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Writer's pictureJared Lee

Trump Pressures Schools to Reopen in the Midst of a Pandemic

Despite the surge in coronavirus cases, the Trump administration has been pushing for schools to fully reopen this upcoming fall semester, ignoring health experts and using funding as leverage.


In a recent tweet, President Trump explained that the CDC’s guidelines for safely reopening schools would have schools doing “very impractical things” and claimed that the guidelines themselves were too “though and expensive.” Those guidelines, under the CDC’s Consideration for schools,” outlined a range of safe practices revolving around hygiene and social distancing while also providing suggestions for how schools can safely operate and deal with infections. In addition, those guidelines noted that “full sized, in-person classes, activities, and events” were at the highest risk of spreading COVID-19, while “virtual-only classes, activities, and events” were at the lowest risk. 



Yet, in response to pressure from the Trump administration, the CDC released a new statement that seemingly pushes for school reopenings, citing low-risks to school-aged children.


“Children appear to be at lower risk for contracting COVID-19 compared to adults. To put this in perspective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of July 17, 2020, the United States reported that children and adolescents under 18 years old account for under 7 percent of COVID-19 cases and less than 0.1 percent of COVID-19-related deaths,” the statement reads.


Moreover, the statement cites how school closures can harm students, claiming that closures “can lead to severe learning loss, and the need for in-person instruction is particularly important for students with heightened behavioral needs.” 


But not everyone is onboard. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that the city’s schools will not be fully reopening this September, but rather would only allow limited classroom attendance. Schools in Philadelphia will continue online learning at least until November. As a matter of fact, as of July 29, 11 out of the 15 largest school districts will solely use remote learning as their back-to-school instructional model. 


To further increase pressure on schools, President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss threatened to cut federal funding to schools that do not reopen.



However, it is still unclear how the Trump administration would carry out this threat and, more notably, whether the administration has the authority to cut federal funding to schools in the first place. 


It was later suggested by Vice President Mike Pence and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany that, rather than using current school funding as leverage, the administration would use future COVID-19 relief packages to promote school reopenings.


“Roughly 10 percent, depending on states' budgets, comes from the federal government. And as we work with Congress on the next round of state support, we are going to be looking for ways to give states a strong incentive and an encouragement to get kids back to school,” Pence stated.


In a separate briefing, McEnany added that Trump wanted to “substantially bump up money for education” in the next relief package, but suggested that the White House was looking to have the aid “tied to the student and not to a district where schools are closed.”




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