To begin with, this is from Texas, and not the Great State of New Mexico My Home State, but I will say this is the coolest thing I've seen this week. Roma High School is down by the border. Throughout the Southwest, Mariachi music is a Big Deal--this is one of their award-winning high school bands:
Are you curious about how every single other school district in the country is handling the COVID-19 outbreak? Visit ArcGIS/MCH's masterpiece, below:
You'll notice that these are state by state decisions. That's because schools are under state jurisdiction. The 10th Amendment provides that any power not specifically given to the federal government in the Constitution goes to the States and the people. Only governors can close schools statewide, just as governors have the right to issue other emergency orders. There was some debate about that this week as the President learned that he would not be able to force states to open their economies sooner than they think is prudent under any "absolute authority". The 10th Amendment does not even imply that the President needs to authorize or give permission for states to exercise this power. You just saw a constitutional question play out in public that you are unlikely to ever see again in your lifetime, as long as our system continues to exist. Pay attention.
In case you're curious about the epidemiology that's informing the Department of Health here in Minnesota, the University of Minnesota has been producing a really remarkable series of podcasts called Health in All Matters. The most recent episode explains how hard it will be to reopen any state economy until people can access tests for COVID-19. State epidemiologists across the country are reporting that shortages of tests as well as supplies needed for tests (like q-tips, for example) make it impossible for them to know how many people have the virus. You'll recall that we talked about testing during the second week of March in class. Meanwhile, the President has apparently decided to pull $500 million from the World Health Organization. Fox News has this coverage and this as well. Compare the BBC and Fox. How are they similar and different? If you were sitting in my classroom today, we'd have discussed this along with the critical importance right now of maintaining a balanced media diet. Please reflect on this: this week, where have you gotten your news? How do you think that's affected your perspective?
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