NEA President: No One Should Listen to Trump, DeVos on Reopening Schools
In a flurry of tweets, President Trump condemned CDC guidance on reopening schools and threatened to withhold funding to schools that don’t reopen for fall, creating more panic for stressed families seeking leadership and assurances that their children can return to school safely during a deadly pandemic. Then he politicized reopening of schools, tying it to the November presidential election.
“They think it’s going to be good for them politically, so they keep the schools closed. No way,” Trump said of congressional Democrats during a roundtable discussion at the White House Wednesday. “So we’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools…It’s very important for the well-being of the student and the parents.”
NEA’s president Lily Eskelsen García says what’s good for students and school staff has nothing to do with politics and the safety and well-being of the student and parents is exactly what is at stake.
After Trump tweeted, “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!,” Eskelsen García fired back, “You forgot to add the word ‘SAFELY.’”
Safety does not appear to be a top concern of the Trump administration, who claimed the CDC guidance was too “restrictive” and too “expensive.” The CDC refused to modify what its health experts recommend, and education organizations like NEA are committed to following the science behind their advice.
“There’s no one that wants our kids back more than teachers … but we want to open it safely,” Eskelsen Garíca said on CNN’s “New Day.”
“I had 39 sixth graders one year in my class. I double-dog dare Donald Trump to sit CONTINUE READING: NEA President: No One Should Listen to Trump, DeVos on Reopening Schools