As pointed out by Eliza Shapiro, a new window to opt-in (perhaps for the new year?) could potentially imperil the possibility of 5 day/week school given #s and distancing
It remains the case, as it always has, that the best way to reopen schools is to control the virus
Which necessitates an actual federal response, including appropriate funding for schools to address decreased state revenues and additional compensatory interventions
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
I’m glad to see schools systems moving towards reopening for younger children as a path out of remote-only, and for systems that are pulling back from in-person schooling to do so in a way that keeps elementary schools open for as long as possible
I wish we were in a position where tradeoffs did not need to be made, but since we must, prioritizing younger children, who have both great need and lower risk makes sense
3/n
I'll try to address a few questions that seemed to come up frequently here, unfortunately there are so many at this point I can't go through one by one.
Q1: You monster! Middle and high schoolers need in-person instruction and social opportunities too!
A1: Yes. I agree. In an ideal world all students would have an opportunity for f2f. Unfortunately the risk of COVID transmission is higher for older students.
A1 cont: I think it’s possible to safely convene older students with appropriate social distancing but that would need more space and more use of transportation. Given the complexity of that, I think the tradeoff with elementary schoolers is appropriate. Others disagree.
Ok, so no one asked me (well @mathteacherjedi sort of did) what I thought the best plan for reopening schools was. And I haven’t said anything about this, because it’s not my direct area of expertise. 1/
But if I am feeling free to comment and opine on others’ plans (which I do!), it seems like I should put my money where my mouth is and share what I think the best plan for reopening school is. 2/
Qualifications: I am an economist who studies education and related topics. I have rage- and doom-scrolled through a lot of #EpiTwitter and #EconTwitter lately. I’ve been thinking about this a lot. YMMV. 3/
I’ve been trying to stay off Twitter to focus on writing and my toddler these days, but today people had things to say on the internet about charter schools.
tl,dr: Shocker -- the academic is here to say that neither article gets it exactly right, and that when it comes to charter schools, a lot is "it depends."
3/N