The science is settled and it’s time to end the debate on school closures. Open them in the fall.
The lengths to which the left will go in their refusal to open schools was illustrated in spades after Thursday’s White House press briefing.
Trump administration spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany carefully explained that science favors re-opening schools.
[…]Today’s “essential workers” include grocery clerks, Walmart greeters, and Home Depot employees.
If a liquor store is essential, a public school should be also.
If a private school teacher is essential, a public school teacher should also be.
The only difference between public and private schools is a union — and a Democratic governor who cares more about defying Trump than protecting the country’s most vulnerable population.
Keeping schools closed is institutionalized child abuse. Open them up.
— Michael Dorstewitz, July 17 Newsmax column
If there is one fact regarding the WuFlu that everyone should be able to agree upon, it’s that bat-soup syndrome discriminates based on age. The older you are, the harder you’re hit.
That’s why at first glance the debate on re-opening the schools seems so bizarre.
So far this year four times the number of school-age children have been killed by the regular flu than the Flu Manchu and schools don’t close en masse for the seasonal flu.
[…]So why are teachers, administrators and politicians opposing school re-opening this fall?
Two words — Donald Trump.
Keeping school age children at home also keeps at least one parent at home. If schools remain closed the economy can’t fully reopen.
If the economy can’t recover then Trump’s chances for re-election begin to plummet.
[…]Others contend the pressure of lockdowns and the kids at home create a volatile situation. We aren’t ready to jump on the reopen the schools because kids-shouldn’t-be-left-alone-with-their-potentially-deadly-parents bandwagon.
We want the schools open because that is the best way for children to learn.
Online learning for elementary, middle and high school students is a proven disaster —nationwide.
— Michael Reagan and Michael Shannon, July 18 Newsmax column
It’s reasonable that some of these adults are wary of being exposed to a virus that has not yet been tamed by science, and which is still wreaking havoc in some parts of the country. I know that the uncertainties attached to this disease give one pause, and provide significant challenges to reopening the schools. And yes, I am fully aware that there is not enough money, time, or even initiative at the local level to guarantee a fool-proof, completely sanitized, thoroughly germ-free environment.
But by the same token, the only ones I see engaging in finger pointing and “end-times” sort of rhetoric are teachers who do not want to return to the classroom, and their supporters.
[…]I don’t mean to dismiss the real concerns of teachers who might feel particularly vulnerable to infection, including those who are older, have pre-existing conditions or don’t want to expose vulnerable family members to what they perceive as a risk.
But that is not what we have been doing, because some people see this as just another opportunity to attack a president they despise, or advance some agenda that has absolutely nothing to do with their own health, or the welfare of children.
— Christine Flowers, July 29 Newsmax column