordinary, albeit polite, critique 鈥� and a plea to be heard. In three opinion articles published [last week] in the Journal of the American Medical Association, they are calling for Mr. Biden to adopt an entirely new domestic pandemic strategy 鈥� one that is geared to the 鈥榥ew normal鈥� of living with the virus indefinitely, not to wiping it out.”
• “The authors also said that vaccine mandates should be imposed more broadly, including for schoolchildren, and that N95 masks should be made free and readily available to all Americans, as should oral treatments for COVID.”
• Papers:

America鈥檚 Omicron Wave Already Looks More Severe Than Europe鈥檚: Via .

• “NYU epidemiologist Celine Gounder [said] that between Dec. 27 and Jan. 3, ICU admissions in the city as a whole grew 55 percent. 鈥楾hat is not a small jump,鈥� she said.鈥�
• “Why might our Omicron surge be different from the European one? Looking at the country as a whole, one big answer is obvious: Our vaccination rates are markedly lower than most European countries’ …. or a possibility is that the relatively high levels of severe disease we are seeing in New York and throughout the U.S. are the residue of that lingering Delta wave.”

Omicron Is Not a Reason to Keep Schools Closed:

• 鈥淚nstead of arguing over whether schools are 鈥榮afe,鈥� let鈥檚 agree that schools are essential and then work to reduce risk to get students back to in-person learning.鈥�
• “Schools must be open now, not in two weeks, as some have suggested. While some kids may stay isolated at home, many others will be in alternative child-care situations or gather with friends 鈥� settings that likely have greater transmission risk than school. There鈥檚 also no guarantee that Omicron will pass in two weeks or that problems such as testing availability will be resolved by then. This uncertainty is a logistical nightmare for parents and creates further disruption for kids.”

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Federal Updates

Education Department: 

• Released a guide.
• Cardona: From mask mandates to Omicron, Ed Secretary Cardona finishes a 鈥榲ery, very difficult鈥� first year

National Telecommunications and Information Administration:

• by a strong bipartisan vote of 60-31.
• Comments are for the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program and Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program that were part of the infrastructure package.

SCOTUS Blocks Workplace Vaccine Mandate: Via 蜜桃影视 and

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City & State News

California:

• unless the district reverts to remote learning or complies with a list of health and testing demands that include KN95 masks for each student, more testing and expanded outdoor space for lunchtime.
• for COVID-19 as school resumes. As of Monday afternoon, the student positivity rate for COVID-19 cases is at 16.6%, while the employee rate stands at 14.9%.

Minnesota: propose plans to respond to COVID in schools. A few of the requests:

• “Maintain the 10-day isolation period for individuals who test positive for COVID-19 or require two negative antigen tests to return to school or work sooner.”
• “Provide antigen or PCR tests for all students to test weekly.”
• “Reducing class sizes, which has academic benefits and would allow for actual physical distancing in classrooms and other instructional spaces, to lower the risk of outbreaks that would force more students and educators to miss in-person instruction.”
• “Designating some teachers at each school to work remotely with students who cannot attend school in person because the students have tested positive for the virus or are isolating at home after an exposure.鈥�

New York:

• New York City: Mayor, teachers union head and schools chancellor appear at odds over remote learning option amid Omicron chaos.
• Gov. Kathy Hochul announces .

North Carolina: after too many drivers test positive for COVID-19.

Pennsylvania:

• .
• 鈥業t鈥檚 made planning nearly impossible鈥�: .

Rhode Island: Parents, teachers amid COVID surge.

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COVID-19 Research

Moderna Timing for Vaccines for Young Children: .

Effectiveness of Pfizer Vaccine Against Critical COVID-19 in Adolescents: New found, “Among hospitalized adolescent patients, two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine were highly effective against COVID-19鈥搑elated hospitalization and ICU admission or the receipt of life support.鈥�

Why Coronavirus Testing Is Falling Short in Many Schools: Via

• 鈥溾�楢 lot of schools are just testing parts of their population once a week, or not using the tests strategically, or confusing surveillance with testing to suppress outbreaks,鈥� said Dr. Michael J. Mina, a former Harvard University epidemiologist and a leading expert on rapid testing who is now the chief science officer for eMed, which authenticates at-home test results.”
• “The lack of clear federal guidance on rapid tests has also been an issue, forcing 鈥榚very school system to re-create the wheel,鈥� Dr. Mina said.”
• “Even in some large urban districts in heavily Democratic parts of the country, where leaders have vowed to keep schools open, effective testing has been hobbled. New York鈥檚 schools announced last week that they were doubling participation in their regular surveillance testing. But union officials noted that even at the expanded level, the optional screenings covered 20 percent of the district鈥檚 students at most.”

Ask the Doctor: Navigating the 鈥楴ew Math鈥� of Omicron in Schools: Helpful piece by 蜜桃影视

Fact Checking Claims About a Statement by Dr. Rochelle Walensky: .

Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2鈥揚ositive Youths Tested in Emergency Departments: and more from .

• “Just under 23% of people age 18 years or younger who tested positive for the virus in 41 hospital emergency rooms in 10 countries ultimately were admitted to the hospital. Of these, .”
• “However, those ages 10 to 18 years were nearly 2.5 times as likely to develop severe symptoms compared with younger children.”
• “Similarly, young people with chronic health conditions had a more than twofold higher risk for developing serious illness than otherwise healthy children.”

Children and COVID-19:

• For the week ending Jan. 6, more than 580,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported. This number is a 78% increase over the 325,000 added cases reported the week ending Dec. 30 and an almost tripling of case counts from the two weeks prior.

Home Tests to Be Covered by Insurance: 鈥淪tarting Saturday, private health insurers will be for people on their plans,鈥� the AP reports.

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Viewpoints & Resources

One-Way Masking Works:

Schools See Big Drop in Attendance as Students Stay Away, Citing COVID-19: Via

• 鈥淣ew York City 鈥� saw its overall attendance rate fall below 70% when classes resumed after the winter holidays.鈥�
• 鈥淚n Boston Public Schools, student attendance has hovered around 70% since winter break ended Jan. 4.鈥�
• 鈥淚n Chicago, about two-thirds of public school students were present Jan. 3, the first day after winter break, rising to 72% the next day.鈥�
• 鈥淚n Rochester, New York, public school attendance last week ranged from 61% to 66%, according to school district data.鈥�

District Student Well-Being Services Reflection Tool: New from Chiefs for Change

A New COVID-19 Data Source for Answering Emerging Pandemic Questions: on the

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鈥� And on a lighter note

Flat on His Face: .

I鈥檝e watched this 19 times this morning.

鈥� Tashy McTashface (@TashP351)

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ICYMI @The74

Weekend Reads: In case you missed them, our top stories of the week:

• New York City: 鈥楶eople are coming to school positive鈥�: Thousands of NYC students walk out, demand remote learning options
• Analysis: Study found teacher evaluation reforms had no effect on student outcomes. That means doing them better, not giving up
• Parenting: Readers share frustrations and triumphs as remote learning returns

For even more COVID policy and education news, .

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to 蜜桃影视.

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