Thread by @FogelSylvia

This tweet doesn’t acknowledge the enormous public health benefits of education or the public health trade-offs of losing access to education. Some of which I, along w/esteemed colleagues, highlight in this op-ed. We must consider #totalharms.

bostonglobe.com/2021/07/10/opi…

https://twitter.com/EpiEllie/status/1429156161614405634

Education improves health and is associated with lower mortality. Education is crucial for low-income and communities of color to mitigate disparities related to racism and socioeconomic disadvantage.

This past year confirms the downsides of school loss, especially for the economically disadvantaged and Black and Latinx students. Special needs students and families are also hard-hit when in-person schooling is lost.

Soecial needs students are critically dependent on special education techniques to teach communication, basic skills, & self-regulation—often not replicable on line. Special needs families have enormous challenges & higher rates of serious mental health symptoms & need support.

Marginalized students and communities need education and the support that educational institutions provide. Children are at very low risk from COVID and this fact must be weighed against the risks of learning loss.