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THE TOP FIVE
Five great education stories about how schools are responding to the COVID-19 crisis:
D.C. Public Schools Ending Academic Year Three Weeks Early, Will Remain Entirely Remote – DCist
Spreadsheets And Phone Trees: How Educators Are Working To Connect Students Remotely – WBUR Edify
School Reopening Plans: ‘A Logistical Nightmare’ – NPR
Classes in shifts? No gym? Everything is on the table for R.I. schools this fall – Boston Globe
Masked students return to school amid covid-19 crisis – The Washington Post
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Above: “”In Seattle, as of April 27 2020, total student participation in online math coursework increased by 48% compared to early January 2020.” Other metro areas — NYC, Chicago, Seattle, LA — fare differently.
COVID-19 TIDBITS
Chicago Public Schools “still hasn’t provided a districtwide tally for how many students engage in school work at all,” notes Chalkbeat. But look here for a helpful thread from Chiefs for Change’s Mike Mcgee about district efforts, starting with special populations and then moving to reopening planning.
The White House, some governors, and many parents are hoping for a speedy re-opening of schools, but a recent NPR PBS Marist poll finds that public opinion goes the other way. “85% do not think it is wise for schools to reopen.” And only 29 percent of those polled recently said that they would send a child to school — only slightly more than those who would get on a flight or take the subway. Meantime, unions are warning against premature school reopening in England and workplaces are re-opening in Italy despite schools still being closed.
In the coming weeks and months of concern about classroom teachers’ jobs, benefits, and salaries, please keep in mind the plight of non-white workers without college degrees who are already experiencing an enormous amount of job loss and economic difficulty. “Twenty percent of Hispanic adults and 16 percent of blacks report being laid off or furloughed since the outbreak began in the United States, compared with 11 percent of whites…” Nearly a fifth of young children are already going hungry, according to a new Brookings report cited by the NYT’s Jason DeParle.
Good news! The former Cleveland Plain Dealer education reporter Patrick O’Donnell starts Monday with The 74 as a coronavirus crisis correspondent.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander Russo
Alexander Russo is founder and editor of The Grade, an award-winning effort to help improve media coverage of education issues. He’s also a Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship winner and a book author. You can reach him at @alexanderrusso.
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