A Grand Bargain: Reopen the Schools (Where Feasible) But Only If the Feds Pay for It
This post will propose a GRAND BARGAIN for reopening the schools.
There is a great demand to reopen the schools for the sake of the economy, and there is great resistance to reopening the schools due to fears about the safety of children and staff.
Parents and teachers are worried that if schools open too soon, they won’t be safe. Students won’t be safe if classrooms are crowded. If students don’t wear masks, they will be in constant confrontations with teachers. How do you keep very young children six feet apart? What about safety measures to protect the staff? These are all genuine problems.
What makes this entire discussion surreal is that Congress and the Trump administration have thus far refused to pass legislation that would send the aid needed to help schools reopen safely and help local and state governments cope with drastic reductions in revenues due to the shutdown of the economy.
Some states are planning to cut school funding by large amounts. They are willing to lay off teachers and support staff, including nurses. Under these conditions, schools cannot possibly reopen safely and should not.
A few states, like California, plan to hold the school budget where it is, with no cuts.
But to reopen, schools need MORE funding. They must reduce class sizes drastically to have safe social distancing. Depending on room sizes, classrooms should have no more than 10-15 students. To do that means hiring MORE teachers.
The Council of Chief State School Officers has estimated that it will require up to $244 billion in additional federal CONTINUE READING: A Grand Bargain: Reopen the Schools (Where Feasible) But Only If the Feds Pay for It | Diane Ravitch's blog
