• About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • DMCA
  • Sitemap
  • Write For Us
Monday, March 8, 2021
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine
  • Covid-19
  • News
    • All
    • Education
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • World
    Column: Newsom hits home run as the effort to recall him gets closer to making the ballot

    Column: Newsom hits home run as the effort to recall him gets closer to making the ballot

    Caps' Wilson suspended 7 games for Carlo hit

    Caps’ Wilson suspended 7 games for Carlo hit

    Russian women on International Women's Day in 1925.

    International Women’s Day 2021: 5 things you didn’t know

    Meghan Markle: ‘I Just Didn’t Want to Be Alive Any More’

    Meghan Markle: ‘I Just Didn’t Want to Be Alive Any More’

    Manchin: 'I'm supporting the filibuster' but 'it should be painful' to use

    Manchin: ‘I’m supporting the filibuster’ but ‘it should be painful’ to use

    Domino effect with Sam Darnold could affect Patriots' QB plans

    Would enticing Patriots offer change 49ers’ view on Jimmy Garoppolo?

    NOTE: All visible graphics are our own, and were produced for this particular shoot

    How To Use Content To Draw Others To Your Brand

    Tiffany Mathis and Buffy Lael-Wolf

    School board candidates square off

    Senate narrowly approves $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill (LIVE UPDATES)

    Senate narrowly approves $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill (LIVE UPDATES)

    Chuck Schumer Holds The Line

    Chuck Schumer Holds The Line

  • Science & Tech
    • All
    • Mobile
    Tesla closes below $600 for the first time since December — here's what's weighing the stock down

    Tesla closes below $600 for the first time since December — here’s what’s weighing the stock down

    Microsoft’s new ‘Group Transcribe’ iPhone app offers free real-time transcription and translation - 9to5Mac

    Microsoft’s new ‘Group Transcribe’ iPhone app offers free real-time transcription and translation – 9to5Mac

    Microdosing's Feel-Good Benefits Might Just Be Placebo Effect

    Microdosing’s Feel-Good Benefits Might Just Be Placebo Effect

    PS5 restock: our console Twitter tracker – here's it will go back in stock

    PS5 restock: our console Twitter tracker – here’s it will go back in stock

    Jay Blahnik offers rare look behind the scenes of the Apple Fitness+ studios - 9to5Mac

    Jay Blahnik offers rare look behind the scenes of the Apple Fitness+ studios – 9to5Mac

    Google is policing itself on privacy because it knows it has to | Engadget

    Google is policing itself on privacy because it knows it has to | Engadget

    Reddit Rolls Out Green Indicator Dots to Notify People When You're Online

    Reddit Rolls Out Green Indicator Dots to Notify People When You’re Online

    Best Cheap Wireless Keyboard Deals for March 2021 | Digital Trends

    Best Cheap Wireless Keyboard Deals for March 2021 | Digital Trends

    6 steps to build a data-driven company, according to experts

    6 steps to build a data-driven company, according to experts

    Xiaomi Mi 11 back against floor

    Xiaomi, not Samsung or Apple, is taking advantage of Huawei’s woes in Europe

  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    Producers Guild best picture nominees confirm top Oscar contenders

    Producers Guild best picture nominees confirm top Oscar contenders

    Mary J. Blige writes of survivors' optimism in Oscar shortlisted 'See What You've Done'

    Mary J. Blige writes of survivors’ optimism in Oscar shortlisted ‘See What You’ve Done’

    WandaVision was great. But its finale left me cold.

    WandaVision was great. But its finale left me cold.

    The US vaccine situation is looking up — but experts say you should keep wearing a mask

    The US vaccine situation is looking up — but experts say you should keep wearing a mask

    How Chase Hudson, TikTok heartthrob, became Lil Huddy, snarling pop-punk rocker

    How Chase Hudson, TikTok heartthrob, became Lil Huddy, snarling pop-punk rocker

    How To Turn Your Biggest Struggle Into A Source Of Inspiration | Stephanie Burns

    How To Turn Your Biggest Struggle Into A Source Of Inspiration

    'WandaVision' caps off Marvel's version of a love story in an emotional finale

    ‘WandaVision’ caps off Marvel’s version of a love story in an emotional finale

    Three actresses, three powerful roles as real-life singers

    Three actresses, three powerful roles as real-life singers

    20 weekend culture picks including the L.A. Phil's return to the Hollywood Bowl

    20 weekend culture picks including the L.A. Phil’s return to the Hollywood Bowl

    Touted as the “World’s Most Famous Beach,” Daytona beckons sunbathers with its 23 miles of hard-packed, white-sand beaches.

