Politics, race were key factors in when Washington schools reopened for in-person learning during pandemic
By Hannah Furfaro , Manuel Villa and Dahlia Bazzaz, The Seattle Times
Published: April 19, 2021, 10:30am
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Washington school districts that primarily serve white children, and districts in counties where a majority voted for Donald Trump last year, reopened to more students sooner than more liberal leaning or racially diverse communities.
That’s one of the findings of a Seattle Times analysis, which shows that for all grade levels — elementary, middle and high schools — politics and a district’s racial makeup were significant indicators of how many students came back to classrooms in the months before Gov. Jay Inslee issued an order to reopen school buildings. The Times’ analysis also found that counties with the highest COVID-19 death rates had a higher average proportion of students in classrooms than the rest of the state, suggesting that health indicators didn’t always drive decisions.