Thread by @OBusybody

1/5 Here is a case study on Covid-19 privilege and politics.

City: Urbana, IL
Population: 42,000
CV19 % positive: 0.6%
CV19 Hospitalized: 2
Poverty Rate: 27.3%

The Decision: No in-person classes until 2021:
news-gazette.com/coronavirus/co…

2/5 By any metric Urbana is safe to reopen given their testing levels and low positive %/hospitalizations.

Also, they need to reopen:
“It troubles me that we’re backing off of in-person attendance when these truancy rates are way beyond what we’ve experienced in the past,”

3/5 Urbana's poverty rate is 16.4% higher than the state average; many families need in-person class

“I know we didn’t hear from very many of those families in our public statements, but I hear from them quite often — parents who are begging us to bring our kids back to school”

4/5 But the needs of the vulnerable are being shouted down by well-off, politically active progressives.

The three main people speaking out against in-person classes are:
☑️The teachers’ union president
☑️A social justice advocate and township director
☑️A local wine connoisseur

5/5 This scene is being acted out across the country. Political activism is taking precedence over the needs of vulnerable children and impoverished families.

It is a national embarrassment that must be stopped
reason.com/2020/08/19/sch…