    10 of our favorite beaches from all across Florida: Daytona, Delray, St. Pete, Siesta, more

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    Race, title and anguish: Meghan and Harry explain royal rift

    Race, title and anguish: Meghan and Harry explain royal rift

    Russian women on International Women's Day in 1925.

    International Women’s Day 2021: 5 things you didn’t know

    The new 'singlemoon' trend has accelerated amid the pandemic, as bucket-list dreams have become must-do lists for many people

    The best honeymoon-style holidays for solo travellers, from St Lucia to Kenya

    A look from the Versace Fall 2021 collection. 

    Versace Plays With Geometry and Contemporary Daywear for Fall 2021

    Tour Santa Monica’s once-vibrant Black neighborhoods, nearly erased by racism and ‘progress’

    Tour Santa Monica’s once-vibrant Black neighborhoods, nearly erased by racism and ‘progress’

    What You Really Need to Look for When Considering a Franchise

    What You Really Need to Look for When Considering a Franchise

    Column: Stanley Tucci is magical. Why does his Italy travel show leave me so enraged?

    Column: Stanley Tucci is magical. Why does his Italy travel show leave me so enraged?

    Nestlé buys functional beverage maker Essentia Water

    Nestlé buys functional beverage maker Essentia Water

    The limited-edition HipDot x Peeps collection includes a six-shade eyeshadow palette and a set of sponges in the shape and colors of Peeps’ marshmallow chicks.

    Peeps releases marshmallow-inspired makeup line in time for Easter

    Horoscope for Sunday, March 7, 2021

    Horoscope for Sunday, March 7, 2021

60 °f
Chicago
49 ° Tue
53 ° Wed
48 ° Thu
42 ° Fri
No Result
View All Result
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home News Education

Rep. Tom Tiffany: COVID and our kids – there’s a better way to keep students safe and in school

by Staff Writer
December 16, 2020
in Education
Reading Time: 4min read
0
Rep. Tom Tiffany: COVID and our kids – there's a better way to keep students safe and in school
492
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


The test results are in. Consensus is building that America’s students should be back in the classroom. From the American Academy of Pediatrics, who pushed for a return to in-person learning in June, to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Robert Redfield, who called schools “one of the safest places [kids] can be,” government officials are finally beginning to acknowledge what a growing body of science has shown for a long time: Our kids need to be in school.

Related posts

Tiffany Mathis and Buffy Lael-Wolf

School board candidates square off

March 7, 2021
DePaul, University of Illinois-Chicago among universities restoring in-person learning this fall (LIVE UPDATES)

DePaul, University of Illinois-Chicago among universities restoring in-person learning this fall (LIVE UPDATES)

March 5, 2021

Unfortunately, this hard-fought victory was just a midterm quiz. Policymakers from the U.S. House to the schoolhouse now face an all-important final exam if they want to make the grade: Reforming overzealous contact tracing and quarantine protocols that are keeping too many healthy students out of class, too many doctors and nurses off of the front line, and too many working-class parents stuck at home instead of earning paychecks.

In a liberal media environment dominated by alarmist, virus-related headlines, an important fact being lost in the noise is that a student’s mere “exposure” to a classmate or school staff member who tests positive for the coronavirus is not the same as an infection. As a result, mere exposure to a confirmed case in schools can set off a compounding contact tracing effect that can culminate in large numbers of students who are not ill being sent home for weeks at a time – and in the most extreme cases, a re-shuttering of classrooms.

Last month in Lowellville, Ohio, the positive test of a single cafeteria worker resulted in the removal of the entire student body and exile back to “remote learning” (perhaps the greatest misnomer of 2020). Even though many of the students did not qualify as “close contacts,” the lone positive test of a kitchen worker (and the contact tracing and mandatory quarantines it set in motion) knocked out enough support staff to force a complete school closure.

HHS SECRETARY AZAR: HOW OPERATION WARP SPEED DELIVERED A COVID VACCINE IN RECORD TIME

Forcing children into an online learning model not only penalizes the students and teachers, but also the parents who are constantly adjusting hopelessly disrupted work schedules to meet unpredictable schooling arrangements.

In the month of September more than 865,000 women left the U.S. workforce as the result of pandemic-related circumstances – these are mostly working moms who were forced to weigh the costs of hiring tutors or babysitters to supervise their child’s online learning versus quitting their own job to fulfill that role.

There are also ripple effects causing severe and largely underreported dislocations to our health care system.

Each day we hear about health care facilities across the country reaching their bed capacity for COVID patients. However, in many communities, particularly rural ones, capacity limits are dictated as much by staffing shortages caused by mandatory student quarantines as bed space.

