How COVID Ruined America's Public Education System.

During the Pandemic . Schools 
have never been more secure, now 
gates have to kept locked .
Mask Mandates , Covid testing every two
weeks . Is this Normal??? 

After nearly a year of lock downs . Many schools are reopening .  One of the biggest victims of Covid  has to be the American Education system . Last year in ways the government can screw up. I am speaking from a California perspective .  (1)>>Schools are the most essential of all things. If we have to close anything, they should probably be last. Anyone that has the ability to do virtual, such as those with stay at home parents or nannies should probably be encouraged to do so to lower the class volumes (maybe with a virtual classroom bonus?). In terms of everything else, obviously if numbers get out of control we should target closing sectors that are contributing to spread the most based on contact tracing and evidence and avoid sweeping shutdowns if at all possible. I think that's most sensible thing to do in my opinion.  I think the government will be content to let closures happen on a year-by-year, school-by-school basis for the foreseeable future. Many schools will be fully open, many will be sending individual year groups home here and there. Some will have cases across multiple years, so will only be open for a minority of their students. While MANY SCHOOLS are returning to what "maybe called" normal ? By this April 2021 . The desire to return to  formalism of pre-pandemic days is obvious,  also  Evidence is mounting of students falling behind in their classes. .The part of a possible 4th wave ,  (2)>>a worrisome CDC directors message looms over the education system  right now.. Another factor in California could be possible is  the recall effort to get rid of Gov. Newsom . A Republican replacement would turn California into a Florida system system that all school in person learning has to return , gutting all hybrid models .   Keep in mind all POSSIBILITIES . That might be remote for now .  Many students are likely to be in, then out, then back in a number of times over the coming months. School related COVID cases have been less than 10% of overall cases. and very few (if any) have actually been linked to being spread at School, but cases identified because the people are in the school system. The benefits to keeping Schools open at the moment far outweighs the risks. While   (3)>>the education world was turned upside down . Shelter in place that began last March , hurt blue states a lot more than red states . Former President Trump last year was pushing to reopen schools . That led to conflicts between state governors , CDC officials but it 

has rocked the education boat .  (4)>>California was probably hit worse . Forcing the state governments to dish out billions to get the schools back open  . ANOTHER problem is many school districts had to get the teachers to return to class . This is a vary controversial point here. LAST year the CDC gave guidelines for schools to reopen. Schools could have been in  hybrid model last year . Politically the resistance came from the State Teacher Union(s) , but this was nationwide . We know many teachers did not feel safe .   Like I said that  COVID cases have been less than 10% of overall cases. (5)>>Children can be carriers. They may not exhibit symptoms, but they could spread the virus to the adults working at the school, worse case take the virus back home to their parents .   Many teacher's unions kicked the post further by pushing the vaccination of teachers as part of returning safely to school. THIS ONLY SLOWED REOPENING  . It mad things more complicated . With finally the children themselves,  that they may need the vaccine in order to return to school .

School Bureaucrats and Covid -19.

Covid probably revealed  a lot of idiocy on many school bureaucracies. Prime number has to be the  (6)>> San Francisco School District  for example, it  could get the idiocy reward . While it appeared that the SFSD pimary focus was to rename  44 schools rather than planing to reopen schools as a priority . But is this how Covid scrambled the minds of the bureaucrats?  Public schools are a giant assembly line of rigid work rules, legal entitlements, course plans, metrics, granular documentation, and legal proceedings for almost any disagreement, including classroom discipline and comments in a personnel file. Day after day, teachers and principals grind through the dictates of this legal assembly line. There’s little room for innovation or creativity, and not even the authority to maintain order. The only certainty is no accountability. No matter how much or how little someone tries, no matter how badly a school performs, there will be no effective accountability.The Covid crisis could be the impetus that finally pushes the broken machinery of America’s schools over the cliff. And while bureaucrats and union leaders clash over whether the schools they mismanage should make any sort of effort to serve students, those kids are backsliding.

Schools Disrupted again in the next few months ? 

