COVID & Classrooms: Lessons for Students, Staff, & Society on Reopening Schools

Join host Joe Selvaggi and co-host Rebekah Paxton of Pioneer Institute as they talk with Harvard Medical School Professor Benjamin Sommers on the most current scientific observations regarding the health and safety of reopening schools. The episode looks at the risks to students, teachers, administrators, and the public at large from the novel coronavirus, and offers ideas for optimizing outcomes in the fall.

Related: New Pioneer Study Looks to International Examples to Inform Massachusetts K-12 Schools Reopening

The Boston Globe op-ed:  “Listen to the science. Reopen schools.”

Dr. Benjamin Sommers is a practicing primary care internist, and he is also Professor of Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. From 2011-2012, he served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and he served part-time in an advisory role from 2013-2015. His current research projects focus on barriers to health care access among low-income adults, insurance markets, and the health and economic effects of state Medicaid policies. He received a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard and an MD from Harvard Medical School.

Hubwonk Host: Joe Selvaggi is the host of Hubwonk. Joe is a U.S. Navy veteran, entrepreneur, investment professional, former candidate for US Congress, and political commentator. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. He lives in Boston.

Co-host: Rebekah Paxton is a Research Analyst at Pioneer Institute. She first joined Pioneer in 2017 as a Roger Perry intern, writing about various transparency issues within the Commonwealth, including fiscal policy and higher education. Since then, she has worked on various research projects under PioneerPublic and PioneerOpportunity, in areas of state finance, public policy, and labor relations. She earned an M.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics, from Boston University, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Related Posts:

The Oldest Hatred: Calling Out Antisemitism In Its Many Forms

July 20, 2021

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Boston Globe opinion writer Jeff Jacoby about the troubling increase in antisemitic incidents, including the recent attack on a Boston rabbi, and how our current political rancor fans the flames of bigotry nationwide.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Hubwonk-Template-31.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2021-07-20 09:56:052021-07-20 10:15:17The Oldest Hatred: Calling Out Antisemitism In Its Many Forms

Court Preserves Privacy: First Amendment Ruling Defends Non-Profits From Modern-Day McCarthyism

July 6, 2021

Hubwonk Host Joe Selvaggi talks with CATO research fellow and constitutional scholar Trevor Burrus about the recent Supreme Court ruling, Americans For Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, reaffirming the right to privacy by denying the state of California the right to compel non-profits to disclose their list of donors.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Hubwonk-Template-30.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2021-07-06 10:47:062021-07-06 10:47:22Court Preserves Privacy: First Amendment Ruling Defends Non-Profits From Modern-Day McCarthyism

Renters’ Unsung Heroes: Small Landlords Endure Without Income or Relief

June 29, 2021

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with MassLandlords’ Doug Quattrochi about ways landlords faced the challenges of being caught between tenants unable to pay rent during COVID-19 shutdown and having little or no programmatic relief from state and federal agencies.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Hubwonk-Template-29.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2021-06-29 10:32:402021-06-29 10:34:33Renters’ Unsung Heroes: Small Landlords Endure Without Income or Relief

Alzheimer Breakthrough Disillusionment: Confusion on FDA’s Approval of Expensive and Possibly Ineffective Drug

June 22, 2021

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with precision medicine expert Hannah Mamuszka and Pioneer Institute's Bill Smith about the promises and pitfalls of the newly approved Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, and the challenges presented when new, expensive drugs of dubious benefit are introduced to the nation’s formulary.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Hubwonk-Template-28.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2021-06-22 08:11:392021-06-22 08:11:39Alzheimer Breakthrough Disillusionment: Confusion on FDA’s Approval of Expensive and Possibly Ineffective Drug

Unintended Tax Consequences: Modeling the Effects of the Millionaire’s Tax on Massachusetts’ Economic Future

0 Comments

/

June 15, 2021

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Beacon Hill Institute President Dr. David Tuerck about his recent analysis of the proposed 4% surtax on incomes over $1 million in Massachusetts, and his estimate of the number of individuals who will leave the state as a result. Tuerck, an economist, used STAMP modeling tools comparing the static projections offered by proponents of the so-called "Fair Share Amendment" with a model simulation that accounts for the unintended effects of the tax.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Hubwonk-Template-27.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2021-06-15 09:31:312021-06-15 09:31:31Unintended Tax Consequences: Modeling the Effects of the Millionaire’s Tax on Massachusetts’ Economic Future

Valuing Life-Saving Drugs: What is the Price of Life and Who Decides?

June 8, 2021

Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute visiting fellow Dr. Bill Smith about Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) standards, and the ways in which so-called objective cost-containing strategies use expert opinion to determine the value of a life and thereby disadvantage the elderly, disabled, and those with less common vulnerabilities to disease.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Hubwonk-Template-26.png 512 1024 Editorial Staff https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/logo_440x96.png Editorial Staff2021-06-08 09:46:532021-06-08 09:49:03Valuing Life-Saving Drugs: What is the Price of Life and Who Decides?