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.

Big Surge of School Closures and Interruptions Hits More Than 700 Districts: reports

• (up from 675 last week), the largest week-over-week increase in districts since September.
• The number of schools affected cumulatively now totals 7,001, up from 3,224 last week, meaning Burbio identified 3,777 schools affected since its last report 鈥� more than all previous reports combined.
• To date, Burbio has identified 65 mental health closures affecting 2,535 schools
  • These are concentrated in certain states: North Carolina (30 districts, 1,402 schools), Virginia (9 districts, 262 schools), Missouri (6 districts, 75 schools), Colorado (2 districts, 263 schools), Ohio (4 districts, 189 schools) and Oregon (4 districts, 106 schools) make up 55 of the 65 identified districts and 2,297 of the 2,535 schools.

November 19, 2021 鈥� The Big Three

How U.S. Schools Are Spending $122 Billion in Stimulus Funds: Via :

• “An analysis of spending plans from about 1,040 school districts in 35 states shows how education officials across the country are preparing to tackle learning loss, mental health, staffing crises and equity concerns exacerbated by multiple years of remote learning and classroom disruption, according to data compiled by Burbio, which has tracked shutdowns during the pandemic.”
• “The districts, ranging in enrollment from 350,000 students to a few hundred, received over $29 billion combined, or a quarter of the national allocation.”
• “More than half have earmarked funds for summer learning, with an average spend of over $2 million where disclosed. About a third are using it to pay for transportation, and nearly a quarter plan to invest in online platforms.”
• “Schools also earmarked more than $260 million for student mobile devices, $218 million for assessments and $207 million for supplies like masks, wipes and gloves.”

Doubts about Safety, Efficacy in Children Underlie Parents鈥� Vaccine Hesitancy: A new ABC News-Washington Post poll finds

• 鈥� that the vaccines are safe for children age 5 to 17 than are very confident of this, 41% versus 21%. The gap is smaller on effectiveness, but still 12 percentage points, 38% versus 26%,鈥� according to .
• 鈥淐onfidence in safety, for its part, , compared with white parents. (On effectiveness, the racial/ethnic gap shrinks, and is not significant.)鈥�
• More from 蜜桃影视: With nearly half of parents expected to forgo child COVID shots, schools brace for new wave of vaccine hesitancy.

We Polled Kids About the Pandemic. They’re Doing Surprisingly OK: Via ()

• “Between Oct. 25 and Nov. 2, FiveThirtyEight and Ipsos used Ipsos鈥� KnowledgePanel to survey 689 kids ages 5 to 11, 572 kids ages 12 to 17 (let鈥檚 call them 鈥榯eens鈥� for our purposes), and more than 1,500 of their parents.”
• Large majorities of teens describe their home life (95%), their relationship with their parents (94%), their mental health (90%), their social life (89%) and their sense of connection to others (86%) as good. Similarly, nearly all (96%) kids 5-11 say they feel good right now.
• 25% of teens 12 to 17 are concerned about their ability to do well in school, up from 17% pre-COVID.
• 57% say they have received the COVID-19 vaccine, with another 5% indicating they would if it were up to them.
• Among unvaccinated teens who are not very likely to get one, concern over a lack of testing (45%) is the top reason driving hesitancy, followed by their parents (27%) and safety concerns (25%).

Federal Updates

Infrastructure: President Joe Biden signs bipartisan infrastructure deal. More via and

• The president also issued an executive order establishing an
• was appointed senior adviser and infrastructure coordinator
• Included is more than $65 billion in broadband funding to expand access to underserved communities and connect many institutions, including schools.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Department of Education: Department of Education that went to principals encouraging schools to host a vaccine clinic and provide families with information about vaccines. American Academy of Pediatrics is offering this helpful service:

• “To invite a pediatrician to speak to your community about the COVID-19 vaccine, reach out to [email protected] to make a request and share the details of your event.”

U.S. Department of Education: against grade schools, as they face growing online threats, including ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, email scams and pandemic-era concerns like disruptions to virtual learning environments.

• “The GAO concluded that as the lead agency for the education sector, the Education Department is responsible for setting IT and cybersecurity guidelines for K-12 schools, but has .”
• “Without federal support that is guided by an up-to date plan and supplemented with appropriate guidance, K-12 schools are less likely to have the federal products, services and support that can best help protect them from cyberattacks.”
• “The GAO鈥檚 investigation into K-12 cybersecurity was requested last year by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) after a hearing where they pressed [the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s] then-acting director, Brandon Wales, to extend the agency鈥檚 efforts to counter ransomware targeting schools. Districts in all three senators鈥� home states have suffered attacks.”

Department of Education: Released a new resource describing .

City & State News

Arizona: , writes Mike McShane in Forbes.