There is a strong possibility that schools might close down again. Keep in mind that schools were really late in reopening , the summer is on its way . (7)>>If anything that might lead to a nationwide lock down by the Biden Administration . I think they will do everything to avoid national school closures but if the virus gets out of hand again.  I reckon it’s likely secondaries will switch to a part time timetable. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are planning this for the winter months and it’s already expected behind the scenes.  If any new surges of covid like the new variations  , if you take the data of infections FOR FACE VALUE .  I think that the Government of the state could make it worse .  One problem is that there is so little data on extended school disruptions – even after disasters, most children are usually learning again within a few weeks. A year is a long stretch. During the pandemic, many schools have adopted some form of distance learning, with teachers providing material through online portals such as Google Classroom or holding lessons over Youtube or Zoom.  The shuttering of the American education system severed students from more than just classrooms, friends and extracurricular activities. It has also cut off an estimated 55 million children and teenagers from school staff members whose open doors and compassionate advice helped them build self-esteem, navigate the pressures of adolescence and cope with trauma. I have to admit it here , but my opinion is here . The American education system with particular attention to blue states , the ED system was ruined . What I mean by ruined is what we used to consider "normal" for public schools . 

The Coming Vaccination Mandate ?

 Example , The matter-of-fact admission to schools will mark the first acknowledgement from the head of a major school system that the vaccination is likely headed to the list of required school immunizations. (8)>>ONCE A coronavirus vaccine is widely available for children, immunization will be required for students in Los Angeles to attend classes, that district's superintendent said. So closely examining this makes me wonder how the school system was transformed by the pandemic ? As a result of the schools being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, classes were almost universally disrupted for months in the first half of 2020. As pupils gradually return to school, the high costs of not learning should be taken into account. The future impact of past and future learning losses need to be considered when it comes to the design of mixed in-person and home learning and when classes are potentially cancelled again locally or regionally due to newly occurring infections.Whether it’s safe to reopen schools is a difficult calculation: though children seem to show fewer symptoms of Covid-19, we still don’t have definitive evidence of what role they play in spreading the virus between households. Any reopening must weigh the risks to society at large, to children’s education, and to the economy, as the continuing closure of schools prevents parents from returning to work.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS .

It will remain to be seen how long the hybrid model will last in most school districts .  According to the Ed Source article " No Going Back"👉[ https://www.edweek.org/technology/no-going-back-from-remote-and-hybrid-learning-districts-say/2021/01 ] is vary chilling . Here is a quote :  “There’s no going back now,” said Pedro Martinez, superintendent of the 49,000-student public school system in San Antonio, Texas, where voters recently approved a $90 million bond to pay for new technology–including cameras and microphones that will be used to broadcast teachers working from their classrooms into the homes of thousands of students learning remotely across the city. REMEMBER this is TEXAS not California ! The lock downs have in sense already ruined the national education system with all the cautionary requirements in keeping students , staff "safe" . The secondary problem is a lot of the regulations are over done to a point that most schools will look like prisons with padded restrictions on the children themselves by wearing masks and social distancing [if you keeps children away from each other , good luck] Another problem is the "over sanitation " of use of chemicals in the classrooms to fight the "virus" . Personally the virus can't exist on any surfaces for a long time , so the over spraying could lead to other health issues by the chemicals themselves . If you understand this , the virus needs a "host" to jump from one body to another . You can't catch it on table tops , you can get it from a infected person , that has been verified medically .  (9)>>Now Will schools remain open through the year ahead . We will just have to see ? 

NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>Schools are the most essential of all things. But for nearly all of the state's biggest school districts, no amount of money will allow them to provide in-person learning because of the rising levels of coronavirus infections. In Los Angeles, for example, nearly 1 in 3 students from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods tested positive for COVID-19 during the month of December , according to data from the school district, which is overseeing a testing program for students and teachers. AN  op-ed in the Washington Post illustrated how the terms of the debate have shifted. Two epidemiologists from Johns Hopkins University wrote that “it strains credulity to claim that schools play no role in driving viral spread” and noted that multiple studies have shown school closures were associated with “substantial reductions in community spread.” Rather than insisting schools are safe, they argued that the benefits of in-person learning were so important that leaders should be “honest” about the risks posed by Covid-19 in schools so communities could more effectively tackle them. The authors recognize this is easier said than done. “Frank and open conversations among stakeholders … might be even more difficult than finding time and money for mitigation efforts,” they wrote, identifying the charged politics around the issue.The $1.9 trillion relief plan has a lot of money going to education. About $129 billion goes directly to K-12 education. Before a school reopening summit meeting , President Biden announced the release of $81 billion of the funds. Separately, colleges and universities will get about $40 billion.  Districts have until late 2024 to spend the money, which they should receive within a few months. Experts said the long timeline is an acknowledgment of how much investment students may need to recover from this past academic year. (2)>>a worrisome CDC directors message looms.  see this  👉 [ https://cnb.cx/3mkjOxU ]  In an emotional plea during the White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing on Monday, the CDC chief, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, described a feeling of "impending doom.""We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope," Walensky said. "But right now, I'm scared."The cause of her concern? A rising number of coronavirus cases in the United States. “I'm going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom," Walensky said, appearing to hold back tears. "We do not have the luxury of inaction. For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge.""The trajectory of the pandemic in the United States looks similar to many other countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy, and France looked like just a few weeks ago," continued Walensky. "And since that time, those countries have experienced a consistent and worrying spike in cases." In fact, "Europe and Russia," one of eight global regions that The Washington Post tracks daily, is experiencing the most daily new infections per capita: 29 per 100,000 people on March 29, followed by South America with 27 per 100k and the United States with 19 per 100k. Among the countries that Walensky cited, France is experiencing the most severe surge: 70 per 100k, a 45% increase in the past week, making it the sixth-highest in the world. Walensky said those numbers are especially worrisome because the pattern looks similar to the trajectory of European countries, including Germany, Italy and France, which are now battling a new wave of infections. President Biden echoed her dire warnings.  (3)>>the education world was turned upside down. Most governments have temporarily closed schools, now many are reopening in the U.S.  World wide affecting over 1.5 billion students in 191 countries. The pandemic has laid bare the difficulties of distance learning and reaching and teaching students in a crisis. Let’s be clear: The first order of business for educators, in the midst of massive school closures, has been to make sure their students are safe, fed and have access to as many social programs as possible. The second priority has been to find a way to continue a plan of learning. In both cases the pandemic is exposing and exacerbating the deep inequities that have long shaped public education across the globe.(4)>>California was probably hit worse . Schools across California face a devastating fiscal future, with a loss in revenue of $1,400 per student — or more, state education experts said. How big is still unknown.Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to release a revised budget proposal in May with his guess. In January, he anticipated increasing school funding to $84 billion, with $3.4 billion in new revenue. Part of the money for schools has to come from the Federal government in order to sustain education funding in California . Right now school districts are facing serious uncertain budget adjustments for 2022 to 2023 . Shifting to distance learning is costing many districts an extra $200 per child,Providing summer school would cost an additional $500 for each. The news could've been worse for schools. Because California law closely ties education funding with state revenues, schools could've lost billions more. But Newsom proposed a series of temporary measures — including injecting another $4.4 billion of federal coronavirus relief money directly into district budgets — to backfill some of the revenue loss. With additional money of 6 billion to re-open schools this year . Still many school districts face enrollment issues .