Think of the children... or the economy

The mayor and the superintendent are probably going to announce today that the schools aren't ready to open. At least they will tell us that's what the numbers say.  

The city has set benchmarks of fewer than 50 new cases per day and a sustained decline in new cases for 14 consecutive days before moving to new reopening phases, and Avegno said the district should also consider these for reopening schools.

She also said she wants positivity rates to remain below 5% of people tested.

An analysis of the city's health data shows that in recent days New Orleans has come nowhere near meeting most of those goals.

Case numbers have been rising since late June, shortly after Phase 2 was implemented. The last time Orleans Parish showed fewer than 50 new cases in a day was July 6.

There were nearly twice as many cases in the 14 days that ended Friday -- 1,129 -- than there were in the 14 days prior, when the city saw 583 cases. The percent of residents who test positive hovered between 5 and 7 this past week.

"No other country has reopened schools with the level of community transmission that today is happening in America," Avegno told school leaders on Wednesday.

What they end up actually doing is another matter.  Because, once again, thanks to the complete lack of support from the federal government the virus is out of control all over the country and cities and states are left to twist in the wind. And with little sign that any of that is going to change, our local decision-makers are at the mercy of political pressures born of public anxiety they should not have to confront right now. This is what they mean when they say the situation is "fluid."  It means we've all been left to drown.

But, hey, sometimes you just gotta take it.  You know, for The Economy.

School Board member Sarah Usdin said the health department will have to balance the economy and safety.

"I just feel like there’s no right answer," Usdin said. "This is such an incredibly hard, hard time for everyone. It's unprecedented and we want what’s best for everyone. And there’s no way to have what’s best for everyone."

"There's no way to have what's best for everyone."  Would love to hear Usdin elaborate on this.  Some people want safety but other people want to make money, is what it sounds like she is saying. Such a difficult choice! Can't imagine there being a "right answer" to that.

Update:  Really needed to append this Elizabeth Warren op-ed here because it provides a direct "right answer" to Usdin.

Those who frame the debate as one of health versus economics are missing the point. It is not possible to fix the economy without first containing the virus. We need a bold, ambitious legislative response that does four things: brings the virus under control; gets our schools, child care centers, businesses, and state and local governments the resources they need; addresses the burdens on communities of color; and supports struggling families who don’t know when the next paycheck will come.

Warren goes on to list a number of things that need to happen in the next federal relief bill, including direct aid to local school districts, so that we don't have to listen to false frames like the one Usdin presents us with.  Not counting on any of that coming to pass, of course. But it's important to make sure people know they're being denied solutions rather than simply telling them none exist.   

Getting all the kids infected so we can own the libs

Just in case the fast approaching benefits expiration and evictions cliff wasn't enough stress for everyone to handle at once, we've also got this.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will consider “minimum health and safety standards” for reopening Louisiana schools — triggered by a new law — during a special meeting Tuesday.

The public got a glimpse of what those standards will look like — and which could be up for debate — when Louisiana Department of Education State Superintendent Cade Brumley and BESE President Sandy Holloway spoke before the House Committee on Education Monday. The standards, drafted as emergency replacement bulletins for traditional schools and charter schools, include limits on class size, bus capacity, social distancing and cleaning requirements and largely reflect guidelines previously released by the LDOE.

The "standards" are, like the rules under which everything else has been operating under these circumstances, deliberately loose. Because we really are all just making this up as we go along.

Face coverings — which are, for now, required in businesses and public buildings for anyone over the age of eight as part of an executive order effective Monday — are a point of major political contention in the state and around the country. BESE’s draft language stops short of a mask mandate. It appears to offer schools some flexibility, saying children older than eight and adults inside a school building “must wear a face covering to the greatest extent possible and practical within the local community context.”

All of which is completely understandable. Everyone really is trying to feel their way through this. It might be a bit easier to figure out what is "possible and practical within the local community context," if we hadn't designed such a convoluted context to begin with.

Until this point, local and state guidelines have been largely based on federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and have been packaged as suggestions, not mandates. Local Education Agencies, or LEAs, are in charge of their own plans. In New Orleans, most charter schools are considered their own LEAs and it’s been unclear what role the district might play in reviewing or authorizing any reopening plans.

The district did not respond to inquiries regarding whether it would be approving individual charter group plans.

The thing is, though, a virus doesn't care about any of this stuff.  So while it's fine for state agencies and charter boards to differentiate their "local contexts" and spheres of authority, ideally their plans for containing the virus should all be relatively uniform.  This is precisely the reason the governor has had to issue a statewide mask mandate.  Exceptions and discretion are going to come into play as a matter of course, but the baseline rules need to have some clarity. Devolving all the authority to individual school districts and charter boards is just inviting more chaos.

Keep in mind, also, inviting chaos may actually be the point.  At least from Betsy DeVos's perspective.

BASH: You're the Secretary of Education. So why do you not have guidance on what schools should do if there's a coronavirus outbreak just weeks before you want them to reopen?

DeVOS: There are really good examples that have been utilized in the private sector. pic.twitter.com/RBFxZ5OeFw

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 12, 2020

All the schools MUST OPEN...  and, you know, we're sure they will figure out how.  Why would they be so deliberately cruel and disruptive? The short answer is, screw you, that is why.

Every push to "reopen" anything right now, be it a school or a hotel or a fish tank, or whatever is a push by the bosses to blame the workers they subject to unsafe conditions for their own peril.  A bill John Bel just signed into law protects certain employers, including school districts from liability if their workers or the people they serve get sick.  The Trump administration is pushing for similar measures to go into the next round of  federal "relief" legislation.

What is your company or organization telling you right now about leave time? What are the mixed messages they are sending you about "safety" on the job vs. your obligation to show up and put yourself and others in danger? That kind of chaos is happening in every workplace forced by policy makers in Washington to "reopen" with minimal guidance or support. The goal of the policy, as always, is a more frightened and compliant labor pool.

And it is being implemented with little or no regard for your safety or the safety of your children.