Where politicians get it wrong with kids going back to school
OPINION: Several conditions pre-COVID-19 that are perilous to Black kids, including lack of universal health care and racism, make schools reopening a hazard
In a recent interview with talk-radio host Marc Cox, Missouri Governor Mike Parson said, “These kids have got to get back to school. …They’re at the lowest risk possible, and if they do get COVID-19, which they will, they’re not going to the hospitals. They’re not going to have to sit in doctor’s offices. They’re going to go home and they’re going to get over it.”
Parson advocates for more social responsibility and less government intervention as the Trump administration pushes for school districts across the country to send children back to school.
Unfortunately, not only is the COVID-19 curve going in the wrong direction for this country, the standard operations of any school suggest that having 31 people in a classroom in close quarters anywhere is a Petri dish of disaster.
The risk only gets worse when a classroom has no working windows, no ventilation, no regular sanitary supplies, and limited bathrooms.
Right now, America’s public school system serves 50.8 million students —about 90% of America’s pre-K through 12th grade children — and of those children, 52% of them identify as non-white. To this day, schools with mostly Black and brown students struggle with keeping arts and music in their schools while their independent and/or private school counterparts enjoy a plethora of academic and extracurricular CONTINUE READING: Where politicians get it wrong with kids going back to school : TheGrio
