E&W Blog

More than 55 million students were affected by COVID-19-related school closures this past spring, and there is no question that this has harmed students’ ability to learn successfully. 
 
Recently, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing on reopening America’s schools safely, and despite Democrats’ false claims that the Trump administration is “politicizing” this issue, one thing is clear: Republicans and Democrats believe that we SHOULD safely reopen schools and get children back in the classroom.
 
Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what Committee Democrats had to say: 
 
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Sablan (D-MP-At Large): “All of us want schools to reopen for full time in-person instruction as soon as possible, that fact is not up for debate.”
 
Rep. Schrier (D-WA): “We do know that kids are better served in school. I experienced remote education with my son and frankly it was pretty lousy, and so we all want our children back in school. We know it’s better for them academically, socially, we know kids who need nutrition and child care through schools need to be there.”
 
Rep. Morelle (D-NY): “It’s hard to balance work and day care if you’re in a district where schools are going to provide education remotely through distance learning so I think we can all agree we want students back in the classroom.”
 
Committee Chairman Rep. Scott (D-VA): “We’ve heard comments about the desirability of opening the schools, of course that’s how you get better academic achievement, socializing skills, access to nutrition, detect child abuse, and you’re not going to reopen the economy without reopening the schools, so of course we want to reopen the schools.”
 
Rep. Lee (D-NV): “We totally agree and honor and respect and need to have students in the classroom learning one-on-one or with a teacher. That is the ultimate goal.”
 
Rep. Shalala (D-FL): “We know that without a safe environment to learn and grow children risk developmental delays.”
 
Rep. McBath (D-GA): “I think that we can all agree that the best place for our children to truly be educated is within the classroom. I don’t think anyone here is denying that at all.”