Governor Cuomo gave thumbs-up to reopening schools in New York so long as their plans are approved by the state. Some parents and teachers are happy. Some are worried. Sone wonder how schools will pay for testing and tracing.
Schools have already opened in a few other states, and their experiences bear watching.
There is still much about the virus that is unknown, and some states (California and Georgia) reopened too soon, sone states are watching upticks in the infection rate (Massachusetts, New Jeraey), some nations reopened too soon (Israel, Spain, South Korea).
A seven-year-old boy with no pre-existing conditions died of COVID-19 in Georgia.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post wrote today:
If the national failure has an image, it is the photo of the crowded hallway of a high school in Paulding County, Ga., this week, where schools rushed to reopen with a mask-optional policy even though an outbreak was underway. As schools reopen without safeguards, the virus is already hitting students and staff in Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi and Kansas.
It didn’t have to be this way. Cornell researchers report that other countries have found ways to reopen schools — with self-administered tests with overnight results (Germany), daily temperature checks (China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan), staggered arrival times (Japan, Israel), measures to let vulnerable staff work remotely (Britain, Israel, Denmark), and policies prioritizing elementary schools for reopening (Denmark, Norway). They’ve expanded transportation, limited class size, spaced desks, installed partitions, closed public spaces and moved classes outside.
The successful countries also had a crucial precondition: a low infection rate. A new article in the Lancet calculates that in order for British schools to reopen full-time in September, 75 percent of people with symptoms would need to be tested, positive cases isolated and 68 percent of contacts traced. Otherwise, a resulting new wave could be twice as bad as the first.
Here in the United States, testing, isolation and tracing capability lag badly, while Trump falsely claims children are “almost immune” from the virus and his education secretary claims children are “stoppers of the disease.”
How was the most powerful and advanced nation on earth brought so low? Of the various causes, one rises above all: The incompetence and selfishness of just one man.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
In the USA, school leaders need to learn from other countries that opened schools. Admit children, faculty and school personnel danger is unknown. Low community infection rate is a base requirement. Go slow. Begin with 12-14 students in a class. Use masks. Serve box lunches in class of choice. How? Pretend each school is 2 schools. Work on day 1 n day 2 schedule. Students with disabilities attend daily in small groups. Bus riders are 1 a row on each side of bus. Test all adults every 3 days in session. Students on days home should be assigned appropriate learning events. Teachers can figure it out. Parents need help with child care. Libraries and closed private schools may become partners with local community schools.
Since we cannot predict outcomes, we need to go slow and be willing to adapt to outcomes. Recall we must protect children and staff.
“Bus riders are 1 a row on each side of bus” Why not skip every row? What is the measurable effectiveness of a measure?
Perhaps 12 to 14 students down from thirty is fine, but maybe is needs to be 7 or it is careless. How to quantify measures and reduction? Who picks the numbers? Why is half the magic number? Why six feet but not on a bus or a plane? Never ever buying inconsistency.
Hello everyone,
Well, I said this over in another post, but it goes here, too.
Remember the apotheosis of Governor Cuomo a few months back?? Of all the dodging and punting he did today at his phoned in news conference of a few minutes, here is the sentence that sticks in my mind the most and I quote, “INDOORS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO AVOID.” That’s a direct quote from Cuomo. I wrote it down. And this is in a state that has about a 1% positive rate!
Ok, if “indoors is what you want to avoid,” how is it that we are now going to have hundreds of people in schools for at least 7 hours per day?
Amazingly, Governor Cuomo also said that in a school of 1,000, he might expect 50 people to arrive with a temperature!!!! That’s his guesstimate!! What do we do with those 50 people??? Do the other people then go into the school??? Those people who have a high temperature could have siblings or parents or staff who are then going to go into the school??? Of course, there were absolutely NO answers to these questions!!! It’s amazing!
You are right. There is no way to safe way open schools anywhere in this country.
What about a one-room schoolhouse in a very rural area with one teacher and one student and they are both tested before starting each school day?
This article is about a week old. I was shocked at its anti-union bias! What’s the story with its writers?
Live lessons all day can be very problematic for families sharing one computer for adult workers at home and students at home, or even sharing one weak Internet connection.
I plan to hold live conferences with individual students and groups of students, rather than hold many full class live video sessions or record gobs of lectures.
Here’s the article:
What Teachers’ Unions Are Fighting For as Schools Plan a New Year https://nyti.ms/2CZkGpr
*live video conferences with individual students band groups of students
OK. New York Coronavirus Surge, v2.0!
