Politics in the USA in 2020 has apparently gone from absurd to utterly horrifying to just plain silly. The latest political football is whether America's schools should reopen in the fall, having been closed in all 50 states and territories since mid to late March. Democrats are generally against it, while Republicans and especially Trump and his supporters are in favor of it. Even Betsy DeVos, who has never been a friend of public education, suddenly pretends to support it (while surreptitiously trying to gut and ultimately privatize it, of course), while Democrats who are usually the the biggest champions of public education are more likely to oppose reopening. Thus it seems to split rather evenly along party lines, as often happens in today's fraught and bizarre political climate.
But when you peel back the politics and see the issue for what it really is, then the only truly progressive position at this juncture is to reopen schools. Because keeping them closed does more harm than good on balance, to both children and society at large. And strictly and seriously "following the science" would in fact point strongly in favor of reopening schools.
School closures are a classic example of throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. While school closures are known to work very well in the short term in slowing the spread of influenza and infectious diseases in general, the longer-term effects are unknown, and children (and teens) seem to be at relatively low risk from this virus as well as not a particularly significant vector for spreading it to adults. While some evidence strongly suggests that temporary school closures early in the epidemic curve have helped to flatten that curve (even if only indirectly to reduce the number of adults infecting each other), it remains unclear how long such benefits can last (likely not very long). Many countries like Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, and Taiwan (all fairly progressive countries) have already reopened schools with no evidence of any resurgence of the disease that could possibly be related to the reopenings, and Sweden never closed them at all for children under 16. Belarus even kept colleges and universities open too, and yet they still have one the mildest outbreaks in the world.
Meanwhile, the collateral consequences of keeping schools closed keep on increasing the longer schools remain closed. Virtual learning will never be as good as in-person instruction. Students fall behind and find it harder and harder to catch up, and socioeconomic inequalities and inequities are widened that much more. Children are denied the socialization experiences that are needed for healthy development. And it also creates a heavy burden on parents, particularly working mothers, making work-life balance all but impossible. There is clearly nothing "woke" or progressive denying such realities.
And the CDC guidance for reopening schools isn't really that much better than keeping them closed. As famous Libertarian and Republican Senator Ron Paul himself noted back in May:
(The creators of South Park would surely have a field day with that! Per Poe's Law, the satire writes itself.)
Yes, some precautions are certainly needed, particularly in schools that are located in communities where the virus is still spreading. But we don't need to keep schools closed indefinitely or go full dystopia either. The best advice the TSAP can recommend is that decisions be made as locally as possible, with all schools in this country planning on fully reopening by September 8 at the latest, and playing it by ear from then. If there is a known outbreak (of three or more individuals) on school grounds/vehicles or otherwise linked to the school, a severe outbreak in the local community (i.e. a virus test positivity rate exceeding 10% for a 7 day rolling average) and/or excessive absenteeism for any reason, a brief precautionary closure not to exceed two consecutive weeks ought to be done without delay for that particular school or district only. For excessive absenteeism specifically, the brief closures may be further extended as necessary for the duration of the bulk of the absences, kinda like was done locally with the 2009, 1968, and 1957 flu pandemics in some schools. But otherwise, schools should plan on being fully open by default.
Additionally, even after fully reopening for in-person classes, distance learning should also still remain as an option on the menu for any students with high-risk household members (or with serious underlying health conditions themselves), as well as for any teachers who believe themselves or their household members to be at high risk. That way, even if the odd outbreak does happen to occur at school, it would really be a non-problem practically speaking.
As for masks and social distancing, and other restrictive protocols, that should be decided locally as well, and in our opinion only implemented as an alternative to closure when there is locally widespread community transmission but not (yet) seen among students, teachers, or staff. Otherwise, a greater focus on hygiene, disinfection, and ventilation should be the only significant departure from the old normal, and perhaps also reasonably limit class sizes and the size of large assemblies. And perhaps fever checks at the door as well. That is, use common sense.
And parents/guardians, for the love of all that is good, please keep your kids home if they have any questionable symptoms, or if anyone else in the same household is under isolation or quarantine for known or suspected COVID-19 or any other contagion. Honestly, that is just basic Public Health 101.
And yes, public schools should receive more funding going forward, and teachers should be paid more. And if it is done by our Monetarily Sovereign federal government as as opposed to (our often already overtaxing and borderline bankrupt) state and local governments, it won't cost the taxpayers anything.
So what are we waiting for?
UPDATE: It looks like a few states have already reopened schools with in-person classes as of early August, such as Indiana and even (gasp!) Georgia. And apparently parts of Montana already did back in May, as did parts of Canada. And by now, practically all of Europe too. All with no evidence of any "parade of horribles" resulting from their decisions to do so.
