Tight spots for teachers; premature school reopening and potential layoffs

#CoveringCOVID19, a daily update from The Grade to help education journalists cover the COVID-19 crisis.

THE TOP FIVE

Five great education stories about how schools are responding to the COVID-19 crisis:

 Should the Virus Mean Straight A’s for Everyone? – The New York Times

 Seattle schools seek credit waivers for some high school seniors during coronavirus closures – Seattle Times

 With Students Stuck at Home, Parents Turn to Online Tutoring Services – Wall Street Journal

 Returning to school buildings in the fall will be complicated. In some places, it’s far from clear it will happen. – Chalkbeat

 Teachers Union Counters Trump Lies With Coronavirus Road Map – HuffPost

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DUELING CONCERNS FOR TEACHERS

There are at least two concerns worrying teachers these days, not counting the day-to-day challenges of remote education and sheltering in place.

The first is how to stave off early reopening of campuses, which the White House, some elected officials, and (I’d argue) the media have been increasingly focused on talking about as a real possibility. Chalkbeat has a new story about just how complicated reopening schools will be, even in the fall. But the clash is most apparent in California, where the governor indicated plans to re-open in July, assuming public health concerns allow. NPR ran a segment featuring educator concerns about that idea. The LA Times also has the story.

Teachers say they are prepared to fight if schools reopen without proper safety measures, notes Politico. And The Guardian warns us (again) that scientists caution against reopening schools before testing and other protocols are in place.

Another threat looming on the horizon is the potential budget problems that could lead to layoffs of educators including teachers. The AFT put out a report showing how big the layoffs might be, which the HuffPost and others have covered. There’s politics going on here, of course, but there are also budget realities. So far as I know, none of the many COVID recovery bills that have been passed include anything the size of the $100 billion state stabilization fund that helped prevent mass layoffs in 2009.

These are important stories and I hope they get more attention. But let’s not forget that, in the short run at least, teachers are coming off sky-high favorability ratings from the public and a string of strike victories. They have also largely been able to set the conditions of their remote learning responsibilities in ways that suit what they think works best. For more on that history, read The Grade, the NYT, and most recently EdWeek.

Yesterday: But how are the CHARTER school kids being served?

The day’s best new education news stories are shared out every morning via @thegrade_. Then between 4 and 5 PM Eastern, the daily #coveringCOVID19 roundup comes out. You can find it here.

Above: If Brad Pitt is meant to play Anthony Fauci, then maybe Cate Blanchett should play Robin Lake? That seems to be the consensus among fans of the CRPE leader, whose nonprofit organization has put together a database of district and charter network plans and progress that education reporters have been relying on for the past several weeks. Thanks to 50CAN’s Marc Porter Magee for the photo montage. 

 The Providence Journal’s Linda Borg will soon be done with her weeklong furlough. Her latest entry highlights just how lonely — and connected — a quarantine furlough can be.