Kids are very effective transmitters of the infection: https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2020/07/31/new-evidence-suggests-young-children-spread-covid-19-more-efficiently-than-adults/#28c6fd6719fd
Thanks for this article. I know of elementary schools in New York that are planning FULL capacity (hundreds of students day) in school every day of the week. Even if these kids and staff could follow all the guidelines which they CAN’T, it would be difficult to stop the spread of the virus.
Yes. This is insanity.
Mamie, I have said it before and I will say it again, even if I anger a lot of people and get slammed for saying it:
Unfortunately, it will take the deaths of enough children and staff members to dramatically alter the political landscape, and this will probably occur nation-wide. The Congress and Senate basically thumbed their noses at Sandy Hook and went back into bed with the NRA. This is different. It cannot be ignored and even those parents who support Trump will not want their children or loved ones to perish in the schools.
If we had a society like Western Europe or Scandinavia, we would have withstood this virus better and have more resources to reopen the schools. We may as well be Brazil minus the Portuguese spoken. In European school systems, financing is largely federalized, which is the polar opposite here, where that would be considered “big government” and a violation of “state rights” and “state responsibilities to provide education”. Instead we had PPP going to private schools galore (a Betsy DeVos wet dream come true), and public schools getting negligible to nothing to help them reopen safely.
Pathetic, infuriating, sad, immoral, and just about every negative adjective you can think of. But our officials are a reflection of the ignorance of the American people, which is what we are fighting far more than the politicians.
Still, we will prevail with relentless heavy lifting and banding together.
“Unfortunately, it will take the deaths of enough children and staff members to dramatically alter the political landscape, and this will probably occur nation-wide”
Since Trump changed the way hospitals report deaths from the CDC to someone in his administration that he controls, will we even hear about all or most of the deaths?
R Rendo, agree w/every word you have written here. It will take wildly-ramped-up community spread & consequent rise in hospitalization and deaths for many of our communities to get a clue & realize they have to close schools [& indoor-dining/ bars, gyms, salons et al close-contact activities, plus place severe restrictions on capacity at grocers/ retails] for an extended period & bring covid stats to a trickle before they can even begin to slowly, safely restart economy. And even then, they’ll have to maintain that low profile until vaccine is available & fully distributed.
And remember–this is in FORBES, a business-oriented publication. Vox said exactly the same, but we’d expect it from Vox.
Decades of “government is the problem, not the solution” has left us with a government that is ill equipped politically and intellectually to handle COVID. Drink the Kool-aid then as a voter and die now from COVID. It was bound to catch up. It would be a little arrogant to think otherwise.
For me, government is NEVER the problem; it’s ineffective and inequitable government that’s the problem. That’s what we all need to fight and pass the fight onto newer generations who have somewhat different stakes than those of us 50+. This is an “us/we” problem, but younger generations are inheriting something many of us did not. Get rid of the politically arthritic Chuck and Nancy show and the Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul immorality cartel and franchise, and infuse much younger blood into the system. That’s one of many things we need . . .
SHAME on Obama for not endorsing AOC (as in her youth she worked on his campaign while her father was in ill health and eventually died within days of Obama being elected) and SHAME on the DNC for not letting her be one of the speakers at upcoming forums.
New, younger, fresh blood . . . A veritable transfusion.
“More and more studies show that kids are actually stoppers of the disease and they don’t get it and transmit it themselves.” –Ditzy DeVoid, Magical Thinker and Secretary of the Department for Privatizing U.S. Education, formerly the USDE
This may be the dumbest line ever from a public official.
Well, not just one man. Trump has Congressional enablers. Cuomo looks good because most others are terrible. It’s a low bar. The infection rate in NY is 1% . He’s willing to tolerate 5%. In other words, he expects infections to spread and he is OK with that. I’m not OK with more dead people as the price for kids having limited in-person contact.
Cuomo won’t tax his millionaire friends to help schools pay for required safeguards for schools. Ventilation systems are antiquated and school buildings are not set up to act as sterile environments.
Cuomo is making the same mistake that he made with nursing homes. leaving it up to local school boards who for the most part ignore the concerns of teachers.
Every illness, every death caused by his asinine decision will be on him.
As a Bronx, NY public High School teacher, I have some thoughts on this – for myself, my students and colleagues, and our community. Here is my blog post from today: https://www.badassteacher.org/bats-blog/if-you-send-your-child-back-to-school-by-abigail-hope?fbclid=IwAR1xhgZkGr3_ljCX_ykBDSsHNRysKpuFTkN95o4c44_gNswCv0iVjgYrfZ4
Thoughtful blog, Abbey.
