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I am sceptical about the #closetheschools argument. There is at least one significant practical and ethical difference between how to manage/mitigate the economic consequences and educational consequences of a lockdown - if deemed necessary to prevent the spread/protect NHS.
Economic consequences - while significant - are mitigatable (if the time can be used well re testing/vaccine or both) if there are expansive furlough measures, with those costs treated in an analogous way that war debt could be. (Incur as one-off shock event, pay off gradually).
Educational consequences can not be mitigated/managed in this way that economic consequences could be (for 6-12-18-24 months). A year in the life of a primary school child, or a secondary school child is a much bigger deal than a year in the life of a nation's economic output.
Of course everything should be done to support education staff (as NHS staff and other key workers) to carry on with education as safely as possible. But social class gaps between home-schooling and school-schooling are enough to prioritise schools > shops, restaurants, pubs
The 'war debt' approach to Covid-emergency economic measures merits a much higher profile than it has had. This debt reveals little/nothing about the economic foundations of the UK economy. @stephenkb wrote about this in May 2020 https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1260219153258033153
The enormous cost (£20 million) to slave-owners (not the slaves) in 1835 was 5% of GDP and 40% of national income. That is calculated as £17 billion in today's money, but that was paid off over 180 years
WW2 war debt was paid off 3 times as fast as the 1835 slave-owner compensation - in 50 instalments over 60 years https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1260246446063878144
Support for stronger Covid protections and measures in schools would be more likely to generate broad support https://twitter.com/katherineschof8/status/1322896834201833474
Useful collation of initial educational evidence/lessons from lockdown from the Nuffield Foundation here https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/events/lessons-from-lockdown-improving-learning-and-addressing-disadvantage-in-the-next-stage-of-the-covid-19-pandemic
Thread in response from @Bickerrecord about difficulties and dilemmas of squaring the circle of education & safety https://twitter.com/Bickerrecord/status/1323009041933783061