In short, contact tracing measures force healthy doctors and nurses who should be treating patients to stay home with their children who are actually not ill.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER

Current protocols are also exposing the challenges of online learning, particularly for those in small towns and farm communities. According to the Center on Rural Innovation, upwards of 4.6 million school-aged children are without reliable broadband access. That number skyrockets to 15 million school-age children when we include the number of children who do not live in a household with adequate online connectivity – and the results have been stark.

A recent analysis of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) assessment tests found students are falling behind in math at a staggering rate – and more than 1 in 4 children from low-income communities who took the assessment in 2019 were missing from the 2020 assessments all together, highlighting the growing number of kids falling through the cracks of online learning’s widening digital divide.

There is a better way.

An example of contact tracing that does not penalize students is found in Newton County, Missouri, where the county health officer has allowed schools to keep students in school who have been contact traced to an “exposure” despite never testing positive for the virus. Students are still required to quarantine outside of the classroom after school ends each day. 

More from Opinion

The results have been eye-opening.  The Newton County schools that keep kids in school have no higher incidence of COVID-19 than other local schools that are following the more restrictive protocols.  In fact, they may be having more success precisely because they are keeping kids in school rather than allowing them to move about the community during classroom hours. 

At my daughter’s school, Lakeland Union High School (LUHS) in Minocqua, Wisconsin, more than 350 students were removed from school for a 14-day period as the result of overly restrictive contact tracing requirements, even though ZERO of those students reported testing positive for COVID-19.

Officials at LUHS have since revised their policy to allow for children contact traced back to a positive case to remain in school pending the ongoing monitoring of symptoms – a much more workable approach that makes educational attainment of students a top priority, one that is based on data and science rather than fear.

The case of LUHS is particularly relevant because school officials took extraordinary measures recommended by the CDC – including the installation of plexiglass desk dividers, modified entrance methods, mask and distancing requirements – only to have those steps dismissed out of hand by a county health officer who opposed the school board’s effort to adopt a more rational approach to quarantines.

Ironically, the county health officer based her objections on the same CDC guidance that drove school officials to adopt these extraordinary mitigating measures, underscoring the problematic lack of clarity coming from Washington.

We are learning more about this virus each day, and we should apply that knowledge by updating K-12 COVID protocols. The overly defensive contact tracing models currently in place not only undermine the education of our kids, they also make secondary problems like medical staffing shortfalls far worse.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Health care leaders – particularly at the CDC – must work more closely to update their guidance rather than acquiescing to a default model that effectively facilitates school closures. 

If a school is utilizing sound risk management tools, policymakers must empower them to adopt locally tailored protocols that best serve parents, students and the well-being of their communities.



Source by www.foxnews.com

Share197Tweet123Share49
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Van Morrison teams with Eric Clapton for anti-lockdown song

Van Morrison teams with Eric Clapton for anti-lockdown song

December 19, 2020
Sen. Rand Paul's ‘Festivus Report’ claims $54B in tax dollars was 'totally wasted'

Sen. Rand Paul’s ‘Festivus Report’ claims $54B in tax dollars was ‘totally wasted’

December 23, 2020
'Zombie' greenhouse gas lurks in permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean

‘Zombie’ greenhouse gas lurks in permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean

December 24, 2020
Producers Guild best picture nominees confirm top Oscar contenders

Producers Guild best picture nominees confirm top Oscar contenders

0
Fact check: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he would defer his annual raise

Fact check: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he would defer his annual raise

0
Swedish government sidelines epidemiologist who steered country's no lockdown experiment as deaths rise

Swedish government sidelines epidemiologist who steered country’s no lockdown experiment as deaths rise

0
Producers Guild best picture nominees confirm top Oscar contenders

Producers Guild best picture nominees confirm top Oscar contenders

March 8, 2021
Mary J. Blige writes of survivors' optimism in Oscar shortlisted 'See What You've Done'

Mary J. Blige writes of survivors’ optimism in Oscar shortlisted ‘See What You’ve Done’

March 8, 2021
WandaVision was great. But its finale left me cold.

WandaVision was great. But its finale left me cold.

March 8, 2021
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine

Copyright © 2020 Dailyillinois.com.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • DMCA
  • Sitemap
  • Write For Us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • About Us Page
  • Contact
  • DMCA Policy
  • Home 1
  • Privacy Policy
  • Submit, Guest Post, Write For Us and Become a Contributor
  • Terms of Use

Copyright © 2020 Dailyillinois.com.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.