You write, “Entire communities will be risking their lives for a fantasy of “school” that doesn’t even exist anymore.”
Yeah, lots of the things that make school great will be missing. But will it all be gone?
And, will what remains be worth the risk of people getting ill at school and maybe taking that virus far and wide outside of our classrooms?
What a tough situation.
I’m seeking wisdom, hence my time spent on this site.
I trust the people on here. And, I trust my union. And, there are longtime colleagues who I’d trust with my life,
Well, I’ll probably be doing that and very soon.
Take care.
While New York is in better shape than many states, everyone knows that they are in uncharted territory. I heard one expert predict that in the colder states, he believes we will see a new surge when weather changes in November. I hope the expert is wrong.
Teachers are nervous, but my New York colleagues are prepared to take it one step at a time. My friends are in a suburban district. I do not know how the cities will handle reopening. It will be a challenge to say the least. I hope the schools are ready for what they are about to face. Godspeed to all.
It’s in better shape now. But just wait a bit.
I want to make two points;
One: There is only one thing that qualifies the United States as the most powerful country on the planet and that is its military. Power through intimidation.
Two: The U.S. is no longer the most advanced country on the planet.
There are several reasons for that. Since NCLB, the public education system is no longer one of the best in the world and it is stagnant or declining.
Most of the world has faster and cheaper internet.
https://broadbandnow.com/report/2018-fcc-international-data-insights/
Most developed nations have better health care.
https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/quality-u-s-healthcare-system-compare-countries/#item-age-standardized-disability-adjusted-life-year-daly-rate-per-100000-population-2017
Most developed nations have better up-to-date infrastructure.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/13/politics/can-trump-fire-fauci/index.html
The United States is not number one or even in the top ten for the highest quality of electricity supply.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/268155/ranking-of-the-20-countries-with-the-highest-quality-of-electricity-supply/
The United States isn’t even the fatest country in the world. The U.S. is ranked #17 out of more than 190 countries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_body_mass_index
The United States is ranked #46 for average lifespan at 79.11 years. Japan is #2 at 85.03 years.
The United States does not have a high-speed rail network. The U.S. is ranked #17 with 362 miles of high-speed rail.
#1 is China with 35,000 miles of high-speed rail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_high-speed_railway_lines
Lloyd, a great professor I had 33 years ago at CCNY just posted an article that connects to points you make here.
Hopefully, the link works.
Worth the read though it certainly did NOT cheer me up. In fact, it further unraveled my already reeling brain.
Rolling Stone “The Unraveling of America Anthropologist Wade Davis on how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era” August 6, 2020
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/?fbclid=IwAR2FN6q7Hh3REIJG4G8YdUDAeUXVdaqBV0Vflw5g1ji4EhsVV58sssr9-b0
“The fastest vaccine ever developed was for mumps. It took four years. COVID-19 killed 100,000 Americans in four months. There is some evidence that natural infection may not imply immunity, leaving some to question how effective a vaccine will be, even assuming one can be found. And it must be safe. If the global population is to be immunized, lethal complications in just one person in a thousand would imply the death of millions.”
Not to mention there is no vaccine for the common cold. So I think they have their work cut out for them.
Combine my list and his and it looks like the United States is doomed, totally over and done with.
Yes, wealth inequity was at a tipping point and the factors at play now are pushing it to a crisis. Congress can’t agree and figure out what to do. There is little sense of economic fairness or any concern for the basic concepts. The only solutions seem to be lottery like giveaways which are not equitably distributed.
Will good king Trump extend eviction moratoriums? That would be ironic given the source of his father’s fortune.
Excellent article. Thank you for the link. Biden should read this article, and not just listen to neo-liberal advisers.
Fantastic article John!
NYC teachers and principals have grave doubts about the ability of the city to open school safely
“There is still much about the virus that is unknown”
Indeed.
And when there is significant uncertainty as there is in this case, it is wise to err on the side of caution.
A lot of people don’t understand this. And, unfortunately we are already paying for their ignorance..
Sit back and enjoy the horror show, William Henry Gates III is in charge.
Even before CPS decided to go all remote, school district after school district in the Chicago suburbs has announced the same. I fully expect most of Illinois to go this route, & a large part of that is that we have Governor Pritzker, who actually follows the science & has the Head of the IDPH speak to the issue. Mayor Lightfoot has done the same in Chicago: it wasn’t just pressure from the CTU that made this the right decision.
It’s called Leadership.” I am very grateful to be living in Illinois at this time, & proud of our leaders.
