Transcripts For CSPAN2 Senate Hearing On COVID-19 Impact On

Schoolwide coronavirus tests to make sure students and staff are safe when they return to the classroom. Widespread testing not only helps contain the virus, it builds confidence that the schools are safe. U. S. Assistant secretary for health told our committee that there will be 40 to 50 million diagnostic tests available per month by september. Thats four to five times the number of todays tests and todays number in the United States is twice as many as any other country. And dr. Francis collins who led the human genome project and leads the National Institutes of health, leads a shark tank enterprise at the nih to discover new ways to create tens of millions of quick and accurate and inexpensive diagnostic tests. School covid plans should let the plans last for at least a year. The government is pursuing vaccines at what it calls warp speed, faster than weve ever done that before, but no one expects a vaccine this august. And the second half of the school year, schools should be better able to provide more tests, more treatments, better Contact Tracing, and hopefully we should begin to have vaccines. It will likely be the fall of 2021, though, before we begin to approach normal. Several reasons why schools have an advantage in providing a safe environment for students and for faculty, one the first reason is younger people have been less hurt by covid19 than older people. Although dr. Fauci told our committee we should be careful about assuming that young people are not at some risks. Second, schools are generally small communities that are closely supervised and monitored. Third, outbreaks can be traced. The child becomes sick, that childs classmates can be tested. And fourth, individual schools can close to control the spread of the virus. While other schools are able to remain open. Schools are not unfamiliar with outbreaks of flu, for example, or other illnesses that have resulted in temporary closure of individual schools while other schools continued to be open. But School Environments pose challenges as well. First, theres not as much extra space in our elementary and secondary schools as there is on most College Campuses that makes social distancing more difficult. Second, school administers face more rigid rules as a result of state and local and union rules and regulations. So making changes to the academic calendar and class size and School Schedules will be more difficult and, third, creating a maskwearing culture will be harder, especially with the youngest children. Seeing facial expressions is also important for young children. They learn to socialize and selfregulate so obscuring faces with masks prohibits some learning. Rigorous hygiene isnt always easy with children. Children go home at night, potentially exposing other adults. And even systemic testimatic te is a lot of tests. 9 out of 10 children have at least one parent employed and twothirds have both parents employed according to the bureau of labor statistics and many children live in environments where the school is safest place theyll be all day. And its the place where 30 Million Students receive a school lunch. More than 70 be of those stude qualify for reduced or free school meals. In doing so, it will help our country move back toward normalcy. Senator murray . Thank you, very much, mr. Chairman, and ir appreciate all of our witnesses being with us today as well. And thank you to our Committee Staff who worked hard today to make this hearing possible so we could be safe and socially distant. Before we begin, i just want to say, again, how inspired i am by the young people protesting against Police Brutality and systemic racism nationwide. Theyre calling for change, accountability, and justice, and i hope their resolve will be an example to all of us here in congress. Now we are here today to talk to discuss Something Else this country owes all young people and children and that is a quality, Public Education, even in the middle of a global pandemic. Covid19 has upended schools in ways that are truly unprecedented creating chaos for educators and support staff, parents, and of course our students. As this crisis was first hitting my home state of washington, i got a text from my daughter telling me the North Shore School district in Washington State has closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. My daughter didnt know what going to take care of her kids when she was still working or what that meant for their learning . And even as a United States senator, i didnt have any answers for her. And it wasnt long before nearly every School District, every educator, every parent and every student in this country had many of the same questions. The challenges families have had to face across the country this school year were unimaginable a matter of months ago. Schools are facing some of the biggest cuts to state and local revenue that we have seen in a long time while facing increased costs as a result of this pandemic. And it is especially important to recognize that while this hasnt been easy for anyone, School Districts, communities and families with more resources have had more capacity to adapt than those who have less. So, as we talk about ways to reopen our schools safely for students, educators and school staff, our response must ensure Public Health and science is driving Decision Making but also ensure every child can access a highquality Public Education during this pandemic whether in person or online. We know covid19 is having a disproportionate impact on the health of black communities and communities of color. And research his already showin the inec by the is that existed in our system before this. Data projects black students could lose over ten months of learning. Latino students could lose over nine months of learning compared to white students who are projected to lose six months of learning. Because of this, estimates show achievement gaps could grow by 15 to 20 in this country. We cant let covid19 continue to make things worse when it comes to the education of students of color. And the same goes for students from families with low incomes, lgbtqi students, students experiencing homelessness, students in foster care, english learners, migrant learners, students with disabilities. When it comes to reopening safely, as ive said before and cannot say enough, schools and School Districts must follow the advice of local Public Health officials and let science drive Decision Making. At a minimum, Public Health experts say before reopening classrooms, states should be able to provide widespread testing and Contact Tracing to follow up in every single case of the virus. The federal government should also start planning now for the distribution of a safe and effective vaccine which will be critical for schools ultimately returning to normal. But until we have a safe and effective vaccine, im glad to see so many states and schools leaders engaged in detailed scenario planning because before families send their children back to the classroom and educators return to teach, they need to know schools have thought through every possible scenario. And given how much we dont know about how children transmit this disease, we need to look at it how safe it is for medically vulnerable parents and guardians to send their kids back to school. There are countless questions schools have to answer before they can physically open safely. But School Districts and schools cant do this alone. They need in depth, actionable guidance from the federal government on best practices to ensure the safety of students, educators, school staff and the broader community. They need Additional Resources to measure and address learning loss among their students, to implement Public Health protocols to protect students and staff and to off set dramatic declines in state and local revenue. When schools are able to open physically, operate virtually, or use a hybrid of both, we have to ensure quality and equitable social and emotional able Health Including Mental Health services to students. And we have to address the ways this virus has further exacerbated inequities that have longexisted within our Education System. I recently heard from a mom in washington who told me that her children are sharing one iphone to learn, and shes not even sure if shes going to be able to afford that phone bill. And thats just one small example of this Digital Divide. For School Districts that are underresourced or areas without Internet Access, Distance Learning may just consist of a few links to online material. For the over 1. 