EDITORIAL: Grad rates laudable despite pandemic
Jun. 12—Thumbs up to all the students, parents, teachers and school administrators who helped the class of 2020 endure an end of school year pandemic and still graduate at rates that were steady or in some cases even better than the year before.
The 2020 graduation rate for Mankato Public Schools was up a full percentage point in 2020 to 88% compared to 2019. The Minnesota graduation rate was up just slightly, but set a new record at 84%. Mankato East and West high schools topped a 90 percent graduation rate while the alternative Central High School was at 45%.
The gap in graduation rates between white and Black students was the best news. With graduation rates for Black students at 75%, the gap was closed by 6 percentage points in 2020. That's good progress on an important issue.
It's good to see such success in light of the adversity the pandemic brought. It shows the resilience of those who are involved in education.
Heat and humidity
Thumbs down to this miserable stretch of hot weather so early in the summer that is taking a toll on humans, plants and energy conservation.
Growers in the region are losing some of their vegetables to the 10-day stretch of 90-degree plus days in this record-setting run. Even with extra watering, it's too hot too early for many crops, including peas that burn up and radishes that prematurely bolt. Newly planted trees, shrubs and sods are also taking a beating.
The city of Mankato enacted watering restrictions to help conserve water as the hot, dry weather continues. The city pumped more than 8.2 million gallons Wednesday, nearly double the amount on May 9, when the high temperature was 63 degrees.
Despite a drop in humidity and a decrease in high temperatures forecast for this weekend, the relief doesn't mean we're out of the woods in the long term. We've been warned by scientists for years now: These extreme weather patterns can be attributed to global warming.
As we witness the days of June melt away at a much higher intensity than we're used to, we should keep in mind that reducing our own energy consumption and conserving as much as we can has a bigger effect if we all participate.
Sharing the vaccine bounty
Thumbs up to this week's commitment by the Group of Seven — the economic powerhouses of the developed world — to provide at least a billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to the planet's economically less fortunate.
As outlined before the G7 meeting in England, the United States, which has a large vaccine stockpile and a plummeting demand for shots, will provide half the promised doses.
This is much less a sacrifice on the part of the United States than it might appear. The brief shelf life of the vaccines approved for use in this nation makes this a use-if-or-lose-it proposition. Better to use the vaccines elsewhere than let them spoil on shelves here.
For some members of G7, allocating doses to the international effort is indeed a sacrifice. But a global pandemic won't stop being a pandemic as long as the virus flourishes anywhere. Continued hotspots anywhere on the globe raises the possibility of variants that might defeat today's vaccines.
So, yes, the United States will benefit from vaccinating Africa and South America and Asia. For that matter, it would benefit if its own vaccine-adverse people would roll up their sleeves and take the jab.
Voting rights
Thumbs down to Republicans in Congress for blocking legislation to ensure full and fair access to voting.
The bill is needed as a number of states that have Republican legislatures and governors have been rushing to pass bills that put a number of barriers up for voters. Their motivation is clear — they want to keep as many minority and disadvantaged voters as possible away from the polls.
Democrats in Congress need to continue working to negotiate a bill that would garner enough support to pass.
