Analyze

Guidelines and Contingency planning for 2020-2021 School year:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-08/new-guidelines-say-school-year-will-see-some-california-students-learning-from-home
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teacher-health-fall-schools-coronavirus/2020/06/05/12bf261a-99f9-11ea-ac72-3841fcc9b35f_story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/06/04/fauci-whole-bunch-things-can-be-done-reopen-schools/

https://edsource.org/2020/classes-outside-face-coverings-and-one-way-hallways-how-los-angeles-schools-may-reopen/632399
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/26/858257200/the-pandemic-is-driving-americas-schools-toward-a-financial-meltdown
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/05/26/future-public-education-is-stake-an-open-letter-joe-biden-215-school-advocates/



Graduation: 

from NYT times on how to celebrate your HS graduation: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/style/self-care/graduation-celebration-pandemic.html


Remote Learning & Student Achievement

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/education/education-interruptions-student-achievement/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/coronavirus-education-lost-learning.html

students with disabilities: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-25/coronavirus-school-special-education





Climate Leviathan is largely a critical discussion of various ways of envisioning and organizing the Macro level including sovereignty, the nation-state, capitalisms, geopolitics, the world system, geo-engineering, etc. However, by rooting the discussion in “the political,” besides the obvious recognition of carbon emissions (and a few others) as toxic, the primary toxin discussed in this text is all the way down at the Nano level of ideology. The main problem isn’t fossil fuels, our dependency on them, or the corruption of the politicians in their pockets, it is in our incapacity to recognize how the tools we resort to (capitalism and the nation-state) are fully incapable of addressing the problem at hand. Indeed, they argue that addressing climate change without a critical theory of both capitalism and the state “would be like trying to model hurricanes without a theory of thermodynamics or an understanding of the effects of changing ocean temperatures on cyclone dynamics” (2018, 66).

Their “cure” to ideology is a Gramscian strain of absolute historicism. Take for example their discussion of progress. They quote Gramsci:

“‘…progress has been a democratic ideology.’ … [However] Progress has lost its democratic aspect because ‘the official ‘standard bearers’ of progress’ (the bourgeoisie) have ‘brought into being in the present destructive forces like crises and unemployment, etc., every bit as dangerous and terrifying as those of the past,’ and it is clear that these forces are as much a result of ‘progress’ as technology and scientific knowledge.” (2018, 94).

In this discussion, progress transforms from ideological tonic to ideological toxin based upon its associated deployments within a new historical context. Under the rule of monarchy, the ideology of progress enabled the establishment of liberal democracies. But under liberal capitalism, this ideology underwrote the “production of a separation in the social world between the political and the rest and a consequent neutralizing onslaught on the political that attempts to proceduralize and depoliticize domination, that is, the continual production of freedom for some and unfreedom for others” (2018, 83). These facts notwithstanding, the authors do not recommend an outright denial of progress: “A blanket rejection of progress confuses the idea and its standard bearers, who are now in fact part of the ‘natural order’ in crisis” (2018, 95). The same goes for the current stand-in for the ideology of progress, adaptation: “adaptation is becoming the “progress” of our time. Adaptation is to the ideology of Climate Leviathan what progress was to bourgeois liberalism in the nineteenth century” (2018, 95). Which, once again, does not mean we are to get rid of the concept of adaptation “as if a revolutionary social movement for climate justice can somehow decide against adaptation. The question, rather, is how—how to reshape a conception of the political in a very hot world.” (2018, 95).

What this discussion suggests is that it is that toxicity, as it pertains to ideology and social structure, is not a simple binary relation. To argue this would amount to “blanket rejection” of the ideology of progress as toxic to democracy. Rather, the authors’ example demonstrates how toxicity entails a triadic relation to a relation. It is how the ideology of progress relates to the historically evolving relationship between the dominant and the dominated that determines whether or not the ideology of progress is toxic to democracy or not.

CDC (updated 4/1) includes a decison-tree on school closures: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html

The US Department of Education, https://www.ed.gov/coronavirus points to Coronavirus.gov and the CDC site as primary sources for schools. ED.gov site appears to be a clearinghouse for links across the Dept. Linked topics like:  fiscal waivers, disability rights, other civil rights, student privacy, and food insecurity. Site links to documents in Spanish and English language.