5 Million Students experiencing homelessness across the country, finding transportation to pick up school meals is not always an option. And for students across the country experiencing trauma and stress to say the least from this pandemic or reckoning with centurieslong racism, it has never been more important to ensure that every child has access to Mental Health and Trauma Services and supports, particularly students from communities bearing the brunt of this virus and those affected by Police Brutalities and systemic racism. And when it comes to delivering these services and supports, we have to do better because if we dont, the achievement gap that we strived so hard to close will undoubtedly widen and we cant let that happen. To address all these problems we need a massive investment in our schools right now. The American Federation of teachers has estimated that schools will need billions more on top of what we already know is needed for basic things like cleaning supplies and ppe. We also know thanks to the work of the National Education association, without a significant investment, the u. S. Could lose approximately 1. 9 million education jobs. We could have begun negotiations on this and countless other covid19 priorities weeks ago, and im extremely frustrated that has not happened yet. And im going to continue to push for action. And i also want to note that while im glad we have the opportunity to hear from these witnesses today, we do need to hear from secretary of education betsy devos, especially about her efforts to push her private zags agenda in the k12 system and her flawed provision in the c. A. R. E. S. Act. As we know k12 Public Schools are truly the bedrock of our community. Each of us here and at the u. S. Department of education need to be all in on ensuring school versus the resources and support to rise to the massive challenge in front of them. I know i am, and i look forward to having those conversations today. And mr. Chairman, i would like to ask consent to include in the hearing record a plan from the American Federation of teachers for safely reopening our school a letter from the National Education association about state and local budget cuts and the need for Additional Resources from the federal government to meet our students needs. Thank you. So ordered. Thank you, senator murry, for your hoping statement. Im now pleased to welcome our witnesses to todays hearing focused on getting back to School Safely. First, dr. Penny schwinn, tennessee commissioner of education. Under the leadership of dr. Schwinn, the Tennessee Department of education has developed a number of resources including School Closure tool kits, Family Friendly instructional guides for programming on pbs, and a School Meal Finder website for families. Dr. Schwinn will be convening a covid19 child well being task force to support local leaders in communities. Our second witness is dr. Matthew blomstedt, nebraska commissioner of education. Hes been chosen to serve as president elect of the board of directors of counselor of chief state school officers. Under his direction, Nebraska Department of education has created a website launch. Com. It suggests several options for districts to consider for ensuring the schools open safely this fall. The third witness is ms. Susana qorvo vo cordova. Denver Public Schools announced it expects to begin in august and has explored a variety of options for safely bringing students back to school. Ill now turn to senator murry to introduce our fourth witness. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Today were lucky enough to have the honorable john king, former secretary of education under barack obama as a witness. During dr. Kings tenure i had the pleasure of working closely with him. Dr. King has been a steadfast champion for students, Public Education, and giving every child the opportunity they deserve. And im really glad we have the chance to hear from him today. Before becoming secretary of education, mr. King served on the department of educations equity as acting deputy of education and new york state commissioner. He began his career as a High School Social studies teacher and middle school principal. Currently mr. King is president and ceo of the education trust. Thats a National Nonprofit that uses research and advocacy to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps from preschool through college. Mr. King holds from a bachelor of arts from harvard university, jd from yale law, ma in teaching and a doctorate at columbia university. His personal life story is a testament to the power of Public Education and the importance of caring educators in a students life. Thank you so much dr. King for being here, and i look forward to your testimony. Thank you, senator murry. And welcome again dr. King. Now well hear from our witnesses. Well ask of them to summarize their testimony in about five minutes. Lets begin with dr. Schwinn. Good morning chairman alexander, Ranking Member murry, and members of the Health Committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify at todays hearing. This has been an unbelievable period of time in tennessee for our students and families. As educators and students we must now consider the challenges ahead with reopening school. To be clear, this is complicated. Any decision we make has significant costs, no easy answers or one size fits all solutions. What might be best for one is not best for the other. In our state we had significant spread of the virus and with e have a county with its first positive case last week. As we look ahead to School Reopening, i would like to share the major challenges we are facing in tennessee and nationwide, and some of the ways we plan to address that. One, health and safety of school communities. Two, bridging the Digital Divide. And three, highquality academics and resources. First, School Reopening must put the health and safety of our children, their teachers and our communities front of mind. Under governor lee leadership weve been a National Leader when it comes to testing covid and well work with districts to ensure any personnel or any families interested in testing have the opportunity to do so. To support districts, the department will work with Agency Partners to provide ppe and notouch thermometers along with a suite of resources to help with planning how to implement safe and Healthy Practices in our schools. But kids are kids, and we need Realistic Solutions for areas like nutrition, classroom supports and procedures and transportation. The department is committed to providing resources and working with teachers and kids. There are almost one Million Students in Public Schools in the state of tennessee. Two of them are mine. And we have a responsibility to support all of them as if theyre our own. We make promises every day that their children will be safer in our care and have access to a highquality education. We must do everything we can to keep that promise. Second, we must address the Digital Divide for students. Districts need 20th century devices. Access to broad band, access to professional development for educators. Our own governor erchs ares not having internet on his farm. Thats a reality thats all too true for not only students but teachers. Its especially true for our rural community, our vulnerable populations, and those that require Distance Learning and teaching from a health persp