Florida teachers sue state over reopening schools
Florida Education Association president Fedrick Ingram on concerns over reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Fox News host David Asman challenged the president of one of Florida’s largest teachers unions during a contentious segment on Tuesday after the group filed a lawsuit to stop Gov. Ron DeSantis and state education officials from the “reckless and unsafe” reopening of schools for in-person classes amid surging coronavirus cases.
"Let me say this," Fedrick Ingram, the Florida Education Association president, told "Your World." "As a high school band director and speaking on behalf of all the public school educators, we want to be back to school. We can't wait to get back to school. In fact, we miss our kids."
FLORIDA TEACHERS UNION FILES LAWSUIT TO STOP DESANTIS FROM REOPENING SCHOOLS
He continued, "This is what we pledged our lives to do ... but against the backdrop of over 350,000 positive cases of COVID, 5,000 deaths, and a positivity rate that is still in the 20th percentile, it is just unsafe for us to go back to school right now given the circumstances that we have."
Ingram said he would consider reopening schools for in-person classes when the state sees a 14-day steady decline in positive coronavirus cases, which he said, is in accordance with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines for reopening.
Asman observed that according to the data, only 30 people under the age of 15 have died of COVID-19 thus far, in contrast to the 190 children that die of the flu each year.
"Now, one death is a tragedy. You have to say that. That's absolutely true ..." Asman said, "but 190 children die of the flu each year and we don't close schools for that. So, do the statistics really justify closing?"
Ingram fired back, "We don't want to play truth or dare with any child. We don’t want to play duck duck goose or musical chairs with any child."
Asman pushed further, arguing, "So, why not close for the flu then?"
Ingram buckled down in his defense of the lawsuit which alleges that the July 6 emergency order requiring all public K-12 schools in the state to allow on-site classes is a violation of the Florida Constitution as COVID-19 infections continue to surge statewide.
"We have so many unanswered questions that we cannot simply say we are going to go hell or high water full speed ahead with opening the schools."
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His concerns rest largely among children of multigenerational homes, he explained, and older teachers who are at a higher risk if exposed to the virus.
"We have so many unanswered questions that we cannot simply say we are going to go hell or high water full speed ahead with opening the schools," Ingram said.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
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