New Brief Calls on the USED for School Closure Guidelines During COVID-19

BOSTON – While the states and localities, not the federal government, primarily control, fund, and have the power to drive policymaking in K-12 education, in a new policy brief, Pioneer Institute calls on the U.S. Department of Education (USED) to quickly establish comprehensive but concise guidelines for federal law around school closures.

Because of the COVID-19 virus, schools have been closing rapidly around the nation, and they are trying to transition to alternative, largely online, learning programs. But schools nationwide have delayed or even foregone alternative learning programs, citing concerns about federal law — particularly as it relates to providing equitable educational opportunities for students with disabilities.

Pioneer Institute believes that the state education department has ample leeway to address these concerns. That said, clarity from the federal education department would reduce confusion among key stakeholders – teachers, district administrators and state policymakers – so that Massachusetts students can once again get back to learning.

Co-authors David S. Clancy and Michael Sentance write, in “Keeping Students Academically Engaged During the Coronavirus Crisis – Part One,” that multiple federal laws are relevant to school closures, and USED’s COVID-19 related communication has been a flow of issue-specific guidance, requiring state personnel to work through a complex and evolving set of federal statements. Even granting the primacy of state and local governments in providing education to young people, fragmented guidance from the federal government is unhelpful and unnecessary.  State education personnel should have a single go-to resource on how federal law impacts their efforts.  Pioneer calls on the federal government to quickly release a single report identifying which federal laws – and which aspects of those laws – are relevant to the topic of school closure and providing concrete guidance on how schools can comply in the coming weeks.

Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.

Read Our Related Content:

Pandemic, Lost Instructional Time Reveal Massachusetts’ Digital Learning Weaknesses

June 11, 2020

A report released today by Pioneer Institute says that the shutdown of Massachusetts schools due to the COVID-19 virus and the shift to online education have exposed the uneven nature of digital learning in the Commonwealth, and calls for state officials to develop programs to create more consistency.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/COVID-19-Guidance-for-Schools-3.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-11 07:20:262021-02-15 14:44:06Pandemic, Lost Instructional Time Reveal Massachusetts’ Digital Learning Weaknesses

Pioneer Institute Study Calls for Streamlining State Sales Tax Revenue Collection

June 10, 2020

At a time when state tax revenues are plummeting, a plan to modernize sales tax collection could get money into state coffers more quickly, according to a new policy brief published by Pioneer Institute.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/GOING-UP_-The-Challenge-of-Reopening-Shared-Office-Buildings-1.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-10 07:10:262021-10-29 15:27:04Pioneer Institute Study Calls for Streamlining State Sales Tax Revenue Collection

COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Hubwonk: Elections & COVID-19; Update: Mapping COVID Testing; School Reopening; Protecting Civil Liberties, & more!

0 Comments

/

June 9, 2020

Pioneer staff share their top picks for COVID-19 stories highlighting useful resources, best practices, and questions we should be asking our public and private sector leaders.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Exhibit-A_-We-Need-Access-to-SFIs-Now-16.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-09 13:52:142020-06-09 13:52:14COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Hubwonk: Elections & COVID-19; Update: Mapping COVID Testing; School Reopening; Protecting Civil Liberties, & more!

Hubwonk Ep. 9: Elections in Epidemics: Keeping Voters Safe & Elections Fair during COVID-19

0 Comments

/

June 9, 2020

Join Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer’s Mary Connaughton as they talk with MIT Professor Charles Stewart on how states in general, and Massachusetts in particular, are adapting their voting process to keep elections safe, transparent, and fair during the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Learning-Curve-19.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-09 09:58:532020-06-09 10:09:29Hubwonk Ep. 9: Elections in Epidemics: Keeping Voters Safe & Elections Fair during COVID-19

Update: “Mapping COVID-19” Tool Now Shows Testing Data

0 Comments

/

June 9, 2020

Now, in addition to maps and tables regarding the number of cases and case rates across the state, “Mapping COVID-19” also includes information regarding the testing efforts in the Commonwealth.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design-33.png 512 1024 Rebekah Paxton https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Rebekah Paxton2020-06-09 08:49:182020-06-09 10:54:33Update: “Mapping COVID-19” Tool Now Shows Testing Data

MA Commissioner Jeff Riley on Remote Learning, Voc-Techs, & Reforming Boston’s Schools

0 Comments

/

June 5, 2020

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard open with commentary on the George Floyd tragedy and K-12 education’s role in addressing racial injustice. Then, they are joined by Jeffrey Riley, the Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, to talk about the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Jason-Bedrick-EdChoice-8.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-05 10:46:572023-08-26 12:28:42MA Commissioner Jeff Riley on Remote Learning, Voc-Techs, & Reforming Boston’s Schools

Easthampton High Scores A National Educational Victory During The COVID-19 Pandemic

0 Comments

/

June 5, 2020

This spring, Massachusetts’ Easthampton High School was crowned national champion in the “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” contest. The competition brings together about 1,200 students from across the country to answer civics questions based on America’s Founding Documents including the U.S. Constitution; The Federalist Papers; and U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Copy-of-Science-Education-Resources-During-COVID-19-1-1.png 512 1024 Tom Birmingham https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Tom Birmingham2020-06-05 10:19:562020-06-11 06:32:21Easthampton High Scores A National Educational Victory During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Experts Find K-12 Online Education Can Be Appropriate for Most Special Needs Students

June 4, 2020

School closures due to COVID-19 have separated more than seven million K-12 special needs students from support they receive in the classroom, but online learning can be appropriate for most of those students if teachers and parents work as a team to provide each one with what he or she needs, according to a new report published by Pioneer Institute and ASU Prep Digital.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/COVID-19-Guidance-for-Schools-2.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-04 07:02:492020-07-17 13:40:41Experts Find K-12 Online Education Can Be Appropriate for Most Special Needs Students

Pioneer Institute Looks Ahead to the Protection of Civil Liberties

June 3, 2020

Challenges to Americans’ civil liberties have increased in recent years.  History teaches us that during national emergencies governments are even more likely to overstep and violate constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. To address this concern, Pioneer Institute has created “Respect My Rights,” a web-based hotline to which citizens can submit complaints and descriptions of violations they have experienced.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-design-32.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-03 07:59:522021-02-15 15:17:55Pioneer Institute Looks Ahead to the Protection of Civil Liberties

COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Antibodies & immunity; Talking about WHO; Telecommuting Survey Results; Mapping COVID – Update; & more!

0 Comments

/

June 2, 2020

Pioneer staff share their top picks for COVID-19 stories highlighting useful resources, best practices, and questions we should be asking our public and private sector leaders.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Exhibit-A_-We-Need-Access-to-SFIs-Now-15.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2020-06-02 14:18:282020-06-02 14:18:28COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Antibodies & immunity; Talking about WHO; Telecommuting Survey Results; Mapping COVID – Update; & more!