(5)>>Children can be carriers. They may not exhibit symptoms, but they could spread the virus to the adults working at the school. Many studies contradict each other . Early data from K-12 schools do not confirm fears that bringing students together in classrooms inevitably creates COVID-19 petri dishes — although the absence of a standardized national database of school cases makes it impossible to know for sure. University researchers have partly filled the void with a plethora of data analyses from selected schools and grades.When researchers at Duke University School of Medicine asked selected parents in the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan area to track symptoms in children who tested positive for the coronavirus early in the pandemic, among the notable answers was this: After 28 days, more than one-third of the 6- to 13-year-olds had shown no symptoms at all.  In a study of 192 children ages 0-22, 49 children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and an additional 18 children had late-onset, COVID-19-related illness. The infected children were shown to have a significantly higher level of virus in their airways than hospitalized adults in ICUs for COVID-19 treatment, according to Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Mass General Hospital for Children ((MGHfC).The Duke studyfound that children carry large amounts of the virus in their respiratory systems, says Matthew Kelly, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Duke who co-authored the study with Permar and others. He posits that for several reasons, younger children might not transmit the virus as effectively as adults; for instance, children may not generate aerosols as effectively as older children and adults when they cough, sneeze, or breathe.(6)>> San Francisco School District  for example.  This School District became unhinged after its board was look to re name 44 schools rather than opening up the schools . I thought I was all about politics , it was about Trump , BLM , Cancel Culture . But ridiculous waste of time for school board members shift priorities. BUT that scandal did not end there . It was more of huge joke .  Alison Collins, the embattled vice president of the San Francisco School Board, has filed a lawsuit against the district and her colleagues, saying they violated her First Amendment rights with their response to her posts on Twitter. The lawsuit says the district and her colleagues infringed on her right to free speech in their response to her tweets posted back when she was a private, non-governmental employee. The Cancel Culture went after a black women over tweets that seem anti- Asian . Seems like this race thing is more about eating each other with stupid accusations . (7)>>If anything that might lead to a nationwide lock down by the Biden Administration .   Biden expressed similar sentiments in August, saying he would do "whatever it takes to save lives," including a national lockdown, if COVID-19 infections surged in January, exacerbated by the flu season. "I would shut it [the country] down; I would listen to the scientists," Biden told ABC News anchor David Muir.A president does have the power to take other nationwide actions, like closing the borders, to slow the spread of the virus. On NBC's Meet the Press, Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, called the B.1.1.7 variant a "brand-new ballgame" because of how quickly it has spread among children, citing roughly 750 Minnesota schools that have reported the variant in just the last two weeks. Osterholm also suggested the U.S. may need to consider new lockdowns before school lets out this summer, saying vaccination alone won't curb rising cases in the next six to eight weeks and telling Fox News Sunday that "there isn't a country in the world right now that has seen a big increase in this [variant] that is not locking down."(8)>>ONCE A coronavirus vaccine. Several pharmaceutical companies are doing clinical trials in adolescents or young children. Pfizer was already testing its vaccine in kids aged 12 to 15, and it just announced results showing that its vaccine works very well at preventing COVID in this age group.* Moderna has been testing its vaccine in those aged 12 to 17. And this month both companies began trials in children aged six months to 11 years. Johnson & Johnson recently described plans to test its vaccine in young children and adolescents, too.  BUT STILL likely be months before the vaccine becomes widely available for children, since drug companies are in the beginning phases of including them in ongoing vaccination trials. As it stands, the Pfizer vaccine can be given to people age 16 and older, but the Moderna vaccine is for adults 18 and older. Both drug companies have enrolled children as young as 12 in ongoing trials. Novavax Inc.plans to expand its COVID-19 vaccine trials to include children and teens by the second quarter. The biotech also said it will start crossover trials in its ongoing trials of the vaccine candidate. The crossover will ensure that all participants in the trials, including U.S. participants, will receive an active vaccine candidate, the company said. The trials will remain blind to preserve the ability to assess their efficacy.(9)>>Now Will schools remain open through the year ahead . We will just have to see ?  To be honest, I foresee them being FORCED to close them, if things continue getting worse, and parameters around what kids need to be back in school don't change.  Had those two overlapped, the school would have struggled to fill both of the vacancies. Add in flu season, and you'll have so many teachers who are also parents needing to be getting their kids Covid tests that the system won't be able to stay open, so it'll make the most sense to just have teachers in their own homes teaching (vs. coming into schools to to teach digitally).