President Joe Biden, promising them multimillions of dollars, said he was going to open all schools in his first 100 days. Maybe he didn’t get that this is up to state and local officials responsive to teachers unions and not so responsive to scientists now saying it’s safe. The unions apparently would rather ruin young lives that teachers were hired to enhance.
They are saying, OK, they will open maybe half the schools for person-to-person training at least one day a week, but that’s it. This is despite scientists saying students actually seem more in danger out of school than in school. Schools still must heed sound health rules. The Centers for Disease Control is on hand to assist with instructions, although local advice from health facilities is needed, too, because of disparate situations.
Multimillions of dollars have already been made available to schools by the federal government to facilitate openings and a new startup while Biden wants more, and there is something crucial to understand. While virus risks are minimal for teachers and far less for students, the students do face worse risks of a different kind if person-to-person education does not resume soon.
The awful fact is that considerable damage has already been done.
Experts observe that parents often are not prepared to teach and cannot afford tutors or private schools. Especially in these pandemic times, mothers may feel they have to work and leave their children alone or else give up money needed for food that the children are not getting free at school, and research shows a million American mothers are now unemployed for that reason. Reports tell us that students’ separation from friends is not easy. A year’s loss of real education can cause intellectual damage for life and lesser paying jobs. Young people have been suffering from mental health problems and suicides have gone up.
