From TPM Reader MS …
I have rooted for Mayor de Blasio since he took a strong stand against stop-and-frisk and for a bold affordable housing plan in 2013. I’ve been an observer of him for many years from inside and outside city government. And I am completely perplexed by his very-in-character decision to not close the schools.
Until today I was on the fence about closing the schools, and have two public school kids myself who need a lot of supervision. But after talking to other parents and some teachers, it’s just inexplicable. (I will acknowledge that I can weather a school closing, as I’m a white collar worker with remote capability and some control over my schedule.)
Before signing off after this chaotic day, let me make a final point about the schools. I’ve written very critically today about the decision – perplexing to many – to keep open the New York City public schools. I fear the Mayor is making a grave mistake. That is not because I think he’s making a bad public health decision but because he doesn’t seem to be approaching it as a public health decision at all. He’s looking at it through the prism of the city Department of Education which has many critical equities it manages. But public health, certainly not in this crisis context, is not one of them.
Let me return again to the issue of school closures. Though I’m talking about New York City I’m giving this focus here because the issues are applicable to communities around the country and most or all will be facing these questions in the near future.
(For those who are coming to this as the first thing I’ve written on this subject which you’ve read and think I’m not addressing various issues, I invite you to read this post from Thursday March 12th.)
The most constructive point that has come out of my conversations with readers and also stakeholders either in New York or other parts of the country is that the decision-making can break down when we’re thinking about it in zero sum or binary terms. For instance, TPM Reader DW explained that he can keep his kid home (and plans to do so) but many other parents don’t have that option. As I explained in my response, this is a very good argument for switching to offering both remote and in-person instruction. TPM Reader TP notes rightly that the close or not close discussion can leave out a lot of options for what amounts to triaging different parts of the community that are able to do different things.
Here’s an update from TPM Reader DB from the Greater San Diego metro. Let’s understand collectively that each of these notes is a snapshot, not necessarily representative of what is happening in other areas or addressing every issue. Taken together though they can give us some partial understanding of what is unfolding in our country …
As usual TPM is out ahead of the curve, educating readers on pros, cons, and consequences of school closings to slow the spread of COVID-19. It was with this foundation that I followed the five (so far) very thoughtful emails from my daughter’s school district over the last few weeks.
Things in the San Diego area just changed suddenly. On Thursday evening my daughter’s district was going to stay open with the email citing the services offered by the schools. On Friday morning, the district decided to close until April 6, which would be the end of spring break, with the email citing the need to limit community transmission. I’m sure the decision was motivated by announcement that the Los Angeles and San Diego Unified school districts are closing. The executive order by the Governor of California issued on Thursday has had a big impact. It looks like it is governors who are stepping up.
Here’s a note from TPM Reader GH. It echoes DB’s points about the social effects of school closures. I print this not as something in favor of school closures (I can see the opposite argument) as simply a description of their impact …
I’m a parent of 3 children in Seattle Public Schools and am an employee of Amazon and have been working from home for close to two weeks now. I think there were two things that brought on the decision to close the schools. First, I think teacher absenteeism was approaching a breaking point and they could see the writing on the wall. But secondly, the equity lens. Many of our lower-income students live in multi-generational households. They were, correctly in my opinion, starting to stay home.
In a memo released late Saturday evening, White House Doctor Sean Conley said President Trump tested negative for COVID-19.
“Last night after an in-depth conversation with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed. This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” Dr. Conley wrote.
Read the full memo after the jump.
TPM Reader MG on new hospital bans on visitors …
This makes sense but is an extra strain on my family… Our adolescent daughter suffers from a chronic illness and was hospitalized last Thursday at our local children’s hospital in [REDACTED] for the second time this year. Her hospitalizations are lengthy. Her previous stay was 3 weeks long. A nurse called me from the unit this evening to tell me that a new rule requires that only one parent may ever visit. You have to pick. It needs to be the parent most in charge of the patient’s care because that person will also attend what were formerly called “family” sessions with doctors and other caregivers in lieu of both parents. It’s a tough situation. Meanwhile, Ohio has banned visitors all together.
Crying for all the parents with hospitalized kids.
Important new developments in a story we’ve been working since Friday: two emergency room doctors on opposite coasts are in critical condition in what could be the first U.S. cases of occupational transmission of COVID-19. Josh Kovensky has been on the story day and night. Here’s his report.
We’ve updated our breaking overnight news to indicate where in Washington state the ER doc who tested positive is located: It’s Kirkland, the epicenter of the state’s outbreak.
On many levels, governmental leaders are failing us. This shouldn’t be entirely a surprise. In crises things break. Public leadership is one of them. Yet we are also seeing decisive, smart actions by governors and mayors across the country – and the countless civil servants and emergency responders who they speak for and direct. I have no doubt that people are working heroically within the federal government’s public health and emergency response bureaucracy, though their work can be obscured by the decision makers at the top. We are also seeing mass action emerge organically from citizens across the country.
Over the last 18 hours I have done my best to research the situation and decision-making for the New York City public school system. Everything I’ve seen confirms my impression that the Mayor and Chancellor of the school system are in the process of committing a grave and even historic error. It is highly notable that, to the best of my knowledge, in none of his public statements has Mayor DeBlasio shared with the public what the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has advised him with respect to schools.