©2022 The 74 Media Inc. Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy
One State’s Plan to Confront COVID Teacher Shortages: Easing Residency Requirements, Welcoming Back Retired Educators
Gov. Hochul’s Calls to Fully Fund New York Schools, Pump Up Teacher Pipeline Praised — But More Details Wanted
The Week in COVID & Education Policy: Americans Pick ‘Health & Safety’ Over In-Person School, How COVID Is Affecting Children’s Brains and More Key Updates
A Parents’ ‘Bill of Rights’? Missouri May Give Families More Influence in Classrooms
From Mask Mandates to Omicron, Ed Secretary Cardona Finishes a ‘Very, Very Difficult’ First Year
As Districts Scramble to Keep Up With Omicron Surge, White House Bolsters Schools’ Testing Supply
Adams: No Remote Learning Option in NYC Schools for 6 Months
COVID Chaos Leaves Districts With Bus Driver Shortage
‘People are Coming to School Positive’: Thousands of New York City Students Stage Walkout, Demand Remote Learning Options
Pandemic Pivot: How 2 Shuttered Ohio Science Museums Created Takeaway Kits So Kids and Their Families Could Do Experiments at Home
Florida Governor: States Closing Schools During Omicron Are Being ‘Absurd’
Educating Through COVID: From ‘Saturday Accelerators’ Aiding Learning Recovery in Indiana to Soaring Student Absenteeism in Florida, 13 Ways States Are Confronting the Crisis
‘Families Have to Have a Voice’: Martinez Cites Importance of Parents as Chicago District and Union Agree on Wednesday Student Return
‘Already in the Door’: How One California Charter Network is Recruiting Staff as Special Education Teachers with Free Credentialing, Mentorship, and Better Salaries
Across Cultural Lines, Home Schooling has Boomed Since COVID-19 Hit
Texas Schools Rethink Gender-Based Dress Code Policies After Discrimination Claims Raise New Legal Issues
The Classroom as a Radical Space: Teacher, Author and Fierce Intellectual, bell hooks Transformed Education, Especially for Women of Color
Supreme Court Blocks Biden Workplace Vaccine Mandate, Conservative Majority Calls it ‘Significant Encroachment’
Oregon Schools Face Few Limits on How to Use Millions in Unexpected Federal Money
The Week in COVID & Education Policy: Rethinking Omicron Strategy to ‘Manage Not Contain,’ Boosters for Teenagers & More Key School Updates
By John Bailey | January 14, 2022
This is our weekly briefing on how the pandemic is shaping schools and education policy, vetted, as always, by AEI Visiting Fellow John Bailey. Click here to see the full archive. Get this weekly roundup, as well as rolling daily updates, delivered straight to your inbox — sign up for The 74 Newsletter.
Americans value “health and safety” over in-person learning: New survey
Getty Images
The Big Three — Jan. 14, 2022
Guidance for in-person education in K-12 educational settings from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia:
Getty Images
The COVID Generation: How is the pandemic affecting kids’ brains?: Via Nature:
White House plans to send COVID tests to schools: The Biden administration announced that it would provide schools with 10 million COVID-19 tests every month. White House Fact Sheet and highlights:
Omicron
First U.S. Report of Omicron Outcomes: Study of 53,000 cases from Southern California. There were about 50% fewer hospital admission, about 75% fewer intensive care admission and 70% reduction in hospital length of stay with Omicron cases as compared with Delta.
Health Advisers to Biden’s Transition Team Call for a New COVID Strategy: Via The New York Times:
America’s Omicron Wave Already Looks More Severe Than Europe’s: Via Intelligencer.
Omicron Is Not a Reason to Keep Schools Closed: Dr. Leana Wen in the Washington Post
Federal Updates
Education Department:
National Telecommunications and Information Administration:
SCOTUS Blocks Workplace Vaccine Mandate: Via The 74 and NYT
City & State News
California:
Minnesota: Minneapolis and St. Paul teachers unions propose plans to respond to COVID in schools. A few of the requests:
New York:
North Carolina: High schools suspend bus service after too many drivers test positive for COVID-19.
Pennsylvania:
Rhode Island: Parents, teachers call for distance-learning option amid COVID surge.
COVID-19 Research
Moderna Timing for Vaccines for Young Children: Moderna says it expects to report data in children 2 to 5 years of age in March.
Effectiveness of Pfizer Vaccine Against Critical COVID-19 in Adolescents: New study found, “Among hospitalized adolescent patients, two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine were highly effective against COVID-19–related hospitalization and ICU admission or the receipt of life support.”
Why Coronavirus Testing Is Falling Short in Many Schools: Via NYT
Ask the Doctor: Navigating the ‘New Math’ of Omicron in Schools: Helpful piece by The 74
Fact Checking Claims About a Statement by Dr. Rochelle Walensky: A viral video of the CDC director discussing COVID deaths and co-morbidities is missing context.
Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2–Positive Youths Tested in Emergency Departments: Study and more from UPI.
Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report
American Academy of Pediatrics
Home Tests to Be Covered by Insurance: “Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans,” the AP reports.
Viewpoints & Resources
One-Way Masking Works: Olga Khazan in The Atlantic.
Schools See Big Drop in Attendance as Students Stay Away, Citing COVID-19: Via Wall Street Journal
District Student Well-Being Services Reflection Tool: New resource from Chiefs for Change
A New COVID-19 Data Source for Answering Emerging Pandemic Questions: CRPE on the COVID-19 School Data Hub
… And on a lighter note
Flat on His Face: This could also be a video of me trying to get back into work mode last week.
I’ve watched this 19 times this morning. pic.twitter.com/zsdt4vN7DU
— Tashy McTashface (@TashP351) January 7, 2022
ICYMI @The74
Weekend Reads: In case you missed them, our top stories of the week:
For even more COVID policy and education news, subscribe to John Bailey’s daily briefing via Substack.
Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to The 74.
Sign up for The 74’s newsletter
John Bailey is an advisor to the Walton Family Foundation and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He previously served in the White House and U.S. Department of Education. He worked on pandemic preparedness at the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2006.
