A Cleveland high school is using its
3-D printers
and laser machine to produce face shields to be used to fight coronavirus.
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“These are inequities many schools have been dealing with all the time...When you have something like a pandemic, or a natural disaster, those inequities come into sharp focus.”
- Noelle Arnold, associate dean of equity, diversity and global engagement in the College of Education and Human Ecology, on
disparities
persisting in online learning
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The number of children out of school worldwide (based on 188 countries),
according to UNESCO.
NPR
has more on what this means globally.
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Our executive director Dr. Laura Justice penned an op-ed that ran in
The
Columbus
Dispatch
this week. “
Reading and talking with young children keeps them learning
” offers parents and caregivers three research-based tips to help young children continue learning while COVID-19 keeps them at home.
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Columbus
City Council has been hosting virtual town halls; you can view them
here
on the city’s YouTube page. On the topic of remote gatherings, Ed Surge
looks at
how states vary with respect to public meetings and virtual participation, for school board meetings specifically. You’ll recall that Ohio lawmakers just enabled themselves to meet and vote virtually. We’d guess that in a post-corona world, this topic will be front and center: how will (or should) technology change our open meetings requirements?
Columbus City Schools has purchased
500 unlimited data plans
for students without home internet access and has distributed over 15,000 laptops. Not surprisingly, the pandemic has spotlighted the
inequities
facing families without broadband access or the technology to go with it. Read about
national policy efforts
to address this. While
local efforts
on the part of private companies should be lauded, this doesn't seem like a permanent solution.
State
- An executive order making it easier for patients to receive treatment from mental health professionals via tele-services;
- A request from the DeWine administration to the state Controlling Board to create the Ohio Coronavirus Relief Fund (funded by federal stimulus money) to purchase more ventilators, PPE, testing supplies, and medications for treatment;
- Additional payments for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits;
- Flexibility when it comes to Ohio’s high school graduation requirements;
- A new bill from Rep. Tina Maharath that would denounce all forms of stigmatization, racism, and discrimination resulting from COVID-19;
- An announcement from the Ohio Department of Health to begin random population testing, to learn how widespread the disease is;
- Discussions about COVID-19's impact on the prison population, and Gov. DeWine’s recommendation to grant early release to some prisoners;
- And last but not least, an emergency rule to allow for the sale and delivery of alcohol, which will presumably help the hard-hit restaurant industry.
In economic news, here are some things to know:
- State tax revenues are down by 10.5%, according to the Office of Budget and Management. (Scroll down here for some interesting numbers – to see how the March revenue varied from last year’s monthly revenue. Personal income, for example, is down by 10%. Toilet paper purchases were up by 900% - just kidding, that last part was entirely made up. Wanted to see how closely you were reading.)
- The number of Ohioans who filed jobless claims is immense.
- The Dispatch has an important read about Ohio’s municipal income tax reliance, and why this puts our cities in a pretty poor position for economic recovery.
- State legislators are starting to talk about the state’s rainy day fund, to fill a projected $2 billion (pending) shortfall.
Finally, we must not forget that this pandemic is exacerbating and amplifying inequities in ways that are
tragic
and
unconscionable
.
National
Here are some useful fact sheets from CLASP that analyze various aspects of recent federal legislation as it relates to helping the child care sector:
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New America has two great reads on equity in current schooling-from-home arrangements:
A few great reads from different perspectives on child care in the time of a pandemic: on child care for
essential workers
; on
providers
struggling to provide essential care while balancing their family needs and safety; and just trying to keep a
child care center open
(from a provider in Maryland).
Social distancing and sanitizing are incredibly important in the fight against coronavirus. But this article in
The Conversation
tackles the importance of your own circadian rhythm to keep your immune system up and running during a time where stress is near constant. On a related note, here’s an article for anyone struggling with the pressure to
stay productive
during crisis, written by an academic who has “conducted award-winning research under intensely difficult physical and psychological conditions.”
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The Ohio Department of Education has a dedicated page to early learning and school readiness during the pandemic. This page can help inform the actions early learning programs are taking during this time. Find general information as well as FAQs
here
.
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University Chief Wellness Officer Bernadette Melnyk and other university partners have created an eight-week online series “Staying Calm and Well in the Midst of the COVID-19 Storm” to cope and stay well during the COVID-19 pandemic. The series, led by expert faculty, is open to all and will equip you with important knowledge and skills to sustain well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. View the
schedule
and
register here
.
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This edition written by: Jamie Davies O'Leary, Associate Director of Policy and Caitlin Lennon, Communications & Policy Specialist
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Follow us on Twitter @CraneCenterOSU
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