Good morning. It's Thursday, July 9, and we're covering the mounting debate over how to open the nation's schools in the fall. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

NYC Limits Fall Schooling

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday in-classroom instruction would be limited to one to three days per week when students return to school in the fall, in a continuing effort to blunt the spread of the coronavirus. The school district is the nation's largest, with nearly 1.1 million students, and the decision to only partially reopen may influence education officials around the country. 

How to safely reopen schools has become a principal—and seemingly intractable—challenge. The virus is highly transmissible indoors, but districts are ill-equipped for distance learning, which also risks leaving behind lower-income families. Many educators fear for their health. At the same time, working-class families struggle to watch children during weekdays, and the economy is likely to sputter along until parents fully return to work. President Trump said yesterday he would consider cutting funding for schools that do not fully reopen in the fall. 

The news comes as new cases in the US passed 59,000 in a single day, setting a fresh record. Some of the rise is due to increased testing, but not all; new cases are dramatically outpacing new testing capacity in states like Florida, Texas, and Arizona (data here). The US has reported more than 3 million total cases, with 132,309 deaths, as of this morning. See the moving three-day average here. 

Finally, check out the beta version of Johns Hopkins University's new project, an interactive map tracking school reopenings.

Harvard, MIT Bring Visa Lawsuit

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filed suit yesterday over new federal guidelines that would require international students to take in-person classes or risk being deported. The new rules, announced yesterday (see posting), affect an estimated 1.1 million students holding F-1 and M-1 visas. The former typically attend academic institutions, while the latter pertain to those receiving vocational training.

While less than 10% of universities say they will go fully remote, many are leaning toward allowing 40-60% of students to return to campus in person. School officials said the new rules force institutions into scenarios which may compromise student health. More broadly, some fear foreign student enrollment, which collectively accounts for an estimated $45B in annual tuition costs and living expenses, will plummet. 

See where international students are concentrated here.

Religious Groups Win in Court

Religious organizations notched wins yesterday as the Supreme Court handed down decisions in two closely watched cases. In the first, the court ruled 7-2 that federal employment discrimination laws do not apply to teachers at religious schools. The plaintiffs—two Catholic school teachers—separately argued their firings violated federal law; one alleged she was fired after being diagnosed with breast cancer, the other alleged age discrimination. The court's ruling effectively concluded the reasons for termination were irrelevant under the ministerial exception, which lets religious institutions freely choose who will fill leadership roles.  

In the second case, also a 7-2 ruling, the court upheld the Trump administration's rollback of an Affordable Care Act requirement that employer-sponsored health insurance plans include birth control coverage. The new rules allow businesses to claim a religious or moral exemption, opting for plans that don't include contraceptives. Between 70,000 and 126,000 women could be affected by the decision.

A decision on whether the president's financial records must be made accessible is expected today, the last day of the court's current term. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> "Glee" actress Naya Rivera missing after swimming in a Los Angeles lake; police began emergency search after Rivera's 4-year-old son was found alone in a boat (More) | Four major film festivals—Toronto, Telluride, Venice, and New York—to join forces for movie lineups this fall (More) | ABC to reboot “The Wonder Years” with director Lee Daniels and a Black cast (More)

> Major League Soccer returns, with all teams except Dallas playing in the MLS is Back Tournament; Orlando City beats Inter Miami 2-1 (More) | Ivy League cancels all fall sports, including football, over coronavirus concerns (More) | Stanford to cut 11 varsity sports (More)

> Amazon follows retail giants Walmart and Target in pulling all Washington Redskins merchandise from its website (More) 

Science & Technology

> National Science Foundation reveals first details on actions taken against researchers who violate rules on disclosing foreign funding; the agency has rescinded funds from or reprimanded up to 20 grantees since 2018 (More)

> Engineers demonstrate the ability to connect "artificial atoms"—point defects in microscopically thin diamond—with guided light, providing a path to a scalable quantum computer chip (More)

> Polynesians made contact with Native South Americans much earlier than previously thought, new genetic analysis finds; researchers believe the sea-faring population potentially navigated 2,300 miles to Peru around 1100-1300 CE (More)

Business & Markets

Brought to you by The Ascent

> Warren Buffett donates $2.9B in Berkshire Hathaway stock to charity; the 89 year old has donated more than $37B since 2006 (More)

> Parent company of Quicken Loans, the country's largest mortgage lender, files for IPO; Dan Gilbert, majority owner and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, to hold voting control after IPO (More)

> Retailer Brooks Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid pandemic, to close approximately 50 of 250 US stores (More) | United Airlines to send layoff warnings to 36,000 workers to comply with WARN Act; worst-case scenario would equate to roughly half of US workforce (More)

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Politics & World Affairs

> Internal multiyear audit commissioned by Facebook slams the company for failing to make changes that resulted in a "widespread setback" for civil rights (More) | Read full report (More, PDF)

> Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified in impeachment trial against President Trump, retires; sources say a promotion to full colonel, which was approved by the Pentagon and sent to the White House this week, was likely to be blocked (More)

> Police body camera transcripts from the arrest, death of George Floyd in Minneapolis released (More) | Jackson, Mississippi city council votes 5-1 to take down statue of former President Andrew Jackson (More)

IN-DEPTH

How to Reopen Schools

Science | Staff. It's top of mind for every parent, teacher, and public official across the country—but there's no cohesive strategy in sight. Here are some lessons learned from other countries across the globe on how to reopen schools while maintaining public health. (Read)

Can Our Ballots Be Both Secret and Secure?

New Yorker | Sue Halpern. Is there any way to know—really know—that the votes we cast are delivered to and accurately tallied by vote counters, short of publishing a massive public list? Mathematician Josh Benaloh thinks so, and he's banking on advanced cryptographic technology to do it. (Read, $$)

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ETCETERA

Usain Bolt's daughter is perfectly named. 

Kanye West explains his presidential platform. 

The 2020 Audubon Photography Award winners revealed.

... and a Midwest storm chaser's most dramatic shots.

This startup wants to make dairy cows a thing of the past.

Japan bans screaming on roller coasters. 

What a comet looks like from the International Space Station. 

A group of rare gorillas in Nigeria caught on camera with babies.  

Clickbait: When life gives you a billion locusts, make dinner.

Historybook: President Zachary Taylor dies of cholera while in office (1850); 14th Amendment ratified in US, granting full citizenship to African Americans (1868); First Wimbledon tournament begins (1877); HBD Tom Hanks (1956); HBD musician Courtney Love (1964).

"A hero is someone who voluntarily walks into the unknown."

- Tom Hanks

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