California:

• Mayor London Breed of three San Francisco school board members: 鈥淥ur kids must come first.鈥�
• A San Diego County judge Friday , saying Gov. Gavin Newsom has the legal authority to enforce universal masking.

Colorado: .

Indiana: New program seeks to .

Missouri: State launches 聽鈥� “The state is investing $50 million over the next three years in and other recruitment projects, such as the Teacher Education Recruitment and Retention Grants and the Pathways to Teaching Careers Program.”

New York:

• New York City is rolling out vaccine clinics at each of its more than that serve elementary-aged students.
• last school year, according to a new report.

Ohio: According to a Cincinnati Public Schools survey, .

Rhode Island: A judge .

Tennessee: The governor last week .

Texas: Texas schools can again set their own face mask rules after a .

COVID-19 Research

Were Federal COVID Relief Funds for Schools Enough?:

• “The analysis suggests that many low-poverty districts and some moderate-poverty districts could face funding shortfalls, though most would be modest and state and local governments are mostly in a good fiscal position to help address these.”
• “We estimate that many high-poverty and some moderate-poverty districts will have moderate to substantial windfalls.”
• “This implies that ESSER funding is more than enough to address the 鈥楥OVID costs鈥� assumed in our scenarios, but that does not necessarily mean it is too much, or even enough, to fully address the needs of students, many of whom were struggling before the pandemic.”

Schools Embrace More COVID-19 Testing Over Quarantine to Keep Kids in Class: Via

• 鈥溾�楾est-to-stay has been a collective sigh of relief,鈥� Dr. [Grant] Rivera, superintendent of Georgia鈥檚 Marietta City Schools, said. 鈥業t is an option, whereas otherwise families had no option and staff had no option.鈥欌��
• “In Massachusetts, test-to-stay has saved 85,000 school days this year for students who would have otherwise been in quarantine, according to a report from the state鈥檚 department of education. More than 2,200 schools in the state have signed up for testing programs, including test-to-stay.”
• Related: Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) option for unvaccinated students exposed to COVID-19.

If Republicans Bet Against Vaccines for Children, Their Schools Will Lose: Via

• “Last school year, Republicans鈥� collective bets about keeping schools open during the pandemic paid off, allowing far more students in red states and school districts the in-person options that today are common across the nation.”
• “The current bet is whether vaccinations will provide meaningful protections for students and limit COVID spread in schools, and this time the stakes are not how to best endure the pandemic, but how quickly localities will get past it.”
• “This school year, if Republicans disproportionately bet against vaccinations for school-aged children as much as polls predict, their students and schools are the ones likely to lose.”

Children Are More Tolerant of a Parent Performing the Nose Swabbing Technique: According to a new by researchers at the University of Bristol.

• “Nose swab samples collected by parents are as good as those collected by nurses at detecting respiratory infections in children, according to a study.

STAT Asked 28 Public Health Experts About Their Holiday Plans Amid COVID-19: .

This COVID-19 Detector Spots the Delta Variant in the Air: Via

• “ is designed more like an everyday smoke detector, but built to spot COVID-19 instead of smoke.”
• “Poppy provides results via a simple online dashboard 鈥� which arrive either the same day or the next morning. The system is also capable of spotting 1,000 other pathogens in the air, like the seasonal flu, for an added cost and added turnaround time of three days.”

A COVID Strategy Backfires at Schools: “School districts and universities have spent as much as $100 million on [HVAC and air filtration systems] 鈥� , company-funded studies that boast 99.99% efficacy, said Marwa Zaatari, mechanical engineer and a board member of the U.S. Green Building Council,鈥� .

More Than Half of Unvaccinated Won鈥檛 Change Their Minds: New in Nature.

• “19% of Dallas residents say they have no intention of getting the COVID-19 vaccine, with more than half of that group saying nothing can change their mind.”
• “More than one-fifth (21.4%) of the national respondents indicated an unwillingness to vaccinate.”

As the U.S. Races to Vaccinate Kids Against COVID-19, Some Countries Hold Back: Via

How COVID Vaccines Work: The has an interesting .

FDA to Sidestep Advisers on Boosters-for-All Approval: that a decision on booster eligibility is expected to be made without its panel of outside experts.

• Related: .

It鈥檚 Safe to Get a Flu Shot and COVID Vaccine: According to a new .

8 Lingering Questions About the New COVID Pills from Merck and Pfizer: Via

Schools Change Mask Policies as Children Get COVID-19 Shots: Via

Viewpoints

COVID Drove a Wedge Between Parents and Schools, and Texas Must Pull Them Back Together: .

