MSP Regional Recovery Hub Weekly Take

4 Feb 2021


News

The big thing you should know about economic recovery in the Minneapolis Saint Paul region for the week of February 1st.

This is the Recovery Hub Weekly Take, a new resource giving you the latest insights on regional economic recovery in the Minneapolis Saint Paul region.

This Week’s Big Thing: students and teachers are returning to in-person learning across the metro, opening up return-to-work for parents who have been sidelined. According to the Minnesota Department of Health over half of school districts in the metro are offering in-person learning or a combination of in-person and virtual learning models as of this week. This is a big deal for regional economic recovery because it means parents who have been sidelined from work while taking on virtual learning and childcare duties can rejoin the labor force.

It hasn’t come without its challenges. You may remember back in December Governor Walz revised the Safe Learning Plan to no longer include the rate of spread by county part of the criteria for when elementary schools can reopen and gave elementary schools across the state the choice to reopen beginning January 18th. Large school districts including Saint Paul Public Schools and Minneapolis Public Schools have had push back from parents and teachers, questioning the safety of this step before teachers have been able to get vaccinated. While many teachers returning to in-person learning this week still had yet to be vaccinated, the state has prioritized teachers and childcare workers in vaccination distribution and many are starting to receive the vaccine.

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