Reopening Schools

“Chicago Teachers Union members have approved a reopening agreement with the school district that opens the door for in-person learning for elementary school students for the first time since the pandemic shuttered school buildings last March… Some 68% of voting teachers and staff ratified the agreement, the union announced early Wednesday morning.” WBEZ

“Joe Biden pledged Tuesday to bring the coronavirus pandemic under enough control to open most of the nation’s schools during his first 100 days as president.” AP News

Many on both sides call for schools to reopen:

“The science is clear enough… Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association, ‘there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission.’ The authors cite a study of 11 school districts in North Carolina showing that ‘within-school transmissions were very rare’ and ‘there were no cases of student-to-staff transmission.’ Numerous credible researchers around the world have found the same thing…

“A McKinsey estimate from last June concluded that students may have lost three months to a year of learning, depending on the exact circumstances. This gap could affect the rest of their education and perhaps even their future earnings. Then, there are the social costs for children, among them higher rates of depression and anxiety. School closures have pulled women out of the labor force to bear the brunt of all the juggling that has to go on at home when the kids aren’t in school… Biden’s goal should be to exert every ounce of influence that he has to get kids back in the classroom — for their own good and that of the country’s parents.” (Rich Lowry, Politico)

“Of course, the union must be vigilant about ensuring the safety of teachers. But it is hard to take seriously its claim of wanting kids back in school when it seems to continually set up roadblocks. The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that schools can safely reopen, even without all teachers being vaccinated. The experience of schools that have opened shows protocols such as mask mandates, social distancing, testing and small cohorts of students — all things D.C. schools are doing — work. School-based covid cases have been rare.” (Editorial Board, Washington Post)