TUESDAY 8/11
FEDERAL
Phase 4:
- Negotiations are unlikely to resume until after next week's Democratic National Convention.
- Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck provided a summary of each Executive Order, an impact analysis, and list of unanswered questions.
- NGA issued a statement expressing concern over the complexity of the unemployment insurance EO and urged Congress to pass a legislative solution. "We are concerned about the significant administrative burdens and costs this latest action would place on the states." Other Governors have declared it unworkable. Mississippi Governor Reeves said the EO proposal would cost Mississippi about $21 million to $23 million a week, roughly doubling what it is paying in state unemployment insurance benefits currently. Governor Newsom said it would cost California $700 million per week.
STATE
Alabama: The state's third largest school district, Baldwin County, will reopen tomorrow but many families are opting for the online option. So far, their virtual school registration is up to 7,000 (20% of all students) – a 1,920% increase in less than a year.
Arkansas: The Arkansa Education Association is calling for schools to open remote only.
California: San Mateo County health officer Scott Morrow said all kids are much safer in schools and they need to be back as soon as possible. "I actually really believe kids should be back in school. There's lots of things that have been put into place to makes schools as safe a place as possible, probably more safe than if they're not in school."
Connecticut: A group of students from Beverly are protesting their school not reopening.
Georgia:
Indiana: Interesting NPR article on the challenges of contact tracing with schools/students.
Kentucky: The Governor said schools should wait to start in-person classes until Sept. 28.
New York:
Texas: Must read WSJ article showing the challenges Dallas school district superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa has experienced with planning for their reopening, including backlash from the teachers union.
Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Education Association Council Region 7 (for southeast Wisconsin) released grades on the safety of each school district:
B: Racine, Milwaukee, South Milwaukee, West Allis - West Milwaukee
C: Kenosha, St. Francis
F: Cudahy, Franklin, Greendale, Kettle Moraine, Oak Creek - Franklin, West Bend
LEARNING PODS
A New Kind of Matchmaker: Full-time working mom Amy Fitzgibbons started Cincinnati Teaching Collaborative that helps match college students, teachers, and interventional specialists with parents. Prices range from $30-$60 an hour depending on the experience of the educator.
Cost of Tutors: What 10 families are paying:
- Two families in Texas: $600 a week for 15 hours tutoring
- Four families in Massachusetts: $600 a week for three days
- Four families in Baltimore: $700 a week for 20 hours across four days
- Four families in Brooklyn: $1,200 a week for five days
- Three families in Oregon, $600 a week for 15 hours
- Three families in Connecticut, $900 a week for four days a week
- Two families in California, $700 a week for 12 hours
Making Pods More Inclusive: The push for pods is being fueled largely by anxiety rather than ideology. Parents who never would have looked twice at homeschooling are turning to pods out of exhaustion from the five-month COVID regimen of juggling work and at-home care.
North Carolina: A group of banks are opening their space to learning pods. “I thought, well this would be a great use of our space, allow these children to come in here, use our WiFi, use our facility,” Aquesta Bank VP Laura Engel said. The bank has teamed up with the Make an Impact Foundation to coordinate volunteers and manage donations, so the kids can also receive snacks and lunch and have support while remote learning.
RESOURCES
Protecting Student Privacy: CDT released several guides for schools to help strengthen privacy protections:
Opportunity and Counseling Corps: Proposal from the Center for American Progress:
- Hire thousands of recent high school graduates, college graduates, and other community members to support students and educators as they serve in high-poverty schools.
- Opportunity Corps members could also serve as resident teachers, mentors, classroom aides, or apprentices in order to provide technical support to families needing assistance with remote learning technologies; or they could learn trades to maintain school facilities.
- Opportunity Corps members could be hired through the expansion of existing national service programs, such as AmeriCorps, and other nonprofit partners; or they could be hired directly by school systems.
Designing Reopening Plans: 5 lessons NSVF and Bellwether Education Partners learned while helping two school districts with their plans.
Curbside Larry: What's it going to take to put you into a biography or science fiction today?
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