Given what we know about the coronavirus now, reopening schools in the fall should be something of a no brainer. As of July 1st, of 112,226 confirmed coronavirus deaths, only 171 people age 24 or younger had died from it, or 0.15% of the total.
More people over the age of 100 have died from the coronavirus than 24 and under in the U.S., and there are quite a bit more people age 24 and younger.
Dr. Fauci warmed to the idea too earlier this month, saying that the idea of keeping schools closed in the fall over safety confirms is “a bit of a reach.” Those comments came days after Rand Paul made the case for reopening in a hearing with Fauci, where Paul pointed out that 22 European countries had reopened schools without any spike in cases. “Contact tracing studies in China, Iceland, Britain, and the Netherlands failed to find a single case of child-to-adult infection.” he elaborated.
President Trump has since led the charge to reopen schools, yesterday holding a White House event where he said he would put pressure on governors who refuse to reopen.
And this morning he’s upped the ante.
According to Breitbart:
President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to “cut off” funding to schools if they do not reopen in the Fall after closing due to coronavirus concerns.
Trump also said he disagrees with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools.”
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos told Fox News on Tuesday that her department was “seriously considering” action to withhold funds from schools that did not reopen in the Fall.
The Trump administration reportedly aims to work with local governments to reopen schools in the Fall — a move the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has “strongly” advocated.
“The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020,” the AAP said in its pitch for an in-person 2020-2021 academic year, contending that the virus behaves “differently in children and adolescents than other common respiratory viruses, such as influenza, on which much of the current guidance regarding school closures is based.
Of course, many Democrat governors will inevitably defy common sense solely because it’s coming from the Trump administration.
