New Estimate to Reopen Schools After Coronavirus: $116.5 Billion
A projection by the American Federation of Teachers estimated that America’s K-12 schools will need an average of $1.2 million each to reopen from coronavirus-related closures.
A SOBERING NEW ESTIMATE for how much it will cost schools to reopen in the fall – both safely and with the proper academic and emotional supports in place for the 55 million children whose schools were shuttered as the coronavirus spread across the U.S. – puts the total financial burden at $116.5 billion.
"This is a five-alarm fire," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, the 1.7-million member teachers union that calculated the estimate.
"Since late April we have been exploring ways to safely reopen school buildings in the fall," she said. "Our children need it, and our families deserve it. Our educators want it, and the economy won't recover without it. But if schools can't get the money they need to safely reopen, then they won't reopen, period."
According to AFT's analysis, the average school will need an additional $1.2 million, or $2,300 per student, to open its doors.
The cost estimate is the second to surface this week, coming just hours before the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday morning about what it will take to safely reopen the country's K-12 schools.
Earlier this week, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, and the Association of School Business Officials International, said that in order to adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's safety recommendations for reopening, school districts will be forced to spend nearly $2 million per district that they hadn't budgeted for – a cost so prohibitive that some are now scrapping plans for in-person classes entirely this fall.
Baked into the AFT's more severe analysis, which more than quadruples previous estimates, is funding for instructional staff, distance learning, before- and after-school care, transportation, personal protective equipment, cleaning and health supplies, health staffing, custodial and cleaning staff, meeting children's social and emotional needs and additional academic support for students.
The biggest ticket items include $36 billion for additional academic support for students CONTINUE READING: New Estimate to Reopen Schools After Coronavirus: $116.5 Billion | Education News | US News
