Thread by @ashishkjha

So this tweet is getting me lots of flak

Few points

I've become more optimistic that with proper masking, some distancing, more schools can open safely

Why? Because evidence base changing

Schools open in many places and aren't generally seeing large outbreaks

Short thread

https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1315655616627650565

I've been particularly swayed by work of the brilliant @ProfEmilyOster.

She brings evidence, not bluster, to this topic. Its inspiring

She's actually tracking data (!!). Yup, its not perfect. But its the best we have

Read her in @TheAtlantic

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

Will we see some spread in schools?

Sure

Will it be worse than spread happening outside of school?

Not that we see in the (limited) data

But isn't it just "safe" to keep kids online until some unspecified future time?

No

So let's talk costs of keeping kids remote only

3/5

Rates of mental illness in kids rising

Schools are a haven for kids who are sexually and physically abused

That haven isn't there. And its awful

Driving many women to drop out of labor force to care for kids. Large gender equity effects

And achievement gaps will widen

4/5

Our national failure to suppress COVID is a disgrace

Schools should obviously only open with clear safety measures

But cost of remote only is large. Very large

Increasingly, evidence suggests many schools can open safely

We should try

And if evidence changes, we can too

Fin