• “In August, Texas 2036 polled Texas voters on numerous issues and found they shared an overwhelming concern about the state鈥檚 future. Such concern was particularly pronounced among parents: 54% of mothers with school-age children thought schools didn鈥檛 handle the pandemic well, and nearly twice as many parents described online learning as a 鈥榙isappointment鈥� or 鈥榝ailure鈥� (50%) than a success (26%).”
• “If left unaddressed, growing frustrations will continue to drive headlines, elections and school board meetings. And perhaps more important, these forces threaten to distract us from what should be our single-minded purpose: student achievement.”
• “In a post-pandemic Texas, parents need a transparent accountability system with an honest depiction of how their child鈥檚 school is performing. At the same time, they also support systems that quickly force improvements or find more appropriate options to meet their child鈥檚 needs.”

The COVID Crisis Cracked Our Education System. A New Reform Coalition Must Come Together to Fix It in the Interest of Children: Via Robin Lake in 蜜桃影视

• “A rigid system designed for sameness cracked under the pressure of a crisis. Despite the exhaustive work of many well-meaning people, schools and school systems were largely unable to meet individual student needs. Children who had already been struggling were subjected to even more hardship.”
• “Millions of suburban families were shocked to see union politics and outdated management systems impede even a basic functioning of services and individualized support. But low-income families, complex learners and those with a child with a disability thought, 鈥榃elcome to the party.鈥欌��
• “It is time for a new, broader reform coalition made up of all those who saw things in the American education system during the pandemic that they cannot unsee 鈥� doctors, mental health providers, church leaders, afterschool providers, community activists, suburban parents, parents of students with disabilities and business leaders. Advocates for children must lead the way by uniting despite our differences.”

Use of Educational Technology for Instruction in Public Schools, 2019-20: . This is all pre-pandemic, so current numbers will be much higher, but this will serve as some good baseline data:

• 45% of schools reported having a computer for each student.
• 15% of schools let all students take computers home; another 15% let students take computers home on a short-term basis.
• 64% of schools said internet connections in teaching and learning areas of the school were very reliable.
• 52% reported having problems to a small extent with internet connections or speed when large numbers of students were online.
• 35% of schools said technology helped students learn at their own pace.

How Does This End?:

• “The bottom line is that COVID now presents the sort of risk to most vaccinated people that we unthinkingly accept in other parts of life. And there is not going to be a day when we wake up to headlines proclaiming that COVID is defeated. In many ways, the future of the virus has arrived.”
• Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the medicine department at the University of California, San Francisco, 鈥渢old me that he might always wear a mask while grocery shopping or flying on a plane because the costs of having a covered face and a muzzled voice in those settings are virtually zero. He isn鈥檛 usually trying to have a conversation with somebody. And a mask can help protect him from all sorts of respiratory viruses.”
• “Unfortunately, the costs of most COVID interventions are higher. Masks inhibit communication, especially for young children and the hard of hearing. 鈥� Remote school has been a failure. Remote office work hampers collaboration. Social isolation causes mental health problems.”

Forced COVID Vaccination for Kids Is Unlawful: .

With COVID Relief Money, Schools Take on a Bigger Role in Student Mental Health: Via Chalkbeat

Learning Pod Teachers Say They Don鈥檛 Want to Return to Traditional Classrooms: Center on Reinventing Public Education over at 蜜桃影视

Wave of Teacher Time Off Forces Districts Short on Subs to Cancel School: Via 蜜桃影视

Substitute Teachers Never Got Much Respect, but Now They Are in Demand: Via

Measuring Forward: Emerging Trends in K-12 Assessment Innovation: Via with an amazing analysis and state-by-state information.

Communicating the 鈥淟earning鈥� in Social-Emotional Learning: .

Ensuring Equitable and Trustworthy Ed Tech for the Future: New set of .

Families Are Using New Child Tax Credit for K-12 School Costs, Census Shows: “40% of low-income recipients say they spent the money on tuition, books, tutoring or other education-related expenses,” reports .

The Walton Family Foundation: .

…And on a Lighter Note

New PR Campaign for Possums Just Dropped: This was than I expected. And I love how much he knows about these critters.

New PR campaign for Possums just dropped

鈥� Dudes Posting Their W鈥檚 (@DudespostingWs)

ICYMI @The74

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

• Teaching: New Data Show School Staffing Shortages Disproportionately Hitting High-Poverty Districts During Pandemic

• Literacy: California Aims to Come From Behind in Making Sure Children Learn to Read, But Some See New Push as Political

• Understanding Data: There鈥檚 Lots of Education Data Out There 鈥� and It Can Be Misleading. Here Are 6 Questions to Ask

• Masking: Amid Child Vaccinations, NYC Teachers and Parents Make the Case For Why Schools Should (and Shouldn鈥檛) Roll Back Rules

• Homecoming: Meet the Barrier-Breaking Teens Named 2021 High School Royalty

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to 蜜桃影视. Romy Drucker co-founded 蜜桃影视 and sits on our board of directors.

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