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The question is: What makes you think things are any better during the rest of the school year you don't see? Governors’ decisions to shut down schools may be the least science-informed of all the coronavirus impositions we’ve had to endure nationally over the past few months. As the Wall Street Journal recently noted: A recent study from Australia identified only 18 cases (nine children and nine staff) across 15 schools, and only two of the infected children’s 863 close contacts at the schools became ill. Another review last month, published by the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health,...

The most striking feature about the impact of Covid-19 on children is how little research has been conducted in the field. Only a handful of studies have been carried out across the world, and scientists are divided over their interpretation. As a result, politicians are now being asked to decide if they should open schools in order to protect children’s mental health and education without any clear scientific guidance about the risks of triggering a second wave of Covid-19 and infecting school staff in the process. It is known that children are less likely to become ill if infected with...

President Donald Trump publicly broke with Dr. Anthony Fauci in two different sets of remarks Wednesday, saying that he “totally disagree(s)” with Fauci about reopening schools. “Anthony is a good person, very good person. I’ve disagreed with him,” Trump said during an interview with “Mornings with Maria,” noting his policy on shutting down China travel.

Eighth-graders’ scores on national U.S. history and geography tests have declined since 2014, while their performance in civics has held steady at the basic level, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress results released Thursday. "Right now, the value of history, geography and civics is quite clear," Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets NAEP policy, said on a press call. "Everyone needs to understand the world around us and our role in it."

WASHINGTON - Just as they face unprecedented new challenges and financial costs, leaders of K-12 public school districts around the country are warning of dire consequences from sharp budget cuts from state legislatures attempting to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The alarm was sounded by school superintendents in 62 cities, who sent a letter to Congress through the nonprofit Council for the Great City Schools, asking Congress for billions of dollars in new federal education assistance and warning that some 275,000 teachers could be laid off in their districts alone because of budget cuts caused by...

Germany will take new steps towards normalisation in May, including reopening shops and schools after weeks of shutdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to a draft agreement seen by AFP Wednesday. "Even after initial steps to open up were introduced from April 20, the number of new infections remained low," the document read, with "no new wave of infection" so far detected -- justifying the series of bolder reopening steps. So far, only certain children like those soon facing exams had been allowed to return to class. But now kindergartens and primary schools will also reopen...

Governor Ned Lamont Tuesday announced Tuesday that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he is ordering in-person classes at all K-12 public school facilities in Connecticut to remain canceled for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year and continue providing distance learning during this period. Schools will also be required to continue providing meals to children under the school lunch and breakfast programs for students at home. ... “I know how important it is for so many students and teachers to finish out the school year, and I was holding out hope – particularly for high school seniors – that...

...[I]t seems quite noteworthy that as of Sunday, coronavirus had killed zero school-aged people in all of Massachusetts and just 31 people under age of 50. Total. Out of close to 3,000 deaths in the state... Meanwhile, in New York, a top doctor who's been working on the frontlines...says he now believes re-opening is in order-for health reasons, in addition to economic ones.

The nation's two biggest teachers unions say they would consider strikes or major protests if schools reopen without the proper safety measures in place or against the advice of medical experts — raising the possibility of yet more school disruptions. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, previewing a reopening plan first with POLITICO, said funding is needed for a host of public health measures for schools, including personal protective equipment. Collective bargaining, strong enforcement of safety standards and protections from retaliation will be important for teachers and staff so they feel safe to speak up as schools try new...

Wisconsinites are signaling they're done playing political games and aren't buying into the idea that they're 'Safer at Home.' MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin stay-at-home orders were supposed to expire Friday. Instead, thousands of disgruntled Wisconsinites descended upon the capitol in protest after the Evers administration extended the Dairy State’s so-called Safer at Home order another month. Endless blaring honks turned to white noise as vehicles backed up East Washington Avenue before circling the capitol, with many waving signs and flags out of windows and sun roofs. One man drove a Yukon decked out with Trump 2020 gear, pulling a trailer...

COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday that schools will remain closed for the remainder of the school year due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. Students will continue distance learning for the rest of the school year, DeWine said during his coronavirus briefing. DeWine said the decision was made after talking to several parents, teachers, and administrators. The governor laid out two reasons for the decision: the virus is still out there, and continuity for the students. Even though the state has flattened the curve of the disease, it is still not safe to have students back in schools, he...

Five Catholic schools in southern New Jersey are closing permanently because of financial problems made worse by the coronavirus pandemic, the Diocese of Camden announced Friday. The schools will be shuttered at the end of the academic year, and include Saint Joseph Regional High School in Hammonton, a south Jersey football powerhouse. Together, they educate 745 students, but have seen their enrollment drop significantly in recent years, making them financially unviable, the diocese said. “The decision to close these schools is sobering and painful,” the diocese said in a statement posted on its website. “It has not been made lightly.”...

Germany’s Angela Merkel announced a plan to start easing lockdown measures, with some businesses and schools set to start working on May 4. At the same time, the social distancing is set to stay in place and Germany’s government will “strongly recommend” to people to wear face masks while grocery shopping or in public transport. […] “We need to understand that we will need to live with the virus as long as there is no medication or vaccine,” Chancellor Merkel said. …

New York City schools won’t be re-opened until it’s safe to do so — but that doesn’t mean they’ll remain closed until the fall, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. Amid a feud with Mayor Bill de Blasio over public access to schools during the coronavirus crisis, Cuomo said they would stay shuttered for the time being. “We’re not going to open any school till it is safe from a public-health point of view,” he said during a news conference in Albany. “Whatever plan we come up with will be driven by data and science.” But Cuomo pointedly rejected de Blasio’s...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo denied Saturday that New York City schools will be closed for the rest of the year because of the coronavirus, hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio said they would. “There’s been no decision on schools,” Cuomo said in Albany at his daily coronavirus briefing. Cuomo said of de Blasio: “He didn’t close them and he can’t open them.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday signaled that there was still a possibility that Florida schools could reopen in May after being closed since March due to the coronavirus outbreak. “We’re going to look at the evidence and make a decision," DeSantis said of the possibility of children returning to schools in the state, the Tampa Bay Times reported. "If it’s safe, we want kids to be in school. ... Even if it’s for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that," he continued. CNN reported that DeSantis added that he didn't think anyone under...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania schools will remain shuttered for the rest of the academic year because of the coronavirus pandemic that has sickened thousands and caused hundreds of deaths statewide, the governor said Thursday. The extended shutdown order, issued by Gov. Tom Wolf's education secretary, affects more than 1.7 million students in public and private K-12 schools. It means children will spend the rest of the year learning remotely. It also wipes out school plays and concerts, sporting events, field trips, proms and everything else that typically happens during the spring. “While this was a critical step for us...

HARRISBURG, PA — All Pennsylvania schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday. The governor said he made the decision in consultation with Secretary of Health Rachel Levine and Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera. Schools had been closed since March 13 due to the outbreak, which has killed more than 300 Pennsylvania residents.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the face of the White House's coronavirus response, predicted Tuesday night that the United States will be able to reopen its schools in the fall thanks to the expected progress by then in disease mitigation measures for the coronavirus.

Britain’s Pearson (PSON.L) has seen an “explosion” in demand for online learning, with traffic across its platforms quadrupling as millions of children start to adapt to home schooling during the coronavirus pandemic, its chief executive said. Pearson, a leading global education company, has made some programs available for free and expanded others to help teachers, parents and students fill the gap caused by school and college closures that have followed the spread of coronavirus from China to other parts of Asia, Europe to North America. The company has mobilized resources to train more teachers to deliver lessons online and provide...