I hope that all of you out there won’t have to do what teachers & students in Georgia, Texas & Florida have had to do already, thus proving (& thank you brave GA student who released your video of crowded halls & classrooms, no masks, who was suspended {later rescinded, but I think she–& her classmates–best stay home, anyway}) that **the rest of the nations schools–ESPECIALLY in a city the size of NYC–should NOT open.
We know what we know, & that is, we DON’T know.
Oh, & today a little girl in Florida, interviewed on national news tonight, innocently said, “I’m excited to go back to school & have lunch & play w/my friends.”
Just as was written above, “fantasy” schools. &–corporations–just STOP w/these “back to school” commercials: kids frolicking around, maskless, talking to friends, showing off the latest outfits from Old Navy (or wherever)–STOP making it worse for our children, please.
Back to school commercials….
Yes! I perceived this feeling under my skin but didn’t really give it enough thought until reading your post. I guess when the TV is on here it’s usually playing in the background as I’m doing two or three other things.
The typical back to school ads have a ghoulish tinge to them these days don’t they? Commerce continuing apace amidst the crisis. Life goes on but does it….?
Actually, I usually make it a point to visit retail stores prior to July 4 just so I can soak up some summer atmosphere prior to the start of the “Big Sell” which usually kicks off right after Independence Day.
(Was it always this way? I don’t remember the back to school hoopla starting that early when I was a kid…but maybe I was just much, much better at denial and distraction back then…)
Funny thing was, the Target nearest to me never really had up all their usual summer decorations this time around -those big, sunny, splashy signs hanging from the ceiling. Masks and hand sanitizer were finally available in piles and their was a walled off area I guess to prepare the packages for people doing that drive by shopping thing…(?)
Drive by schooling, next up!
The dollar store in town already has some Halloween candy and decorations on display.
Wow, that holiday should be truly strange amidst COVID.
Scariest costume: someone who constructs a big coronavirus out of papier-mache then climbs inside and roams the dark streets from house to house….
Correction: should be “there” in 5th bigger graf. Clear indication I should stop reading and starting drinking….my coffee, that is.
John, I love reading your always wise, true (& often sarcastic) comments. (Like your costume suggestion.)
No, I’m old enough to remember that “back to school” merchandising on tv & elsewhere was not the norm, & that we all used to start school after Labor Day (because we weren’t having to go back do early so that we could start the endless test prepping). This was in the 50s & 60s.
Yes, the next boondoggle for kids is Halloween. I am not kidding nor being sarcastic; something else taken away from children, childhood stolen. My first Halloween (I think I was 4, & my 9-year-olf sister was going to take me; really the old days–who lets their kids go out together, roaming the streets, like that anymore? Also, restricted hours, so kids wouldn’t even be out after dark.) In fact, last Halloween, we had a snowstorm here! n(But fine weather in …December! Several of the suburbs designated the next Saturday–because this was a weekday–for trick-or-treating, but most didn’t, so the kids also lost out on quite possibly the last one ever.
Once again, kudos & thanks to it45 (bethree5).
No wonder Barron is quite possibly the unhappiest looking child I’ve seen in a long time.
Andrew Cuomo, in announcing his decision on school reopenings:
“We’ve been smart from day one. We do the masks, we do the social distancing, we’ve kept that infection rate down. nd we can bring the same level of intelligence to the school reopening that we brought to the economic reopening.”
Smart from day one?
What has little Andy been smoking?
Whatever it is, it must be pretty good.
Cuomo: We’ve been smart and gotten the infection rate down to 1%. Now let’s be stupid and make the threshold 5%. How many more dead people does that mean. Smart?
when being smart and staying smart don’t mesh
If I recall correctly, DeBlasio wanted to close the schools early on, but Cuomo blocked him and flexed his “I am the Governor” muscles.
Where might those “Governor muscles” be, ha, ha? The last time I took human anatomy was in 12th grade.
BTW “The Buffalo News” has done some great reporting following the back to school/COVID story in New York State.
Here’s a link to a good piece about Cuomo’s comments yesterday. (Hopefully you can get it open. I have a subscription.)
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/education/schools-allowed-to-reopen-raising-more-questions-and-debate/article_10c4ba2c-d8f7-11ea-9f9c-43cc0fd178bc.html
An ominous comment in the story: “No one is cheering,” Richard Hughes, superintendent of the Frontier Central School District, said after listening to the governor.
Cuomo is flexing his governor muscle?
What does “Smart from Day One” mean to Andrew Cuomo? The only way to find out is to know who he is and what he thinks that he doesn’t share with the public. Then crawl inside AC’s head and expose him naked for who he really is.
