| | | | | | | Presented By General Motors | | | | Axios What's Next | | By Jennifer A. Kingson, Joann Muller, Erica Pandey and Bryan Walsh ·Aug 20, 2021 | | It's Friday, and this morning we're taking you through America's back-to-school mess. We asked our colleagues at a number of Axios Local bureaus to send in what they're seeing and hearing on the ground. 🚗 Plus, Joann Muller's fun "What I'm Driving" car reviews are back! Check out the surprisingly hot model she tested recently. - Please keep sending us your terrific pictures for our daily What's Next photo competition! Find a shot you took that says something about how we're going to work, live, play and get around in the future: whatsnext@axios.com.
- Today's winners are at the bottom.
Today's Smart Brevity count: TKTK words ... TKTKT minutes. | | | | | | 1 big thing: America's patchwork back-to-school plan |  | | | Illustration: Rae Cook/Axios | | | | America's students are heading into the third disrupted school year as the Delta variant of COVID-19 foils reopening plans across the country, Erica Pandey writes. Why it matters: The U.S. economy is already expected to take a hit of up to $28 trillion due to pandemic-era learning loss. - Now, learning gaps are set to widen even further as kids in highly vaccinated communities can reap the benefits of in-person school, while those in places with high case counts are once again sent home, experts say.
What they're saying: "The outlook right now is too similar to what we went through last year," says Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. - "It's sad because it's so controllable," he says. "We know what works. We can get our kids in school in person if we can get the older ones vaccinated and the younger ones masked."
What's happening: The CDC recommends a universal indoor masking policy at school for all kids and faculty, regardless of vaccination status, in order to reopen in person and prevent rampant spread through schools and cities. - Many localities are following the guidance. At the same time, a number of states — including Florida, Arizona, Texas and South Carolina — have banned mask mandates at schools.
- One Florida district that didn't require masks has already had to quarantine 440 students — just two days into the school year.
Here's a snapshot of what's unfolding in local communities: Fights are breaking out between school districts and states over mask policies. - Facing record-shattering COVID-19 spikes, three of the nation's largest school districts — Florida's Hillsborough, Broward and Miami-Dade — have defied Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and made masks mandatory, even after threats that the districts would lose state funding, Axios' Ben Montgomery reports. Typically dull school board meetings have become the stage for this debate.
- Nashville's school district disregarded the Tennessee governor's executive order that allows parents to opt out of universal masking and told families its mandate remains in effect, setting the stage for a likely court battle with the governor, Axios' Nate Rau and Adam Tamburin write.
School reopenings and masking policies are inconsistent even within the same areas. - Columbus City Schools in Ohio will require masks to be worn in all buildings regardless of vaccination status, Axios' Tyler Buchanan writes. But a handful of districts in surrounding Franklin County will begin the school year without any mask requirement.
Most big cities' schools are reopening in person, with masks. But some parents want to continue with remote schooling as the Delta variant keeps driving case counts up. - More than 600 people have signed an online petition urging the District of Columbia to allow virtual learning until vaccines are made available to children under 12, Axios' Cuneyt Dil and Paige Hopkins report.
- Parents are also petitioning in Chicago, writes Axios' Monica Eng.
Even in places with mask mandates, parents are stressed ahead of the fall semester, writes Axios' Torey Van Oot. - Lindsey Wollschlager said she's "relieved" that St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota will require masks when her 5-year-old daughter starts kindergarten in September.
- Yes, but: "She has no excitement about kindergarten. Only dread," Wollschlager said of her daughter.
Read the full story, with dispatches from more cities |     | | | | | | 2. A car repair is the latest thing you can get delivered |  | | | RepairSmith's mechanics will come to your driveway. Photo: RepairSmith | | | | It's reaching the point in which you can order almost any product or service online and have it delivered — including car repair, Joann Muller writes. Why it matters: Nobody wants to sit around a repair shop waiting for their car to be fixed — even more so since the pandemic, as consumers have avoided stores, restaurants and other businesses. Driving the news: RepairSmith, a startup that lets you book an appointment online and then sends a mechanic to your home, is expanding after raising $42 million in new funding this week. - The Los Angeles-based company, which launched in 2019 out of a Mercedes-Benz incubator program, is now in seven states and plans to expand to every major metropolitan area by the end of 2022. It serves all makes and models.
