Equity Lab: School reopenings + The life of Manny Antwi + Vaccine inequity in Sacramento
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Good afternoon, Equity Lab readers:
It’s Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
I’m Sawsan Morrar, school accountability reporter.
Most students in the region are off for Spring Break this week, but when they return to school next Monday, thousands of K-12 will be back on their campuses. But many parents opted to keep their children at home for the remainder of the school year. It left me and many others wondering what school will look like in the fall? Will parents have a choice? Will schools offer a full, traditional schedule?
There is an equity concern for several reasons: Many parents of students who are immunocompromised want their children to have the same opportunities their peers have this fall. Will distance learning be offered in the same way as it is now? And many more parents will likely physically return to their places of work in the fall. Half-day, on-and-off-again schedules are going to be much more challenging for more families.
One parent I spoke with wants his son back on campus. Bryan Greenwalt said he couldn’t imagine another year of half-day schedules and distance learning. “The mental health and the social and cognitive growth of our children must become priority,” he said.
While we don’t know what fall school schedules will look like, we do know that COVID-19 will not be completely eradicated. I was a bit surprised when I reached out to a handful of local Facebook parenting groups to hear back from so many parents who want their children back on campus without masks. Sacramento County public health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said that isn’t happening. “Our expectation is that as long as we have the virus circulating in the community, masks will be a requirement,” she said.
I hope the path forward will provide options for families so that everyone is comfortable with the learning model they choose.
Here’s what else you need to know this week:
Must-Read Stories
SACRAMENTO’S WEALTHIEST AREAS BEING VACCINATED MORE THAN THE HARDEST HIT: Wealthy, white Sacramentans continue to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at a faster rate than poor residents of color, new data released Thursday by the county public health department show. [Read more here]
‘HIDDEN CASTE SYSTEM’ : Why are so few Black women elected in the Sacramento region? Across the four-county Sacramento region, Black women fared worse in recent elections than their counterparts. Their numbers are stronger on school boards and other special districts, but the racial gap is most obvious among city and county elected officials. [Read more here]
THE PANDEMIC’S TOLL: Data reporter Phillip Reese broke down which areas in Sacramento were hardest hit by COVID-19. This became a point in conversation among parents in areas that had lower infection rates, including Folsom and Davis. [Read more here]
THE LOSS OF MANNY ANTWI: Kennedy High football player Emmanuel “Manny” Antwi collapsed at the team’s football game Friday night and later died. Sports reporter Joe Davidson spoke with Manny’s mother, brother and coach in this heartbreaking piece. [Read more here]
More Interesting Reads
Daylight in COVID economy? Unemployment falls in Sacramento and other California areas | The Sacramento Bee
‘We have to change the culture’: Sacramento leaders propose solutions for anti-Asian hate | The Sacramento Bee
Anti-Asian Twitter Hashtags Spiked After Trump Called COVID the ‘Chinese Virus’ | VICE News
She Left QAnon. Now She Doesn’t Know What To Believe. | BuzzFeed News
How mainstream media failed the Atlanta shooting victims | Nieman Lab
What we’re watching and listening to (and you should, too!)
What I’m reading: “Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People” by Helen Zia
I have not started reading this book, as it was on backorder and I am still waiting for my copy. But I am told it’s a must read. The Asian American hate we have seen over the last few months is nothing new. I was talking to a local teacher about the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, realizing I needed to read more about the horrific challenges so many Asian Americans faced in the U.S. I ordered this book as it covers several moments of crisis that Asian Americans experienced in recent decades.
One review that pushed me to buy this book comes from John Kuo Wei Tchen, a professor at New York University: “Dreams is a wonderful, sophisticated, lively sociohistorical biography of Asian Pacific Americans fighting back to broaden the human rights of U.S. citizens and immigrants alike. Herein Helen Zia emerges as the foremost activist-chronicler of the eighties and nineties.”
What I’m listening to: Nice White Parents
This Serial and New York Times series, hosted by Chana Joffe-Walt, is about parents and schools, and specifically about school inequality. It’s about how parents participate in public education. and how “nice white parents” don’t help make way for full, equitable schools in the system. If that summary makes you uncomfortable, this podcast is for you.
It challenges the everyday conversations we have with our friends. One example that spoke to me: Don’t many parents suggest just a handful of schools and neighborhoods when you ask for advice? Why is that? And what do those neighborhoods look like demographically? You can listen here.
— Sawsan Morrar
What’s your dream job?
We at The Sacramento Bee’s Equity Lab want to illustrate the challenges of finding good careers and what nonprofits, government agencies and local businesses can do to address those obstacles. In doing so, the Bee wants to spotlight your voice.
We all have our dream jobs.
But for many of us, barriers block us from pursuing our dreams. If you could choose, what would it be? What has stopped you from getting it? What support — from the government or elsewhere — can help you get there?
We want to know! Let us know here.
Did you miss our live event?
Last week, Equity Lab reporter Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks asked panelists your COVID questions on what comes next.
Watch the discussion here.
Where to find us
❗ We want to hear from you! Please send us your story tips and thoughts to equitylab@sacbee.com.
➡️ You can also follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and like us on Facebook at @EquityLabSac.
Thank you for reading, and we will see you again next week!
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This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 2:43 PM.