Above: Here are the percentages of parents reporting a school disruption from May through early October, according to the Household Pulse Survey (courtesy of Ernie Tedeschi). As you can see in the grey column, several states including Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Utah are showing October upticks or reversals.
đ°Â THE REOPENING SURGE THAT NEVER REALLY HAPPENED: For a few days at the beginning of October, it seemed like school reopening was going to become widespread. The early reports were promising. The news coverage was shifting. But as is obvious now, that never happened. Fear and inertia won out over cautious action. In a new piece in Forbes, I explore reasons why reopening never turned the corner this fall, some of which are obvious and others may be new to you. Or read some reflections from reopening advocates in the long thread here.
đ° TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES: The New York Times editorial page showed up the other day, arguing against an end to in-person learning for NYC school kids. It was nice to see, along with the Washington Post editorial in favor of reopening DC public schools. But it was much too little, too late, in my opinion. After a strong push on remote learning last spring, the NYT editorial page has been MIA on school issues like reopening for way too long. And the Times newsroom coverage just hasn’t been as good as it needs to be either, despite all the effort and people I admire who work there. It isn’t just that the paper failed to correct the viral South Korea story more vigorously. The staffing resources are inadequate, given multiple education reporters out on leave. The story selection and coverage overemphasize infection risks and downplay vulnerable childrensâ needs. There has been a notable lack of vision or coordination.
đ°Â COMPARE NYC TO CHICAGO OR LA, NOT EUROPE: Looked at from the perspective of Western Europe, NYCâs hybrid learning program has been weak and watered down. Thatâs the perspective in a new NPR story and from todayâs New York Times as well. Western Europe is a helpful perspective, no doubt. But I donât think that it should be used to single out New York City, whose hybrid program has been the most aggressive, successful, and safe big-city reopening program in the nation, serving 300,000 kids (until Monday, at least). I am opposed to the 3% standard that NYC unwisely promised teachers as part of the reopening deal. But pretty much every other big city school system in the nation is still shut down.
đ°Â ABOUT THOSE TEACHER RESIGNATIONS: âNews headlines over the summer raised a fearful specter: teachers resigning or retiring en masse, terrified theyâd get COVID-19 if they returned to the classroom,â opens an EdWeek story by Madeline Will, Catherine Gewertz, and Sarah Schwartz. âBut an Education Week analysis shows that the predicted wave of leavers has not materialized.â The 74âs analysis of teacher retirements in selected states shows no surge. Remember this the next time youâre told that teachers are going to resign, the possibility of which has been floated to jinx no small number of efforts to improve schools over the years.
Missed some previous editions? You can see the archive of past newsletters here. |