It's definitely not the cheapest repair service in town: Fast Company did some quick price comparisons in Portland, Ore., and found a driveway oil change was about double the coupon rate offered at Jiffy Lube. - But if I don't have to sit on a sticky chair in a smelly shop while I wait for my car to be ready, maybe it's worth a little extra.
Read the full story | | | | | | | | 3. The economy's wedding bump |  | | | Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios | | | | As we've reported, the U.S. is seeing a wedding boom as millions of couples who postponed their big days due to the pandemic rush to the altar, Erica writes. By the numbers: The economy is seeing a temporary bump due to that boom in the $70 billion wedding industry. Jobs are plentiful, and consumer spending is skyrocketing. - Wedding industry job postings have increased by more than five times over the last year, according to an analysis by the Business of Business.
- Vendors are increasing their fees to make up for lost business, and couples are willing to spend big after a long wait, leading to increased budgets.
- Magdalena Mieczkowska, a planner who does high-end weddings in the Hudson Valley and the Berkshires, has seen budgets swell from $100,000 to $200,000, she told the New York Times.
- And the average cost of a wedding, which dipped down to $19,000 in 2020, from $28,000 in 2019, is back up to over $30,000 and is projected to keep climbing over the next couple of years, per Newsweek.
But, but, but: Don't expect this to last. Marriage rates are falling — and they hit an all-time low of 6.1 per 1,000 people in 2019. The wedding bubble is sure to burst after the pandemic back-up has cleared out. | | | | | | | | A message from General Motors | | Driving the future of America | | |  | | | | From designing the revolutionary new Ultium Platform to the first electric vehicles it will power, General Motors is investing billions not just in EVs and AVs, but in American manufacturing itself. Learn more. | | | | | | 4. What Joann's driving: the 2022 Kia Carnival |  | | | 2022 Kia Carnival MPV. Photo: Kia | | | | I've been driving the 2022 Kia Carnival, a new minivan that reminds me why minivans are so underrated, Joann writes. The big picture: Families are taking more road trips during COVID-19, and fuel-efficient minivans offer the perfect combination of cargo and passenger space. But try to find one on your dealer's lot: Only four manufacturers still produce them and dealers can't keep them in stock. - The Toyota Sienna (hybrid-only) and the Chrysler Pacifica (plug-in hybrid or gas) are both newly redesigned, and the Honda Odyssey received some modest updates for 2021 too.
The Carnival has undergone perhaps the biggest transformation. With the boxy looks of an SUV, the Sedona replacement aims for what Kia calls the "unoccupied space between SUV and family hauler." - They don't even call it a minivan. It's an MPV, for multipurpose vehicle. (Maybe that's so minivan haters can drive incognito.)
My thought bubble: The Carnival's lane-keeping system could use some fine-tuning. The car's adjustments were too pronounced for my liking. Technology like this should feel like a help, not a competition for control of the car. Read Joann's full review Editor's note: Joann tests new vehicles in her role as a juror for the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. | | | | | | | | 5. Reader photos |  | | | Photo: Debbie Bardon | | | | What's Next: Pervasive smoke Debbie Bardon writes: "The daytime sky in Oakland, California, on September 9, 2020 as a result of the wildfires." Photo: Mark Leemkuil What's Next: Bitcoin ATMs Mark Leemkuil writes: "This was taken last week at a Mobil station on the north side of Milwaukee." | | | | | | | | A message from General Motors | | Driving the future of America | | | | | | | | From designing the revolutionary new Ultium Platform to the first electric vehicles it will power, General Motors is investing billions not just in EVs and AVs, but in American manufacturing itself. Learn more. | | | | Watch Axios' Get Smart short course about going public — from IPOs to SPACs. Thanks for reading! If this email was forwarded to you, subscribe here. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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