Numbers

1,733: Positive COVID-19 cases in California as of March 22, according to the California Department of Public Health.

26,400: COVID-19 tests conducted during that time.

$100 million: Amount that Los Angeles Unified School District plans on spending to provide high-speed internet access to students who do not currently have it, according to EdSource. Officials estimate 25 percent of the district’s 600,000 students currently lack such access.

7,000: Number of viewers on a March 18 California Department of Education webinar on how to provide distance learning, meals for students and limited child care while schools are shut down because of the coronavirus, according to EdSource.

41,708: Total COVID-19 cases as of March 23, according to Johns Hopkins University.

20: Seconds that health officials recommend people wash their hands with soap and warm water to combat spread of the coronavirus.

454,836: Number of views on the top CTA Facebook post of last week.

11,035: Number of members joining the CTA Teaching, Learning and Life During COVID-19 Facebook Group in its first week.

Quotes

“It is our collective responsibility to do our part to minimize the spread of this disease. Each one of our actions affects those around us, especially the elderly and those with underlying health conditions. Please take the necessary steps to become familiar with the preventative measures such as effective health and safety practices. We owe it to each other.”
—CTA President E. Toby Boyd.

“We are going to get through this. And we’re going to get through it together. I want to thank you for the love that you bring to everything you do. Even when your own crisis is hitting, you care about your loved ones. You care about your students.”
—NEA President Lily Eskelsen García.

“I don’t think the schools are going to open again. Boy, I hope I’m wrong, but I believe that to be the case.”
—Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 17 about the potential length of COVID-19 closures.

“I appreciate the governor’s leadership and recognizing that under the current circumstances, the last thing our students need is to be confronted with a test.”
—Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, in response to Gov. Newsom’s March 18 executive order waiving statewide school testing this year.

“This pandemic has already revealed that: Schools are so much more than just schools; many people now realize how tough it is to be a teacher and that teachers are grossly underpaid; teachers are irreplaceable and essential to learning and education.”
—Nicholas Ferroni, New Jersey Education Association member

Photo credit: Fusion Medical Animation/Unsplash