The science of the pandemic supports teachers’ concerns over the dangers of school reopening Part one
This is the first of a two-part article.
The Democratic Party, under the leadership of President-elect Joe Biden, has set as one of its key initiatives the reopening of in-class instruction for all public schools across the nation amid a ceaselessly raging pandemic. This remains the final hurdle in fully implementing the policy of herd immunity.
The $1.9 trillion economic rescue package being proposed to counter the economic downturn and COVID-19 crisis has earmarked $400 billion for vaccine rollout and “safe school reopening.” After decades of austerity and dismantling of the institutions of public health and education by both the Democrats and Republicans, promises to fund efforts that would require years of investment to sustain these critical programs simply ring hollow.
CHARLESTON Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday the first day of in-person school was going smoothly.
Tuesday marked the first day of in-person public and private school for Pre-K, elementary and middle schools, as well as high schools as long as their county was not red on the Department of Health and Human Resources County Alert System map.
“We are back to school today for our spring semester,” Justice said. “Many of our superintendents have reported so far today that the first day back to school is going smoothly and they’re really excited to have their children back.”
With active COVID-19 cases trending down from more than 29,000 cases last week to 26,675 cases as of Tuesday, only 17 counties in the state were red due to either higher infection rates or percent of positivity, resulting in closed high schools. Another 29 counties were orange, five counties in the gold and four counties were in the yellow.
The union was backed by the American Federation of Teachers at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. The district fought back with its own press conference immediately after, dispelling the union's claims.
At stake in several states including Maine are the rules governing school voucher programs and whether some students and certain types of private schools can be excluded from the programs.