Science does not say what the governor would like it
to say
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| Can every school manage to set up classrooms like this? Guardian photo |
At a coronavirus
briefing two weeks ago, Governor Gina
Raimondo boasted that kids would be safer in schools than virtually
anywhere else and then insinuated that concerned teachers and parents were
“fearmongers.”
The next day, she hosted an uncannily synchronized virtual forum
with two local pediatricians and Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green. All four
participants seemed to agree that parents have more to fear from depression,
atrophy and indolence than SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The forum was unnerving
not only because it seemed rehearsed, but because it excluded all of the science
that doesn’t jibe with Raimondo’s intentionally vague proclamation that
children and teachers will return to school on August 31.
To be sure, Raimondo
insists on in-person learning, but she doesn’t want to insist too hard. She understands pandemic politics well enough
to know that you must appear to prioritize both reopening and safety, so she
chooses her words very carefully.
Once in front of a
webcam, the pediatricians were more interested in talking about the importance
of social interaction, mentorship, routine and good nutrition than assessing
risk, and that suited the governor just fine.
Raimondo struck a less
aggressive, more deferential tone at last week’s briefing, eschewing rhetoric
about “fear” and “fearmongers,” and instead talking about caring teachers and
parents who just need to listen to the science and trust in their public
servants. We aren’t irredeemable, perhaps, just a little misguided.
In fairness, the
difference between the two briefings transcended tone. Last Wednesday, Raimondo
revealed that her position on school reopening had softened a little, though
it’s exceedingly difficult to parse her rhetoric, which is meant to exploit the
imprecision of language. In an effort to play both sides, she routinely
says “schools will reopen” when she really means schools will reopen for in-person learning and
occasionally, schools will open one way or another.
She said her administration is working with an advisory board to create five
metrics that will be used to determine which districts can reopen and to what
degree. This was an improvement over the previous briefing because it broached
the possibility that some districts may not meet Raimondo’s standards for
in-person reopening, despite her insistence that every district must reopen for
the developmental and psychological well-being of children.
Whereas districts were
initially discouraged from offering elective distance learning, it was
announced last week that every district would now be expected to offer a
virtual option. Raimondo and the commissioner were cagey about the question of
masks and precisely how mandatory a statewide mask mandate would ultimately be,
but they did seem to acknowledge that mandatory should mean something more than
recommended.
Gun control advocates
repurposed a frequent refrain of the pro-gun movement Thursday, offering
"thoughts and prayers" to the National Rifle Association after New
York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she had filed a
lawsuit seeking to dissolve the organization.
