Friday@Five

Need to know: COVID-19

• As of Friday, September 25, there were 204,331 confirmed cases. See cases by county here.
• The share of positive tests as a percentage of total tests is 5.2%.

In the weeds

Pew Research Center released a new report yesterday on the economic fallout of COVID-19. Unsurprisingly, their survey shows low-income and people of color report more economic harm from the pandemic, including having to use money from savings or retirement and having trouble paying bills.

Of those who reported they have lost a job, half said they are still unemployed and a third said they have returned to their old job. The survey ran August 3-16. See the rest of the results here.

For your consideration

As of Sept. 10, community college enrollment nationally is down 7.5%, according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Among four-year schools, public four-years are down just 0.4% compared to private nonprofit four-years that are down 3.8%.

Enrollment drops at undergraduate institutions, both two-year and four-year, are largest for American Indian, white, and Black students.

Dropping knowledge

The Center on Reinventing Public Education teamed up with the Collaborative for Student Success to document “promising practices” emerging from district reopening plans. The report looks at five areas: support for staff, students, and parents; academic program and data use; expectations and resource transparency; and connectivity and technology. They highlight Guilford County Schools in the connectivity and technology section.

What we're reading

 

In North Carolina, Black Voters’ Mail-In Ballots Much More Likely to Be Rejected Than Those From Any Other Race

ProPublica and WRAL | 09/23/2020

Black voters were more than twice as likely to have mail-in ballots rejected than those submitted by the state’s white voters in 2018, and rejection rates for 2020 show a similar pattern.... Read the rest

• Colleges’ Opening Fueled 3,000 COVID Cases a Day, Researchers Say

  Kaiser Health News | 09/23/2020

• North Carolina Now Requires Pension Stress Testing

  Pew Charitable Trust | 09/10/2020

• Big tech needs new, powerful government watchdogs to enforce real transparency

  Fast Company | 09/23/2020

• School Attendance In The COVID Era: What Counts As 'Present'?

  NPR | 09/24/2020

• ‘Front of Package’ Nutrition Labels Improved Nutrition Quality

  North Carolina State University | 09/21/2020

• Before the storm: Without emergency alerts in Spanish, Latino immigrants in rural N.C. are left out of local emergency preparedness

  Enlace Latino NC | 09/18/2020