Transcripts For CSPAN Former Education Secretary Duncan Oth

Schools should open. This thing is going away. Things go away like away and my view is schools should be open. The decision about how to reopen schools as a political dispute about his own reelection, and to paraphrase his press secretary, he is refusing to let science stand in the way. I fundamentally disagree with that approach. Schools must reopen based on science and the safety of our children and teachers, not politics and wishful thinking. I do agree with the president that schools are critically important for children and their families. My first job after i graduated from college was at the high score does high school. High school. My wife was a school librarian. Of year thehis time anticipation of school would come into focus. Two of my grandchildren are of school age and they are feeling that anticipation now. In may, the select subcommittee focused on how to open safely by testing, tracing. I hoped the administration would implement these measures and the schools could safely reopen in the fall fully in person. Unfortunately, this is not possible in much of the country. Fauci told usr. The virus is still raging across the United States because unlike europe, we did not shut down officially in the first place. We cannot make the same mistake with our schools. We need to follow the science. Can get theren coronavirus and they can pass it on to others. The president s claim that the are almost immune to this disease. Fauci told our subcommittee , weldren do get infected know that, so therefore they are not immune. Outbreaks at summer camps, the cdc said that sickness of children tested at a ymca camp in georgia had the virus. Summer camp outbreaks have been documented in florida, new york, texas, South Carolina, louisiana, and other states. Than 338,000ore children have tested positive for the virus. Clear, the cdc has been that a key consideration for physically reopening schools is coronavirus rates in the and that in person chool presents the high risk of spreading the disease. Director Robert Redfield has warned the virus hotspots and im quoting him now remote and Distance Learning may for some time. The Coronavirus Task force repeated last week that 21 states are in socalled red zones because they have high Positivity Rates, or rising infections. Reopening schools in these hotspots presents heightened risks. School is outside of a red zone, cdc scientists and others have urged that any school considering reopening should take steps to limit transmission. Improving School Ventilation systems, physically distancing, and Wearing Masks. Our schools face life or death decisions because of the administrations inexcusable favor to get the virus under control for the last six months. Steps the federal government can take to help schools safely reopen in person and stay open. Redfield tolddr. Us last week, we cant control control the can pandemic by Wearing Masks, limiting gatherings, closing restaurants and bars, and practicing social distancing. The president needs to follow and promote this expert device, not denigrate and distract from it. To withholdeats funding from schools, we should assure every school the resources it needs to get students during the pandemic, whether in person or remote. The next Coronavirus Relief package must provide sufficient funding to meet these needs. It must also include the funds in the heroes act to provide mobile hotspot and other connectivity devices to students and subsidies to make the internet affordable for low income families. Colleaguesepublican to support these investments in our children. Eyewitnesses who speak from deep expertise and experience in education and Public Health, i also invited secretary devos to sicard testified today so she could explain why she is pressuring schools to fully reopen despite the risks. I offered to accommodate her schedule, but she refused to appear. Ournd it hard to understand secretary devos how secretary devos can expect to lead our nations effort to safely get our children to the schools during the pandemic if she refuses to speak directly to congress and the American People. Friend forowledge my his open ended remarks. Chairman, andmr. I appreciate you calling this hearing. I do want to mention, the president s spokesperson, to finish the quote that was started the science is on our side here. We encourage localities and states to simply follow the science. Open our schools. That was the president s spokesperson. Last week, our top health toicial urged the importance safely reopen our schools for facetoface learning for educational health, for Mental Health, for physical health, and yes, for the Public Health of our children. Hadredfield, the cdc testified under oath it is important to realize it is in the Public Healths best interest for k to 12 students to get back to facetoface learning. There is significant Public Health consequences of the school closure. I do think it is really important to realize it is not Public Health versus the economy about School Reopening. Harmsdance further adds onributed to closed School Behavioral health, economic wellbeing, and academic achievement of children in the short and longterm are wellknown and significant. Home, nom a childs other setting has more influence on health and wellbeing then a school or co a school. Schoolsi said reopening is good for the mental welfare of children. Secretaryions general called the situation around the abe with School Closings generational catastrophe that could waste untold human potential. The overwhelming consensus among the Public