NYC should make a commitment now to parents: on days your child can’t be in their school because of the social distancing plan, we'll offer a childcare solution.
Let’s use empty spaces—from offices to theaters. Let’s mobilize young people to help with staffing. Let’s do this. 1/
NYC’s current plan is that in order to enable social distancing, kids will be part of small cohorts which only have in-school learning 1 to 3 days per week.
But this leaves working parents with an untenable childcare problem on the other 2-4 days of the week. 2/
It’s important to note that research increasingly indicates young children have the lowest risk for contracting the virus. 3/ sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/s…
This is in part why the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that--in places where the virus isn’t surging--the benefits of in-person education for children's mental, emotional and physical health should be taken into consideration. 4/
nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/…
So let’s give elementary-aged kids in-person enrichment options on the days when their cohort is not scheduled for in-school learning.
This could be modeled on the Regional Enrichment Centers which the DOE set up for the children of essential workers this spring. 5/
This fall, enrichment programs could again include help with children’s distance learning assignments, as well as programming in art, music, and physical education--areas likely to be neglected in the formal school plan next year. 6/
Where could enrichment programs be offered? We need to be creative with space. But there is no shortage of opportunities in NYC--from vacant theaters to libraries to sports arenas to tents in parks. All could offer the space for social distancing. 7/
nymag.com/intelligencer/…
What about staffing? Local nonprofits could help, since many have unused staff capacity now, and are in need of funding.
A corps of young people, including college students, could also be hired--offering an excellent career opportunity during this difficult time. 8/
It’s hard to predict how many families would opt into enrichment programming if it were offered on the off days of the school week. But undoubtedly this will require a significant amount of funding. 9/
This is one more reason why in the next stimulus package the federal gov’t needs to help fund local gov’ts to help deal with the educational crisis.
This should be seen as the cost of reopening our economy. It is in fact a good investment. 10/
These plans can only proceed if NYC continues to make progress in containing the virus. All bets are off if there is a resurgence. Let this motivate you to work as hard as possible in the weeks ahead to slow the spread. 11/
To recap: Reopening NYC’s economy without a 5-day/wk in-person option for young kids is not workable. Schools can’t safely handle all kids every day. So let’s use our city’s vacant spaces & untapped talent to offer childcare on the other days, for the good of kids & parents.12/12
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