Why Nobody Knows Exactly How Many Texas Teachers Have Died of COVID-19

A new study says re-opening schools in Texas led to an additional 43,000+ cases and 800+ deaths across the state.  In fact, one of the lead researchers says it was a stronger connection than they would have guessed.  What isn’t clear, is exactly how many of those were teachers.  That researcher tells the Jasons why that is and why he hopes the study becomes part of the discussion before any concrete decisions are made for schools in the fall.  The Texas Education Agency tells us they stand by their decisions and pointed us towards criticism of this study.  But many teachers and other school workers wouldn’t be surprised by the results.  They predicted, some right here on Y’all-itics, they would lose co-workers to the disease before they even returned to classrooms.  But nobody knows the exact number of teachers who’ve died of COVID during this school year… because the state isn’t tracking those statistics.  So WFAA reporter Teresa Woodard did just that.  And she also joins the Jasons to talk about her investigation in this episode of Y’all-itics.

 

WATCH Teresa Woodard’s investigation on WFAA and wfaa.com on Tuesday, May 18 at 10pm

 

NBER Study:  School Reopenings, Mobility, and COVID-19 Spread: Evidence from Texas | NBER