Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

An alternative title for this post is:

“For Shame, Dr. Redfield!”

I was hoping that A trained epidemiologist would place medical science about politics… but after the POTUS slammed the CDC for issuing guidelines that were “too “tough” and “expensive” Dr. Redfield, the head of that agency, issued a series of mealy “suggestions” on everything from face masks to social distancing with no “recommendations” whatsoever. It is maddening to witness the collapse of credible science in the face of power… but that seems to be what is happening. Here’s an excerpt from the Common Dreams post about this travesty:

But the document openly advocating school reopenings drew condemnation from experts who characterized it as clearly driven by a political agenda rather than science and concern for the health of students, school faculty, and the broader public.

“This just seems irresponsible,” tweeted Michael Mina, an epidemiologist and immunologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. “With outbreaks raging in the U.S., this can spell disaster.”

The CDC document heavily emphasizes the significance of in-person instruction for children, particularly those “with heightened behavioral needs”—a point that neither public health experts nor educators dispute. What alarmed experts was the document’s failure to discuss in detail the possible health impact reopenings could have on school faculty members and communities.

“There is almost no epidemiology in this,” tweeted Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “There are only two paragraphs on the science, and one of those is mostly devoted to flu.”

“There is no mention of the risk of severe disease for teachers and staff, who are also part of the school community,” Rivers added. “There is only passing, vague mention of mitigation measures to reduce the risk of transmission. Same for community prevalence.”

Here’s a practical question that many states will be facing in the months ahead: if the Governor is mandating face masks for those in public who are school will his mandate override those of local school boards?

Source: Public Health Experts Denounce New CDC Document Pushing School Reopenings as ‘Politically Driven’ and ‘Irresponsible’