The New York Times’ David Leonhardt has a new piece out today that says what *we* knew since 2020: “New research is showing the high costs of long school closures in some communities”:
Now It Can Be Said, School Closure Edition: @DLeonhardt explains that school closures were an unnecessary COVID policy.
Harmful and regressive, too.https://t.co/w6S4CRWwsY
— Karen Vaites (@karenvaites) May 5, 2022
And this analysis found that schools in major cities “which tend to be run by Democratic officials” and “also more likely to have unionized teachers” were hardest hit. From the New York Times:
One of the most alarming findings is that school closures widened both economic and racial inequality in learning. In Monday’s newsletter, I told you about how much progress K-12 education had made in the U.S. during the 1990s and early 2000s: Math and reading skills improved, especially for Black and Latino students.
The Covid closures have reversed much of that progress, at least for now. Low-income students, as well as Black and Latino students, fell further behind over the past two years, relative to students who are high-income, white or Asian. “This will probably be the largest increase in educational inequity in a generation,” Thomas Kane, an author of the Harvard study, told me.
There are two main reasons. First, schools with large numbers of poor students were more likely to go remote.
Why? Many of these schools are in major cities, which tend to be run by Democratic officials, and Republicans were generally quicker to reopen schools. High-poverty schools are also more likely to have unionized teachers, and some unions lobbied for remote schooling.
And there’s no real plan to help the kids left behind to catch up:
“I’m afraid that while school agencies are planning a range of activities for catch-up, their plans are just not commensurate with the losses.”
Who could have predicted this? | "I’m afraid that while school agencies are planning a range of activities for catch-up, their plans are just not commensurate with the losses." https://t.co/TP2QsC4alo
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) May 5, 2022
And, yes, this is happening in blue states to kids the most at risk:
Children of color suffered far more learning loss than white children because "many of these schools are in major cities, which tend to be run by Democratic officials, and Republicans were generally quicker to reopen schools."https://t.co/XseQXBGICK
— Sarah Westwood (@sarahcwestwood) May 5, 2022
Maybe blue-state governors should have listened to some of the voices on our side?
What shocking new information we needed research to confirm. If only there were folks who knew this from the start. Alas, you told them that they were just homeschoolers who wanted to see teachers die. https://t.co/SKN1r15d4K
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) May 5, 2022
We have been shouting about it of late:
I can’t remember, did I mention the blue-America schools were closed for a f$&*ing year no fewer than 17 times on @RealTimers? An unprecedented, disastrous social experiment on kids with no upside and so much loss. And it was obvious in 2020.https://t.co/Nhqim4tOUs
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) May 5, 2022
But it was just conservatives saying this. Dr. Michael Osterholm — who went on to adviser President Joe Biden on Covid — was warning about school closures in March 2020:
Michael Osterholm and others warned about closing schools and now they're realizing how big a problem it was. https://t.co/9Mnkwoxvb3
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) April 6, 2020
And the New York Times was warning about closing schools and how the most at-risk kids would have a hard time catching up, but everyone seems to have just ignored it:
1. 🚨 Breaking: We are amassing a body of research on the likely impact of the pandemic on children's learning.
The news is not good.
Some students will lose up to a year of academic gains. Black, Hispanic and poor children will lose the most. https://t.co/m6mBvdCTeF
— Dana Goldstein (@DanaGoldstein) June 5, 2020
And, yet, not a single one of the people who made these decisions will lose their jobs:
“100s of other districts, especially in liberal communities, instead kept schools closed for a year or more. Officials said they were doing so to protect children and especially the most vulnerable children. The effect, however, was often the opposite.”https://t.co/XjssKp3QTS
— Natalia Mehlman Petrzela (@nataliapetrzela) May 5, 2022
A hat-trick of failure:
“Keeping schools closed in Fall 2020 and beyond was a) disastrous for students, b) even more disastrous for poor/minority students, and c) almost certainly useless as an anti-COVID measure.”
Keeping schools closed in Fall 2020 and beyond was a) disastrous for students, b) even more disastrous for poor/minority students, and c) almost certainly useless as an anti-COVID measure. https://t.co/4rd0oy5hbd pic.twitter.com/0mhmtTAtD9
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) May 5, 2022
Well, they’re going to try to get more taxpayer money directed toward the unions:
Even more devastating (and also obvious in 2020), these losses hurt those who were already struggling more than those with resources. Those in charge of catching these kids up are the ones who caused the problem. No amount of money will claw back what they gave away.
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) May 5, 2022
So, when does the New York Times write a piece on how masking toddlers is dangerous?
‘Not Good for Learning’
Its now ok to talk about the absolute disastrous policy of school closures -no benefit, real costs
But we're CERTAIN the same health officials are right on Covid policy now. Dare not Q masking toddlers or vax mandates @nytimes ?https://t.co/fWKtkYRbo5
— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) May 5, 2022
Do we have to wait 18 months for that, too?
In 18 months the NYT will write about the costs of masking toddlers and young kids learning to talk, read and form emotional relationships. https://t.co/SKN1r15d4K
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) May 5, 2022
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