Dumb from day one
Cuomo was dumb
Dumb as they come
Out of the womb
On the day one
I’ve seen this show before…. Thinking they exist in a bubble governors loosen restrictions as the numbers dip but then are brought to heel before a novel virus that has never been effectively addressed. Trump blew the initial response trading sage medical and scientific advice for his Orwellian Kremlin double-think histrionics. Republicans should never be allowed the keys to federal government ever again. All they can do is transfer money from the hollowed-out middle class to billionaires and corporations. Anything else – including managing a pandemic or providing aid to struggling families – and they’re like a bear trying to solve a Rubik’s cube.
In the New York State Department of Health Guidelines it states and I quote,
“Vulnerable Populations: Policies regarding vulnerable populations, including students, faculty and staff who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness, AND INDIVIDUALS WHO MAY NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE RETURNING TO AN IN-PERSON EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT, to allow them to safely participate in educational activities and, where appropriate, accommodate their specific circumstances. These accommodations may include but are not limited to remote learning or telework, modified educational or work settings, or providing additional PPE to individuals with underlying health conditions.”
So, does this mean ANY teacher who does NOT have a medical condition but who does NOT feel comfortable going into school can ask to work from home? That’s the way it seems to me.
You are right. It is a mess. Cuomo shifted the decisions to locals, and most don’t have the resources to protect students and staff.
I also listened to the New York State Senate Education Committee on August 5. Betty Little who is a NYS State Senator from the 45th District basically said that schools have to be able to get MORE kids on the buses. I think it was the NYS Health Commissioner Howard Zucker who told her NO, students have to maintain 6 feet distance on the buses even if they are wearing masks. She pressed the point a few times. So, this is a NY State Senator who wants to get as many little kids on those buses as she can and basically disregard the guidelines. ! I was astounded!
Opening schools is a PIPE dream and we know where pipe drams get us.
No state can open until all states can open. You are right, it is a pipe dream.
Remember the bumper sticker: “If you can read this, Thank a teacher!”
Now it’s “Your kid is still home? Thank the president”
(every post and article about schools should begin with why we are where we are).
As for this blog topic, it’s a no win.
Our state has left everything up to the counties from day 1. The governor has been criticized heavily for it but like most states ours has crowded urban centers, suburbs, exurbs, rural communities, and a lot of open space. They are not airtight bubbles, but they are very different.
What we and other states need are not statewide mandates and political opinions but science-based statewide laws and regulations – and accountability.
Why is this a “whose opinion?” instead of a “what facts?” thing.
We have standards and inspections for restaurants.
We have standards and drills for fire, earthquake, tornado, and … intruders.
We have laws about immunizations.
We have laws about bullying.
We have laws protecting those with disabilities.
Where are the Covid standards, laws, or ordinances – and inspections and sanctions for schools?
So if NY is going the way of leave it up to the locals, it’s with controls.
Looks like New York has established standards, guidance, and some check and balance. Districts must submit their plans, even if it is to the state department of education (why not the state department of health), and must post the details for parents and staff.
Everywhere superintendents and principals, union leaders, and others are looking at every detail and have been for months. We know more about droplets, superspreaders, chemicals in wipes that don’t mix with others, temperature scanners, protocols to notify those traced after exposure, and more. But not experts.
Johns Hopkins, MIT, EdWeek’s compilations of stories and others are informative.
But we’re all still flying blind because the standard-bearer CDC has been censored.
We shouldn’t be here in August. IT”S AUGUST! This should be over.
So while the WH and the FOOLS ON THE HILL make things worse, State guidelines agreed on by doctors, scientists, local and school health officials, unions, and others would help.
I wish people would stop at this point trying to come up with scenarios to open schools now. There needs to be a real national policy, scientifically based, to open. We don’t have one and we all no why. If we started way back when we should have we would probably be able to open very carefully now. PINO’s comment on Axios, “That’s the way it is,” tells it all. Hopefully, we will have a new administration, a real one, on January 20, and can get in school sessions back by next school year. That little boy in Georgia was very real. He was someones child, grandchild in the opening experiment. Before you come up with ways to reopen, ask yourself if you are willing to experiment with your child. Then you’ll have the answer to opening.
There may be a vaccine in the latter part of this year or early next year.
With all the uncertainty surrounding the virus, the rush to open before then is the height of folly.
Making decisions based in ignorance is not a sign of a leader but of a dumba**.
I expect Trump to announce that because of his genius, there will be a vaccine soon after the election. He will Tweet this a few days before the election and mention that if he isn’t elected Biden will make sure this vaccine isn’t released, ever.