Health community is that for the health and development of more than 50 million american children, it is critical to safely reopen schools for in Person Learning. Lets get more specific. The federal child abuse treatment and prevention act requires schools to have staff tos requiring report instances of child abuse and neglect. This came up at last weeks hearing as well. We have seen child abuse drop by more than 40 compared to the same levels in 2019. That does not mean that child abuse has stopped or decreased by 40 , it just means it is not being discovered because our teachers were doing a great job of doing that. Our children are home with those very parents who are abusing them and it is not getting noticed. Imagine the damage to tens of millions of children because of that. Evidence from hospitals suggests that child abuse has increased during the pandemic. Teachers cant report what they result,e, and as a thousands of children are being abused in america today. We cannot sit by and make excuses. We need to follow the safely guidelines safety guidelines for those children who expect us to do our job. , theyont need excuses need us to look at the challenges and recognize how to overcome them. There are roadmaps everywhere from cdc to the American Academy of pediatrics to other organizations. We areield added, seeing sadly greater suicide then deaths from covid. We are seeing far greater drug overdoses that are far in excess than the deaths we are seeing from covid. Charts and to seeing mourned about covid, but why dont we talk about the other deaths because people are shutting in and staying home . We cannot act like we are living in a vacuum, living in silos. When kids are not in schools, there are devastating things happening to them. We want to make sure we have a safe environment, but we cannot use that as an excuse. We have to do it. We cannot talk about how hard it is to do. A lot of people do hard work every day. People are going to hospitals working on the frontline, Grocery Stores working on the frontline. None of that is easy, but they know everyone else is relying on them. The best Available Evidence indicates that covid19 poses relatively low risk to stool aged children schoolaged children. They appear at the risk of contracted contracting covid19 than adults. Less than 1 of covid19 related deaths. If we focus on the wellbeing of our children, the question really is not should we reopen, it is why have we not started planning more widespread to reopen safely . All schools can be doing this. We have seen schools do it in hotspots. Now we see schools not in hotspots figuring out how to not reopen. We need to share that learning experience with everybody. The coronavirus continues to pose a serious threat. Dr. Redfield and dr. Fauci gave us five things every american should do and testified it would have a dramatic impact on spreading the virus. Wearing a mask, social distancing, hand hygiene, being smart about gatherings, and staying out of bars and crowded areas, if we have done those things we have done the modeling data. We get the same bang for the buck as if we shut the whole economy down. We should do all those five things and encourage schools to safely reopen. Schools present unique challenges but the good thing as each one can be responsibly addressed. We are not talking about a onesizefitsall model. Hotspots move around. Each one can be responsibly addressed. The main concerns we hear are from teachers. Children may not be at great risk of getting sick, but they can spread the virus. Teachers with high risk factors like any other person with a high risk factor who goes to work, knows that there are factors you can address. A smart School Reopening will ensure that the spread of covid risk and mitigated. Assigned Virtual Learning environments or other learning tasks. Teachers are not just six feet away from the many nearest student, in many cases they are 10 feet away, and they are all Wearing Masks. The cdc has issued guidelines. Parents can take their own safety and their childs safety into their hands. They can take a temperature. If a child or Family Member exhibits any symptoms, the child should stayathome. The cdc and American Academy of pediatrics have laid out guidelines were safely reopening schools. Those guidelines should be followed by everybody. Students, faculty, and staff should wear masks and have easy access to hand sanitizing stations. We put over 150 million out for our states, a lot of which is available and can be used by our schools today. They do not have to wait for congress to pass a new bill. Billion almost 100 available to our schools and those who need them. Temperature checks and physical distancing are all mentioned, six feet or more for desks, students in Smaller Groups, improve ventilation by opening windows. Aty schools are looking conducting classes outdoors where it is possible, increased wipe downs of chairs and desks. If someone gets sick, and we know it will happen, follow the guidelines. No School System should be just today wondering what to do in those situations. This should have been planned weeks ago and if not, start planning today. School systems are opening up next week. In my state of louisiana, they are opening next week and have shared these guidelines. Washington, d. C. Announced their schools will not be open in the fall. Not one child under the age of 18 has died from covid in the district of columbia and yet they are shutting down schools. If d. C. Followed the guidelines we listed, and considering the devastating damage to these children, how can you justify the harm you are doing to tens of thousands of children in the city by shutting down in Person Learning . Those children will suffer and we all know it. The data and science are there, and the reports about what damage is being done to kids if schools do not reopen. Education is a local responsibility and each school must adapt to their own challenges. The cdc makes clear that a school and a hotspot needs to be e careful than a school and thees are too high ability to dramatically lower risks too easily obtainable for us to be having an actual debate about whether or not it can be done. Of course it can be done and is being done in hotspots and in places where it is not a hotspot , and is not being done in places where it is not a hotspot. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing, thank you for our witnesses. Teachers face an unprecedented challenge. In spring, they had to deal with schools shutting down early. We saw new guidelines and up to theke myselfeverybody had plate and has had to answer the called of this new challenge we are facing. I want to thank the teachers and parents who homeschooled for what they are preparing to do to help educate over 50 million children, who are counting on us. I want to extend a thank you for all of us who have helped us get schools reopen and to help our kids have that opportunity to achieve the American Dream that we owe to them to give them that same opportunity. I yield back. Want torman i introduce our witnesses. I am honored to have the former secretary of education arne duncan with us today. Secretary duncan led the department of education from 2009 through 2015. Prior to his service under president obama, secretary duncan led Public Schools for eight years. Since leaving government, he has returned to chicago, where he works to help improve opportunities for young people. We are joined by dr. Caitlin rivers, a senior scholar at the John Hopkins Center for health an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Is an epidemiologist, specializing in infection Infectious Diseases and a recent panelist on reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic. Join byrace to be robert muncy a Broward County Public Schools in florida. To myd like to yield colleague and friend Debra Wasserman schultz. She will give a brief introduction. Kleiman thank you. Thank you for allowing me to introduce an esteemed witness, superintendent robert ramsey. Him. Proud to represent we entrust the safety and education of nearly 200 70,000 students and 175,000 learning andts met schools, centers charter schools. Students have improved graduation rates, College Acceptances and Career Readiness and has extended technical programs that establish. Xpanded i graduated from a Broward County school. During the pandemic, the superintendent has worked with the school board, teachers, staff and students to make sure everyone remain safe and that their education is not compromised. This is no easy task. Each one browbeating schools to open. Yesterday, total cases in our state out 500,000. Records were set. People are dying, hospitals are wrecked. Staging antendent is prudent model pathway and keeping teachers and staff and students safe. I am thrilled to introduce him to you so you can see why he is the private he is the pride of Broward County. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you. Introduce pleased to from arizona. Teaches second grade in the Unified School District and arizona. The cdc School Guideline and her teamms. Contacted contracted the coronavirus while teaching summer school. She and two of her colleagues recovered, but of third passed away. Ms. Byrd had been a Public School teacher for 38 years. She was a wife, a mother, a and i know her passing has been devastating to her family, her students in her community. I am truly sorry for the loss of your friend and colleague. I appreciate your willingness to speak with us today and share your experiences. Joined by dane director of Cyber National security at the Lincoln Network and a visiting fellow at the foundation of research on equal opportunity. So wesses will be can swear them in. Raise your right hands. Do you affirm that the testimony you are about to give is based in truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god . I duke harry i do. I do. I do. What i do. Let the witnesses show that they stated in the affirmative. Your written statements will be made apart of the record. Recognized for your testimony. You for providing testimony today. We are confronting not one or two, but several crises at once. The first is the pandemic itself. Which began as a national the second is the abject failure from leadership, federal government which inflamed the Natural Disaster into a manmade catastrophe that is led to the worst economic crisis since the great depression. At the same time, we are also facing a muchneeded reckoning for americas long history of has the racism, which most damaging effects in our nations schools. Today, the multiple crises have all come to a head at once and riskingthe americans pain a hies prize our children. The question is how can schools reopen in the midst of a pandemic . We all want our children to go back to school in person, everyone is united in that. Parents, students, and teachers. All of us. But we can only allow that once it is safe, and everyone is looking to our federal government to show leadership absence of ain the clear plan, superintendents are being left to navigate these decisions on their own. As a nation, we are asking them to solve problems. We are asking them to make potentially lifeanddeath Public Heal