2) New Zealand’s @jacindaardern is a rare politician able to bounce around her country’s schools taking mask-free selfies for her re-election campaign. Why? instagram.com/p/CC9mu7gAKEp/…
3) Education and children’s advocates the world over are tearing their hair out over political leadership that has enabled venues like hair salons and tattoo parlors to open, while schools remain closed politico.com/newsletters/gl…
4) Europe & NZ have schools open due to combination 3 things:
a) Virus under control via national systems
b) Well-funded universal healthcare + good tech for hybrid learning
c) Teacher unions involved from get-go: Teachers are only viable enforcement system for safety rules
a) Virus under control via national systems
b) Well-funded universal healthcare + good tech for hybrid learning
c) Teacher unions involved from get-go: Teachers are only viable enforcement system for safety rules
5) If you look elsewhere you'll see that at least one of those three ingredients is missing: in U.S. it’s all 3 in most states/federal.
U.S. will need at least two of those ingredients to get out of its schools debate gridlock
U.S. will need at least two of those ingredients to get out of its schools debate gridlock
6) A lot of time has been wasted: Even if U.S. Congress approves the $116.5 billion the American Federation of Teachers wants for safety upgrades, it will take weeks, and probably months to deliver the boost.
7) While all kids suffer from these long-term closures, the biggest victims are abused, underfed and undersupported kids, and those whose parents can't play part-time teacher. In New York alone, 20,000 haven’t been heard of by their schools since shutdown.
8) Pres. Trump is right about the numbers, but wrong about the context. Kids at school can be a low-risk scenario: Mark Woolhouse (epidemiologist member of U.K. govt. pandemic advisory committee) says there's no recorded case worldwide of teacher catching coronavirus from pupil
9) But @WHO is clear: safest scenario is low community transmission. Countries successfully reopening schools have daily deaths in the single digits. They followed scientific advice, not political timelines. Most countries started with the youngest students returning first.
11) In #Israel it was a mess: the top health official was ignored, all age groups returned to class together, and masks were abandoned when it got hot. The schools had to shut down again.
12) @WHO has a 54-point checklist of recommendations and questions for school authorities to examine before reopening, including “move lessons outdoors or ventilate rooms as much as possible.” politico.com/f/?id=00000173…
12) The current U.S. trajectory will deepen existing divides. It is richer families that can self-organize micro-schools most easily. It is private schools that can fund new infrastructure and distance students most easily.
13) Trump admin is resisting calls to make it easier for millions of students to get free school meals. American teachers will be in a bind over sick leave. Some get only 10 days: but will be expected to isolate for 14 after virus exposure. What will give?politico.com/news/2020/07/2…
14) Almost done now. #Germany's experience shows as many as 30 percent of teachers may be ill, isolating, at-risk or unwilling to teach under current circumstances
15) American voters are steadfast: a July 15 @POLITICO Morning Consult poll found 65% rejected President Trump's threat to cut federal $ for schools that don't reopen. 3/4 of Americans tell AP that in-person classes should be held-off or held only with major adjustments in fall.
16) #LA had a decent Plan B, after months of effort: fully online, every kid with a free internet if they didn’t it. Devices delivered to 96%. Celebrities like James Cameron teaching history classes. Plans for 1-to-1 tutorials & Sat. classes, to help identify/close learning gaps
Shd have said: you can sign-up for my free weekly newsletter, Global Translations, here: politico.com/goglobal
