One year in and, finally, hope for our students

Earlier this month, we arrived at a truly sobering, poignant milestone in the course of this COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, commonplace and ubiquitous as this “pandemic” classification might currently seem, March 11, 2021 actually marked the one-year anniversary of when the World Health Organization (WHO) – in a somber press conference delivered by my friend Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus – announced that COVID-19 can officially be "characterized as a pandemic”. This pandemic declaration not only changed the way we talk and think about the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), it was the watershed moment on what many observers have chillingly designated “the day everything changed.” In the days that followed, we watched in dismay as officials closed schools, non-essential businesses, places of worship, and parks; as hospitals postponed non-emergency procedures; and as nearly all sports leagues suspended play – with many of these activities yet to resume in parts of our country. 

Of the many ways that our lives were drastically impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, its effect on exacerbating inequalities in our nation’s education system is certainly among the most perturbing. At the peak of school closures resulting from the pandemic, 50 million K-12 public school students had begun learning remotely from home. Of these students, 15-16 million (~30%) lack adequate access to internet or devices to sustain effective distance learning at home – a phenomenon known as the “digital divide.” After a year of many schools continuing to operate virtually, our nation’s most underserved, vulnerable students have not only been falling off track academically, but a troubling number are also socially isolated, missing meals, or facing abuse and neglect, to name only a few challenges. Recognizing this abhorrent state of affairs and the significant role that rapid, inexpensive “screening” tests would play in allowing schools to welcome students back for in-person instruction, I was proud to join forces with the Rockefeller Foundation and the COVID Collaborative last year as part of a Pandemic Solutions Group leading ambitious efforts to scale up COVID-19 antigen testing (game-changing assays capable of returning results in less than 30 minutes) in communities, cities, states, and tribal nations across the United States. 

As a culmination of this past year’s work, I applaud the Biden Administration for their recent commitment to help safely and sustainably reopen America’s schools by allocating $10 billion from the American Rescue Plan towards regular testing of students, teachers, and staff. The program is aimed at helping in-person learning restart broadly before the school year's end, and it comes alongside moves by the Education Department to begin distributing an additional nearly $122 billion in COVID-19 relief funding for our nation’s K-12 schools. I am encouraged by how these funds will bolster schools’ ability to welcome students back as expeditiously as possible this spring and to begin addressing the significant academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs that the pandemic has disrupted for far too long. 

Less than two weeks removed from this monumental announcement, exciting developments are already becoming apparent across the country. For instance, in my beloved home city of Newark, New Jersey, the public-school system recently announced that students and teachers who return to classrooms next month will be tested weekly for COVID-19 through the end of the school year – a ~$2 million program with funds covered by the national screening initiative. I also commend Superintendent Roger León and the Newark Public Schools District for the various other steps that they are taking to prepare for in-person learning, including setting up a vaccination site for teachers, purchasing air purifiers for every classroom, and using high-tech equipment to disinfect every building. I trust that this will aid Newark in properly servicing its large population of vulnerable students while also emerging as a model for what can be achieved in schools across the country that have been similarly empowered by financial support from federal agencies and strategic guidance from entities like the Rockefeller Foundation.

One year into this COVID-19 pandemic, there is no denying the staggering scope of the damage caused by this crisis. Few groups have felt this anguish and disruption as acutely as the students in our most underserved areas. Yet, announcements like that of the Biden administration recently offer an inspiring reminder that, so long as we remain steadfast in our interventions and continue following the guidance of the experts, we are well on our way to rounding the corner on this virus. Brighter days – for our children, our country, and the world more broadly – are finally in sight.