California Department of Education: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/coronavirus.asp (Updated 4/15/20). Another site which serves as a clearinghouse for California-based governmental guidance to schools. Includes links to student mental health resources https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/cg/mh/studentcrisishelp.asp  as well as Distance Learning, Early Learning, School Meals, Special Education and Child Care

According to Human Rights Watch currently 1.5 billion students are out of school this annotation begin assembling articles and media that address how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts young people in terms of food insecurity and how schools are responding to this crisis. 

YOUTH and COVID-19

Source: Human Rights Watch

More than 1.5 billion students are out of school, and widespread job and income loss and economic insecurity are likely to increase rates of child labor, sexual exploitation, teenage pregnancy, and child marriage. Stresses on families, particularly those living under quarantines, lockdowns and other restrictions on freedom of movement, may increase the incidence of violence in the home. As the global death toll from COVID-19 increases, large numbers of children will be orphaned and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/09/covid-19-and-childrens-rights-0#

FOOD INSECURITY

As Covid-19 spreads throughout the United States, schools and child care facilities are balancing their role of helping to prevent disease transmission with ensuring access to food for children who rely on the federal nutrition safety net.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp2005638?articleTools=true

Video: What is food insecurity?

"Food insecurity is often linked with a number of poor health outcomes such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems," said Norbert Wilson, a professor of food policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

https://phys.org/news/2020-04-video-food-insecurity.html

Food Security in a Pandemic

https://www.paho.org/disasters/index.php?option=com_docman&view=download&category_slug=tools&alias=533-pandinflu-leadershipduring-tool-7&Itemid=1179&lang=en

What coronavirus means for food insecurity

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/488055-what-coronavirus-means-for-food-insecurity

SCHOOL MEALS

World Food Programme says nearly nine million children the organisation usually feeds are no longer receiving meals

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/21/coronavirus-300-million-children-to-miss-school-meals-amid-shutdowns

USA

How US schools are (and aren’t) providing meals to children in the Covid-19 crisis. Parents rely on schools for children’s meals. Coronavirus has exposed the vulnerabilities of these programs.

https://www.vox.com/2020/3/28/21197965/coronavirus-school-shutdown-free-meals

California

The California Department of Education (CDE) updated their app to help students and families find meals for COVID-19 school closures.

https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr20/yr20rel14.asp

Louisiana

In county where every child qualifies for free school meals, a superintendent embarks on a project – driving 6,000 meals a day

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/in-the-poorest-county-in-americas-poorest-state-a-virus-hits-home-hunger-is-rampant

Michigan

Michigan is first state to provide food to families affected by COVID-19 school closures

https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Michigan-is-first-state-to-provide-food-to-families-affected-by-COVID-19-school-closures-569517061.html

Texas

Schools struggle to safely get free meals to needy students

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/covid19/schools-struggle-to-safely-get-free-meals-to-needy-students/article_a7f87437-9708-5a25-a618-7fd46d8816d1.html

UK

“Many families whose children are eligible for free school meals have not received supermarket vouchers as promised by the government because of delays in the supply system, school leaders say.”

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/apr/09/uks-poorest-families-suffering-as-free-school-meal-vouchers-delayed

FOOD AID (mainly US-based)

a list of local, national, and international organizations that are working to ensure food, aid, and medical supplies are delivered to those who need it.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/coronavirus-covid19-organizations-help-food-medical-aid

THIS IS AN EMERGENT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HOW SCHOOLS IN THE US ARE RESPONDING TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, RESULTING SCHOOL CLOSURES AND THE CHALLENGES OF REMOTE TEACHING

Distance Learning and Covid-19

General (including Resources, Disparity, Opting Out)

Educators experienced with remote learning warn that closures are a serious threat to children’s academic progress, safety and social lives. They say that running a classroom digitally is much harder than bringing an adult workplace online, and that it can disproportionately affect low-income students and those with special needs. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/virtual-learning-challenges.html 

A Common Sense Media poll reports that “almost one in four teens (24%) say they're connecting with their teachers less than once a week. Forty-one percent haven't attended an online or virtual class since in-person school was cancelled.” https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/pdfs/2020_surveymonkey-key-findings-toplines-teens-and-coronavirus.pdf 

Distance Learning may only may only exacerbate academic inequities:  https://www.dailynews.com/2020/03/18/during-coronavirus-school-closures-distance-learning-may-only-exacerbate-academic-inequities/    

