The Atlantic: "Keeping kids out of the classroom will make recovering from the pandemic harder in the long term, while not keeping us any safer in the near term."
"Evidence from around the world—and even from New York City—shows not only that many schools should remain open, but that officials should take more steps to open up classrooms."
"These precautions are working, and all the early data show that classrooms do not appear to drive transmission of the virus."
Washington Post: "Schools are not spreading covid-19. This new data makes the case."
"In-person schooling does not appear to increase the risk of covid-19 transmission for staff and students, according to data from New York state."
"~80 percent of schools in the state reported no covid-19 cases at all.
& of those schools that did detect covid, ~90 percent had only 1 or 2 cases across all students & staff [...] students & teachers don’t appear to be catching covid from each other."
The nation’s largest teachers union released a "policy playbook" for the Biden administration:
• "Oppose all charter school expansion"
• "Bar federal funding to charter schools"
• Regulate all charter schools
• Abolish the D.C. school choice program for low-income students
These policies all protect the monopoly at the expense of families.
"Last week, union president Elizabeth Davis circulated a “tentative agreement” to members. On Tuesday, she decided not to sign it, continuing to disagree with the school system over whether in-person teaching should be optional for all teachers."
“I can’t say that I’m surprised,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said at a news conference Wednesday. “She’s backed away from other tentative agreements as well. And it should be apparent that the goal posts, unfortunately, continue to move.”
NEW: "Data from 191 countries shows no consistent link between reopening schools and increased rates of coronavirus infection."
United Nations agency: "there is strong evidence that, with basic safety measures in place, the net benefits of keeping schools open outweigh the costs of closing them."
UNICEF: "Schools are not a main driver of community transmission, and children are more likely to get the virus outside of school settings"
Biden's Policy Director: "Biden will make sure that we stop funding for charter schools that don’t provide results."
If charter schools aren't providing results then why are families choosing them?🤔
I wonder if he plans on pulling funding from underperforming district schools as well?🤔
Biden's Policy Director: "Biden will ban for-profit charter schools from receiving federal funding because [...] no one should be getting rich by taking advantage of our kids."
Giving families a choice isn't "taking advantage" of them.
POLITICO reported that Biden's team is considering picking the former president of the nation's largest teachers union for education secretary.
"There is also a widespread expectation that he wants to put a union official or someone with union ties in his Cabinet.
Both of those factors have made Lily Garcia, an elementary school teacher and the immediate past president of the NEA, an early favorite for the position."
The current president of the 2nd largest teachers union is also being considered:
"Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, is also frequently mentioned as a contender although she would likely prompt strong Republican opposition"
New data from England: "Since the start of the school year there is no evidence of difference in the positivity rate between teachers and other key workers."
The editor claimed that this sentence "makes clear that this is his subjective interpretation based in his own reading of obituaries, not a representation of scientific research."
That's not true.
"Disproportionate" is an objective statement.
Here is the editor's response.
"Disproportionate" is an objective claim without any evidence.
New data from England: "Since the start of the school year there is no evidence of difference in the positivity rate between teachers and other key workers."
Office for National Statistics, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey
"Teachers in England are no more likely to contract Covid-19 than other key workers, according to data that appears to bolster the government’s argument for keeping schools open." theguardian.com/education/2020…
DC public schools just canceled their plan to bring some students back next week.
"Teacher protests escalated Monday morning as the union encouraged educators to call in sick in opposition to the reopening plan." washingtonpost.com/local/educatio…
If a grocery store doesn't reopen families can take their money elsewhere
If a school doesn't reopen families should similarly be able to take their children's education dollars elsewhere.
8 added to My Authors
