Checking In with Dr. Linda Darling Hammond on Safely Reopening Schools During COVID-19, Learning Continuity, Federal Recovery Funding, and More

She serves as President of the California State Board of Education, President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, and is one of the nation’s leading education researchers...In this episode Dr. Linda Darling Hammond shares what’s on her mind as plans for the new school year continue to take shape. How is distance learning going? What have other countries done to re-open their campuses safely and what else should our federal government do to support efforts here? Plus, we explore the role everyone in schools plays in providing social-emotional supports to students; key objectives for the new Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans that districts must adopt before October – and, fact-checking presidential tweets about education.

With back to school season upon us, local and state leaders are working tirelessly to ensure as Gov. Newsom has said, “learning is non-negotiable” while prioritizing the health and safety of students and staff during this time of COVID-19.

In a recent Forbes article, “The Urgency of Reopening Schools Safely,” Linda discussed what other countries are doing to re-open their school campuses. She makes the compelling case that “where these re-openings have succeeded, governments have been responsive to addressing the significant financial needs.” Yet, with nearly $2.8 trillion in federal aid dedicated to the recovery so far in the U.S., less than half of one percent of the total funding has been allocated specifically for K-12 education.

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Dr. Linda Darling Hammond was appointed by Gov. Newsom to the State Board of Education in February 2019, and currently serves as President. She is President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), an organization that conducts and communicates independent, high-quality research to improve educational policy and practice. Linda is also the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University where she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as the faculty sponsor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She is past president of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, and Research-to-Policy. Full bio here.

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Paul Richman is a public education advocate and consultant. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow at @pjr100