School is Essential
EVIDENCE SHOWS KIDS NEED CLASSROOOMS
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ince I have no school-age children or grandchildren, I’ve watched the debate over school openings from afar. But every American has a stake in the discussion over how, when and if to bring kids back to school. Pandemicdriven closures last spring affected 62 million pre-primary, primary and secondary school students, along with parents and teachers. Sadly, the debate is taking place at a divisive time—the 2020 presidential election, as our country experiences unprecedented civil and economic
CH By Cecily Hastings Publisher’s Desk
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unrest and a rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The debate about reopening classrooms peaked when an alliance of teacher unions and progressive groups sponsored what they called the National Day of Resistance in early August. With mock coffins, they protested a return to teaching would “kill them.” Teacher groups have been busy listing demands before they return to classrooms. These include canceling rents and mortgages, a freeze on evictions and foreclosures, and a moratorium on standardized testing. They favor abolishing charter schools and voucher programs. They insist if public schools do not open this fall, private schools must likewise remain closed. Completely unrelated to coronavirus, they demand Medicare for All and police defunding. Many unions threaten to strike if asked to return to work. One rare blessing of the pandemic has been our country’s outpouring of support for “essential” workers. These include doctors, nurses, other
health care workers, first responders, law enforcement (at least until George Floyd’s death), grocery clerks, truck drivers, postal workers, sanitation workers, utility workers and more. Millions of Americans courageously show up every day, interacting with other Americans. Why can’t teachers? It seems to me they are just as “essential.” Clearly, we must take seriously the risk teachers and school staff could transmit the virus to each other—as we would in any other workplace. Older teachers and those with underlying health conditions should remain home and receive paid medical leave. The good news is: The accumulating scientific evidence and real-world experience is reasonably consistent. In the midst of uncertainty and disagreement regarding COVID-19, there exists a common refrain among the scientific community. Doctors and pediatricians agree—we’ve got to open schools. Evidence suggests the risk of kids getting sick from virus is less than the harm done by keeping children out of
school. According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, “Children living in poverty, children of color, English language learners, children with diagnosed disabilities, and young children face especially severe losses.” The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pushed for schools to reopen in the fall, saying it’s in the “public health interest” to do so. “I don’t think I can emphasize it enough, as the director for the Centers for Disease Control, the leading public health agency in the world: It is in the public health interest that these K-12 students get the schools back open for face-to-face learning,” Dr. Robert Redfield told Congress. The CDC reported 45 American children under age 15 have died of COVID-19 since February. The American Academy of Pediatrics summarized the case for reopening: “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. Lengthy time away
