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It's Super Bowl Sunday and the night before 9,000 #PhlEd staffers are to return to school. I wonder how many of the officials pushing this rushed & premature school opening watched the @nytimes video on what the NFL did to launch such a massive effort. -HG https://www.nytimes.com/video/sports/100000007560854/nfl-2020-season-covid.html
Around the nation, cities are battling to force a reopening that involves a fraction of students. In Philly, the proposed hybrid reaches <7% of our student body 2 dys/wk. Meanwhile, we ignore what it actually takes to (ahem) move the ball forward. NFL shows it's more than $$.
One of the most striking things about the NFL is its recognition of the importance & magnitude of their undertaking - s/t Philly almost willfully refuses to consider. This was more than getting players on field & games on TV. It was a whole cultural shift + investment in science.
Teams had individual medical specialists to inform & answer questions. They invested in players' (& families') behavior and reined in impulsive/reckless acts that threatened the overall health. They contact traced & got a huge trove of data on the virus and how it spreads.
The defining word: exhausting. It's exhausting to care for ppl on & off the field, to realign your mission to new learning & not resort to old habits. It's exhausting to realize that the public health depends on this more than on science itself. But it's transformational.
Now compare this to officials pushing for a premature return to school. First off, I WELCOME all these folks now realizing that schools are CORE to our economy, are CORE to our collective behavioral health, that teacher/staff buy in are CORE to even operating schools. WELCOME.
Because it was parents like me that had to fight you to get a school nurse in every building - which we didn't win til 2017. PA still doesn't guarantee that. Parents are still fighting to fund a school modernization campaign that remediates our atrocious buildings.
One out of four elementary schools doesn't even have a working mechanical ventilation system. Let that sink in as we deal with an airborne virus that's killed almost 3,000 Philadelphians. One year in, about this supposed *important* issue, schools still don't feel a priority.
We still have no mass testing plan. Quarantine care for exposed children/families/staff is sidelined - is anyone checking in? providing food? ensuring housing? And only this week did our Health Commissioner acknowledge school staff as a possible priority for vaccines.
Perhaps what I'm most distressed about is the failure to see that this is so much more than school. Any return to school is a mass public health effort to affirmatively reach our most vulnerable populations. It's a vehicle to improve the public health & change behaviors.
We collectively have tolerated the most abusive conditions for our most beloved and cherished populations for so long. COVID should have us thinking differently. It's not too late.
The Biden administration has laid out a 100-day plan for school reopening.
The Biden administration has laid out a 100-day plan for school reopening.
It focuses on a massive school relief package, on better tracking of the virus, consistent and clear guidelines, and expanded vaccination. Here in PA, Gov Wolf needs to ensure that this is a regional approach, with dose reciprocity for counties like Philly which are job hubs.
Locally, the City & District need to treat school reopening as big an effort as mass vaccination. Schools are not isolated from the City. This is where Mayoral control should make a difference, not be another arena of combat.
Finally, we need to talk about the public trust and a full school re-opening with 130,000 kids and families. We need to improve virtual learning & end digital red-lining that will define equity later. Have we done all we can to earn that trust?
I'm grateful to my colleagues for signing onto this letter calling for a delay in school reopening + a commonsense plan for the weeks ahead. Tomorrow I'll be joining educators, school staff, & families to call for a real investment in a safe & responsible school re-opening plan.
