Numeric news from Policy Matters
$39.55M: The Ohio House passed its version of the state budget (H.B. 33) and, well, it could be worse. (Of course, Ohioans deserve better than a “less bad” budget.) One of the bright spots is the House’s decision to help Ohioans put food on the table.
Columbus City Schools reconsiders denied COVID leave for 200 educators
The permission, for now, is temporary, as their requests are being re-evaluated, spokeswoman Jacqueline Bryant said.
The decision, reached Thursday, followed pressure from the district s teachers union, the Columbus Education Association, which announced a major victory that evening.
John Coneglio, its president, said in a statement that he s pleased union members won t have to choose between their health and their career.
About 200 union members had asked the district to take paid leave guaranteed by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, after being advised by a medical professional to quarantine due to being at high risk for contracting COVID-19, according to a news release from the union.
By Thomas Catenacci
Teachers unions largely won’t explain why they want to keep public education virtual, even though studies have suggested that schools aren’t coronavirus super-spreaders as originally expected and that students’ performance have suffered in remote environments.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, elementary and high school students nationwide have been forced to take classes remotely, which has caused many children to fall far behind both on exercise, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers, and classwork, The Washington Post reported. A New York Times article labeled remote learning among the most “insidious” tragedies emerging from the pandemic.