Rep. Ayanna Pressley on school reopens: Congress must lead in absence of Trump administration

07/19/2020 Health, Science


“We can’t move too fast on this. The consequences are too great to consider. It’s about public health,” the Democrat told CNN’s Jake Tapper in “State of the Union.” “What must happen is that Congress must continue to act as the conscience of this nation and lead in the absence of this Trump administration to provide recurring payments and mitigate the financial difficulties and burdens that families are feeling. To continue addressing food insecurity. But we should not rush to reopen the schools. “

Pressley continued that teachers “have already proven to be courageous and dedicated educators.”

“Now we ask them to be social workers and, in some cases, martyrs. And that is outrageous. Again, we need to pass the HEROES Act, which is on the desk of Mitch McConnell, who makes massive federal investments to support the reopening of our schools when it’s safe and this virus is under control. “

President Donald Trump and members of his administration have lobbied for schools to reopen in the coming weeks, even as the number of coronavirus cases has increased. Some school districts have announced that they will continue to learn at a distance in the fall and others have said they will implement a combination of remote learning and in-person instruction.
Last week, officials from the White House and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discussed the implementation of additional guidance aimed at encouraging the reopening of schools, creating another sticking point in a relationship. that has remained tense during the response to the pandemic.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos did not say during an interview with CNN last week whether to follow CDC guidelines on reopening and said “children should be in school.”

“They must be learning, they must move on. And we cannot, we cannot be paralyzed and not allow that to happen or not intend for that to happen,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash in “State of the Union.” .

Repeatedly pressured whether schools should implement remote learning in the event of an outbreak of coronavirus cases in their district, Devos said: “I think the goal should be children at school, in person, in the classroom.”

On July 16, the country reported its latest single-day record with at least 77,255 new cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The second highest number was reported a day later: 71,558. Saturday’s number: 63,698.
There are more than 3.7 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 140,120 people have died, according to a Sunday morning count by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

This story has been updated with additional information and context.

CNN’s Christina Maxouris, Sarah Westwood, Pamela Brown and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

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