- Joe Biden released a plan on Friday on how schools should address reopening this fall. He underscored the need for clear federal guidance for states, which is lacking under President Trump.
- “The current lack of clarity” by the Trump administration is “paralyzing schools,” according to Biden’s video statement.
- The five-step plan suggests that individual communities must make decisions based on local conditions, such as the number of coronavirus infections and the amount of school funding to ensure safe teaching conditions.
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Schools should reopen if “people” wear masks and if teachers can practice social distancing, he said, adding that it is too dangerous to reopen otherwise.
- Biden said he supports the $ 58 billion in federal funds that the House has already approved for schools, and that at least another $ 34 billion should come together.
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Joe Biden’s campaign released a plan on Friday on how schools should consider reopening this fall. It focuses on creating basic federal guidelines while allowing schools to make decisions at the local level. It also urges Congress to approve additional emergency funds to push for school reopening.
Biden’s plan was also accompanied by a video of him and his wife, Jill, an educator. “Teachers are tough,” Jill said in the video. “But it is wrong to endanger educators and students. We need a better plan.”
—Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 17, 2020
“Forcing educators and students to return to classrooms in areas where infection rates rise or remain too high is simply dangerous,” Biden said.
The campaign plan sets out five necessary steps. The first step? The country needs to “control the virus”. To do so, Biden suggests increasing testing and contact tracing and using the Defense Production Act to obtain PPE in addition to adhering to social distancing guidelines and wearing masks.
Second, the details of the plan, national guidelines should be established. “Schools need clear, consistent and effective national guidelines … The current lack of clarity is paralyzing schools.” So far, according to the plan, schools have been more or less blind. While the proposed guidelines would cover basics, such as what infection rate a school would keep closed, they would also allow individual communities to make decisions based on local conditions.
As coronavirus cases increase across the country, Biden’s plan is likely to encourage most schools to remain remote or delay reopening.
Third, Biden urged the Senate to approve the $ 58 billion in federal funds that the House voted to allocate to schools, and to add at least another $ 34 billion to that number. Emergency funding would primarily help schools to safely reopen, for example by providing ventilation systems, personal protective equipment and more, while $ 4 billion would go specifically toward technology and broadband upgrades.
Fourth, the plan requires heightened remote learning experiences.
Fifth, the Biden campaign said it wants to narrow the educational equity gap in the future.
Biden’s statement comes as Trump continues to push for widespread reopens and threatens funding cuts to schools that resist.
On Monday, when asked about an Arizona teacher who died of the coronavirus, Trump did not answer the question, saying “schools should be opened.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany emphasized that stance Thursday. She said Trump wants schools to be “open and full,” and that “science should not hinder this.”
