THURSDAY 8/13
FEDERAL
Phase 4:
- No progress appears to have been made during the first half of the week. Republicans maintain that Democratic demands are too expensive, and Democrats argue that a package less than $2 trillion will not pass the House. Schumer and Pelosi have called on Republican negotiators to return to the negotiating table and “meet them halfway,” but Mnuchin said that the Democrats’ ask of $1 trillion for state and local aid—the top priority for Democrats but viewed by Republicans as a bailout for states that over many years have not seriously tackled their budget problems—is “absurd.” We still do not expect negotiations to pick up until after the conventions.
- Our partners at PennHill received confirmation from Pelosi/Schumer staff that they asked the White House to structure funds to close the homework gap through the approach laid out in the HEROES Act - meaning that it would be a new emergency fund run through the E-rate program. Apparently, the White House didn’t object to the idea - which is similar to what our own conversations have suggested.
White House: Additional documents from yesterday's event
CDC: Director Redfield said tonight, "For your country right now and for the war that we’re in against Covid, I’m asking you to do four simple things: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands and be smart about crowds.” Without following the recommendations, this could be "the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we've ever had.
Biden:
- Called on Governors to issue a national mask mandate, citing health experts’ predictions that it could save 40,000 lives from coronavirus over the next three months.
- Senator Harris: "Mothers and fathers are confused and uncertain and angry about childcare and the safety of their kids at school. Whether they will be in danger if they go, or fall behind if they don't."
STATE
Colorado: The state released new resources for families:
DOD: The Defense Department will offer in-person instruction at half of its U.S.-based schools and all of its schools in Europe
New Jersey: NJEA president: "No rational analysis ... leads to the conclusion that we can safely reopen for in-person instruction in less than a month"
New York:
Ohio: How a community college opened three months ago and has had zero cases.
INTERNATIONAL
Canada: The Manitoba Association for Schooling at Home said its membership has jumped 20% in the last two weeks.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY
UI Claims: First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell below 1 million for the first time since March 21.
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WEF: How can companies offer effective reskilling for employees? A paper from the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group found that the cost of reskilling is approximately $24,800 per person.
Essential Workers: Grocery workers say morale is at an all-time low. “Some customers were appreciative in the beginning but now they’re just rude."
LEARNING PODS
Pod Schools: A Rhode Island group has amassed more than 1,100 members since July 19, describing itself as “a place where parents and teachers interested in forming learning pods can ask questions and connect with one another.”
Alaska: Katelynn Petersen owns and operates Problem Solved Tutoring in Anchorage, and she has had many parents reaching out for help. “People are reaching out to their network, people in the neighborhood,” she said. “ Facebook is a good resource for that. And the neighborhood apps are another good resource for just reaching out to see if people are available to teach these new things.”
DC Moms Launch New Business: Molly Nizhnikov and Rachel Lubin opened The Lane Social Club in February and have since partnered with Flex Academies. “We’re going to restaurants, hotels, anybody that has space that we can set up safely for kids to be to make it available for the parents – that’s where we will be" said Rhondalyne Reed, Director of Operations at Flex Academies.
Kinder Care: The nation's largest largest private childcare provider announced the following changes:
- Champions programs partner with elementary schools to create solutions that meet their unique needs, whether it’s traditional before- and after-school programs, part-time or full-day programming.
- KinderCare Learning Centers and KinderCare Education at Work centers now support K-6 learning. Trained teachers support students as they learn online or outside of their regular classroom through their school curriculum and offer project-based activities for children to do outside of their virtual classroom in subjects such as STEM, art, physical activity, and more
- KinderCare Education and the Bay Club Company recently announced a partnership to create a first-of-its-kind distance learning program for school-age children on the West Coast. The new program will have dedicated learning pods grouped by age. Teachers will lead students through online learning programs, while Bay Club instructors will lead a wide variety of active lifestyle programming.
RESOURCES
Day in the Life Of Simulation Toolkit: McKinsey has created a “Day in the life of” toolkit to support districts in running their own ‘day in the life of’ simulations. The work is part of a partnership with CCSSO and Chiefs for Change. The toolkit is a simulation exercise grounded in the typical ‘day in the life of’ for key stakeholders in the K-12 ecosystem (e.g., students, teachers, parents, staff). Incredibly helpful.
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A Generation Left Behind: A must read LA Times piece on the students being left behind. Some excerpts:
- A Los Angeles Times survey of 45 Southern California school districts found profound differences in distance learning among children attending school districts in high-poverty communities, like Maria’s in Coachella Valley, and those in more affluent ones, like Cooper’s in Las Virgenes, which serves Calabasas and nearby areas.
- Maria is a student in the Coachella Valley Unified School District, where 90% of the children are from low-income families. She didn’t have a computer, so she and her mother tried using a cellphone to access her online class, but the connection kept dropping, and they gave up after a week. She did worksheets until June, when she at last received a computer, but struggled to understand the work. Now, as school starts again online, she has told her mother she’s frustrated and worried. “She says she feels like she’s going to stay behind,” said her mother, Felicia Gonzalez, who has been battling COVID-19.
- Before the shutdown, he earned As, Bs and Cs. But with schools closed, Andrew said he was struggling to feel motivated and understand his work. His mother, a single parent and healthcare worker who has cared for coronavirus patients, was working double shifts, keeping her away from home and close supervision of Andrew’s studies. For more than a month, Andrew accessed classes on his cellphone, but was too depressed and unmotivated to do so often. By the end of April, he said, he had probably turned in one complete assignment.
School Reopening Thresholds Vary Widely Across the Country: Should schools reopen when community positivity rates are at 5%? 3%? US News and World Report article covering the wide ranges used by schools. I still remain a fan of the Harvard Global Health Institute's framework.
AI for Weavers: Sociable weavers work together to construct large nests in southern Africa, often in acacia trees. The nests can weigh as much as 1 ton and house up to 200 birds in individual chambers. Researchers are using AI to identify the birds. Has nothing to do with education or COVID, I just thought it was interesting.
Resources to Support the Use of High-Quality Instructional Materials: Via EdReports.
How Trump’s Push to Reopen Schools Backfired: NYT article.
The Reaction: Of these players - who have been in a bubble since the season started - is priceless.
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