“Public schools are setting out on an unprecedented experiment: With little training and even fewer resources, in a matter of days they're shifting from a system of education that for centuries has focused on face to face interaction, to one that works entirely at a distance.” https://www.npr.org/2020/03/26/821921575/the-biggest-distance-learning-experiment-in-history-week-one 

9 Out Of 10 Children Are Out Of School Worldwide. What Now? https://www.npr.org/2020/04/02/824964864/nine-out-of-10-of-the-world-s-children-are-out-of-school-what-now 

When New York City closed schools to combat the coronavirus outbreak and ordered remote learning for its more than 1 million students, English teacher Stephanie Paz wasn’t worried about how she would virtually teach her ninth-graders to take notes in the margins of their books or how they would discuss each other’s essays without being in the same room. Her biggest concern was whether they would have the basic technology needed to access their virtual lessons. https://time.com/5810503/coronavirus-achievement-gap-schools/

“A fed up mom went viral this week as she joined the ranks of other fed up parents who logging out of distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic. "This isn't working," Sarah Parcak, an archeologist and University of Alabama at Birmingham professor, told TODAY Parents.” https://www.today.com/parents/some-parents-refuse-remote-learning-will-there-be-consequences-t178188 

LAUSD

LAUSD

The Los Angeles Times reports that in the nation’s second largest school district, “about 15,000 Los Angeles high school students are absent online and have failed to do any schoolwork while more than 40,000 have not been in daily contact with their teachers since March 16, when the coronavirus forced campus shutdowns.” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-30/coronavirus-los-angeles-schools-15000-high-school-students-absent

LAUSD invests 100 million in online learning https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/03/23/lausd-schools-now-closed-may-1/

College Admissions & AP Exams

In response to COVID-19 and school closures the College Board has shortened AP Exams to 45 minutes and one essay each. They also must be taken at the same time worldwide which impacts students in Department of Defense schools (DODEA) worldwide: https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/modified-ap-exams-mean-some-overseas-dodea-students-must-take-tests-when-they-should-be-sleeping-1.625696

Zoom & PRIVACY

NPR, “Schools Ditch Zoom Amid Concerns Over Online Learning Security” https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/06/828087551/schools-ditch-zoom-amid-concerns-over-online-learning-security

The New York City Department of Education advised principals not to use Zoom after privacy concerns about the platform accelerated last week, the department’s chief operating officer said late Sunday in an email obtained by CNBC. The department is now telling schools they should use services provided through Google or Microsoft to connect with students while schools are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The message comes after a group of at least three state attorneys general said they were probing the company for potential privacy violations. The Connecticut AG, who announced the probe, said he had been “zoombombed” during a forum about the Census, with hundreds of messages flooding the chat box with profanities. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/nyc-doe-tells-principals-to-switch-from-zoom-to-google-and-microsoft.html 

Dingtalk (Homework App)

Wuhan students tried to boot remote learning app from the App Store by leaving bad reviews:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/9/21171495/wuhan-students-dingtalk-hooky-nyc-columbia-princeton-app-store-reviews

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n05/wang-xiuying/the-word-from-wuhan

In their introduction, Vermeylen's argument for a particularist and decolonial approach to justice through a recognition of plural ontologies and epistemologies that decenters Western liberal discourse and its theory of justice. How does bringing the lens of coloniality into environmental justice literature alter our visions of energy futures? Can we make appeals to environmental justice without recourse to liberal theories of individual rights and property ownership? More specifically, I am wondering how our team can study and address this dynamic plurality of ways of understanding and experiencing in/justice in this site, and how can we engage this plurality in productive ways? What axes of difference and inequality should we be looking for/at (race, gender, class, sexual orientation, citizenship, housing status, etc)? If the Anthropocene is coloniality by another name, how can we foreground this in our approach?

Thinking through this article and Vermeylen's, something we might consider in ATX is how we conceptualize community itself. It is so easy in EJ-contexts to make communities our object of study and analysis, which can erase identities and exclusions within them...

How is ecological harm and gentrification experienced by LGBTQ people in Austin? Women? Etcetera? 

What is the energy sector's relationship to racial capitalism? How is its current configuration shaped by legacies of settler colonialism, state bureaucracy, and corporate investment?