Former Education Secretary Bill Bennett on reopening schools amid pandemic
Nation’s largest school districts struggle with getting students back into the classrooms due to coronavirus concerns; reaction from ‘Outnumbered.’
A socialist outlet took New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to task this week for reneging on his promise to keep schools closed if coronavirus positivity rates in the city surpassed 3%.
The nation’s largest school district – with 1 million students – shut down in-person learning just two weeks ago but decided to bring back preschoolers and elementary school children on Monday. The move came after parents pushed for the return and the mayor concluded it would do so with more robust COVID testing.
The “World Socialist Web Site” published an op-ed piece attacking the decision, calling it “a sharp warning that the ruling class is prepared to accept hundreds of thousands of more deaths from the virus this winter.”
Students arrive at P.S. 134 Henrietta Szold Elementary School, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, in New York. (AP)
The outlet accused the Democratic mayor of conspiring with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) union to go back on his earlier promise to keep schools closed.
“De Blasio made his decision after a ferocious pro-reopening media campaign spearheaded by the New York Times, various protests by upper-middle-class-parents, and intense behind-the-scenes pressure from New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo and Democratic Party politicians, who are as beholden to Wall Street as Trump and the Republicans,” the op-ed’s author, Sandy English, wrote.
The piece further criticized “so-called dissident factions” of the UFT, like the Movement of Rank-and-File Educations (MORE), for going along with plans to reopen.
“We urge all city educators, parents and students who wish to take up the fight to close schools and halt the spread of the pandemic to join and help build the New York City Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee today,” the author wrote.
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Health officials say the virus does not appear to be spreading rapidly in classrooms, perhaps because children may be less likely to spread or contract the virus. Instead, many cases among youngsters and educators have been traced to activities outside school.
Still, the infections have alarmed parents and educators, and the illnesses and quarantines among teachers and other employees have left some schools short of adult supervision.
At the same time, parents and others have complained that children are not getting a good education at home in front of a computer. And the switch to remote learning has caused hardship for many families by forcing parents to watch over their children instead of going to work.
Since the beginning of the New York City school year, more than 1,740 students and 2,240 staff in the public system have been hit by the virus, according to city statistics.
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It's been a struggle for American schoolchildren for the entire year — academically, psychologically and physically. School districts across the country, both big and small, have reported an increase in the number of students failing classes. Students for whom English is not their native language, students with disabilities and poor children are suffering the most.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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