And the CDC guidance for reopening schools isn't really that much better than keeping them closed. As famous Libertarian and Republican Senator Ron Paul himself noted back in May:
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did its part to encourage homeschooling when it unveiled “guidelines” for schools to follow when they reopen. Among the CDC’s guidelines are that schools put tape on the hallways, directing children which direction to walk and how much distance to keep between themselves and their classmates. The CDC also recommends children do not share electronic devices or learning aids. The guidelines even say children should wear masks at school.The CDC’s guidelines instruct schools to close playgrounds and cafeterias, and to cancel all field trips and assemblies. Instead, students are to spend all day at their desks, not even leaving classrooms for lunch or recess.The CDC’s guidelines may not have the force of law, but it is likely most government schools will adopt them in order to ensure continued access to federal funding. Schools will do this even though children are at a very low risk of being seriously harmed by coronavirus. In fact, by forbidding children from going outside to play, exercise, and get sunshine, the guidelines actually endanger children’s health. The guidelines also harm children by limiting their ability to interact with their fellow students and develop social skills.Now you KNOW things are bad in this country when Ron Paul (and/or his son Rand Paul) is anywhere even close to sounding like the voice of reason! Keep in mind that in most of the countries that already reopened schools (or never closed them), none of these rigid and utterly dystopian protocols were employed in their schools, or at least not for very long. Generally, the only notable departure from the status quo ante was a greater focus on hygiene, and that was basically it. And the sky did not fall.
(The creators of South Park would surely have a field day with that! Per Poe's Law, the satire writes itself.)
Yes, some precautions are certainly needed, particularly in schools that are located in communities where the virus is still spreading. But we don't need to keep schools closed indefinitely or go full dystopia either. The best advice the TSAP can recommend is that decisions be made as locally as possible, with all schools in this country planning on fully reopening by September 8 at the latest, and playing it by ear from then. If there is a known outbreak (of three or more individuals) on school grounds/vehicles or otherwise linked to the school, a severe outbreak in the local community (i.e. a virus test positivity rate exceeding 10% for a 7 day rolling average) and/or excessive absenteeism for any reason, a brief precautionary closure not to exceed two consecutive weeks ought to be done without delay for that particular school or district only. For excessive absenteeism specifically, the brief closures may be further extended as necessary for the duration of the bulk of the absences, kinda like was done locally with the 2009, 1968, and 1957 flu pandemics in some schools. But otherwise, schools should plan on being fully open by default.
Additionally, even after fully reopening for in-person classes, distance learning should also still remain as an option on the menu for any students with high-risk household members (or with serious underlying health conditions themselves), as well as for any teachers who believe themselves or their household members to be at high risk. That way, even if the odd outbreak does happen to occur at school, it would really be a non-problem practically speaking.
As for masks and social distancing, and other restrictive protocols, that should be decided locally as well, and in our opinion only implemented as an alternative to closure when there is locally widespread community transmission but not (yet) seen among students, teachers, or staff. Otherwise, a greater focus on hygiene, disinfection, and ventilation should be the only significant departure from the old normal, and perhaps also reasonably limit class sizes and the size of large assemblies. And perhaps fever checks at the door as well. That is, use common sense.
And parents/guardians, for the love of all that is good, please keep your kids home if they have any questionable symptoms, or if anyone else in the same household is under isolation or quarantine for known or suspected COVID-19 or any other contagion. Honestly, that is just basic Public Health 101.
And yes, public schools should receive more funding going forward, and teachers should be paid more. And if it is done by our Monetarily Sovereign federal government as as opposed to (our often already overtaxing and borderline bankrupt) state and local governments, it won't cost the taxpayers anything.
So what are we waiting for?
UPDATE: It looks like a few states have already reopened schools with in-person classes as of early August, such as Indiana and even (gasp!) Georgia. And apparently parts of Montana already did back in May, as did parts of Canada. And by now, practically all of Europe too. All with no evidence of any "parade of horribles" resulting from their decisions to do so.
OCTOBER UPDATE: Many (though still not all) American schools have reopened, and it looks like it really was not a disaster after all. Well fewer than 1% of both students and teachers have had confirmed or even suspected cases since the current school year began. In fact, a recent analysis in 191 countries worldwide found no link between school reopenings and coronavirus infection rates. But hey, we (and Sweden) could have told you that months ago, and in fact we literally did. Now if only the remaining schools would finally open as well, yesterday.
Even The Atlantic now admits that the fears about schools reopening were grossly overblown. Even in (gasp!) Georgia. And the esteemed British Medical Journal (BMJ) now believes that closing schools had backfired and actually led to a net increase in COVID deaths compared to keeping them open.
NOVEMBER UPDATE: A new study finds that closing schools likely costs children more life years than it saves in the long run. That is, on balance, doing so actually kills more children than it saves.
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