But is important for children and families. He ended with a threat. May cut off funding if not open. And just yesterday, he said, quote, my view is the schools should open. He this thing is going away. It will go away like things go away and my view is that schools should be open. The president views 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, notf politics and wishful thinking. I do agree with the president that schools are critically important for children and families. My first job after i graduated from college was as a High School History teacher. My wife was a school librarian. At this time of year, i remember the anticipation as the start of school would come into focus. Two of my grandchildren are schoolage, and i know they are feeling that anticipation now. In may, the select subcommittee focused on how to reopen safely through testing, tracing, and targeted containment. I hoped that the administration would implement these measures, and that schools could safely reopen in the fall, fully in person. Unfortunately, this is not possible in much of the country. Last friday, dr. Fauci told us the virus is still raging across the United States because, unlike in europe, we didnt shut down sufficiently in the first place. We cannot make the same mistake with our schools. We need to follow the science. First, children can get the coronavirus, and they can pass it on to others. The president has falsely claimed that children are, and i quote, almost immune to this disease. But dr. Fauci told our subcommittee last week, and i quote, children do get infected. We know that. So therefore, theyre not immune. Evidence has started to pile up about outbreaks at summer camps, such as cdcs report last week that 76 of children who were tested at a ymca camp in georgia had the virus. Other summercamp outbreaks have been documented in florida, new york, texas, South Carolina, louisiana, and other states. Nationwide, more than 338,000 children have tested positive for the virus. Second, the cdc has been clear that a key consideration for physically reopening schools is coronavirus rates in theon community, and that inperson school presents the, quote, highest risk of spreading the disease. Cdc director dr. Robert redfield has warned that in virus hotspots, quote, remote and Distance Learning may need to be adopted for some amount of time. The White House Coronavirus task force reported last week that 21 states are in socalled red zones because they have high Positivity Rates or rising infections. Reopening schools in these hot spots presents heightened risks. Third, even for schools outside of red zones, cdc experts and other scientists have urged that any schools considering reopening should take steps to limit transmission. That includes improving School Ventilation systems, physical distancing, and Wearing Masks. Our schools face lifeordeath decisions because of the administrations inexcusable failure to get the virus under control over the last six months. But there are steps the federal government can take to help schools safely reopen in person and stay open. As dr. Fauci and dr. Redfield told us last week, we can control the pandemic by Wearing Masks, limiting gatherings, closing Indoor Dining and bars, and practicing social distancing. The president needs to follow and promote this expert advice, not denigrate and distract from it. Rather than threaten to withhold funding from schools, we should ensure every school has the resources it needs to safely educate students during the pandemic, whether remote or inperson. 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 hotspots and other connectivity devices to students, and subsidies to make internet affordable for lowincome families. I urge my republican colleaguesm to support these investments in our children. Ur i look forward to hearing from our witnesses, who speak from deep expertise and experience ia education and Public Health. I also invited secretary devos to testify today, so she could explain why she is pressuring schools to fully reopen, despite the risks. I offered to accommodate her schedule. It but she refused to appear. I find it hard to understand how secretary devos can expect to lead our nations effort to safely educate our children during this pandemic if she refuses to speak directly to congress and the American People. I will now yield to my friend, the distinguished Ranking Member, mr. Scalise, for his opening remarks. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and appreciate you calling this hearing. I do want to mention since the chairmani mention the president spokesperson, kelly mcenery come to finish the quote that was started by the chairman. Quote, shehe said, that sciences on our side here. We encourage localities and states to just simply follow the science. Open our schools. That was the president spokesperson on that issue. Mr. Chairman, last week our nations Top Public Health official came before the select subcommittee and urged the importance for americas children to safely reopen our schools for facetoface learning, for educationalpe health, for Mental Health, for physical health and yes for the Public Health of our children. Dr. Redfield who is the cdc expert testified under oath quote, its important to realize that its in the Public Health best interest for k12 students to get back into facetoface learning. Theres really very significant Public Health consequences of the school closure. I do think its really important to realize its not Public Health versus the economy about School Reopening, close quote. Cdc guidance further adds quote, harms attributed to close schools on the social, emotional and behavioral health, economic wellbeing and academic achievement of children and both the short and longterm are well known and significant. Aside from a childs home, no other said has more influence on a Childs Health and wellbeing than their school. Dr. Fauci said just last week, School Reopening are important for quote, the psychological welfare of the children. The fact that many children rely on schools for nutrition, for breakfast, or healthy lunches. United nations general secretary just this week called the situation around the globe of school closings, quote, a generational catastrophe that could waste untold human potential. Op mr. Chairman, the overwhelming consensus among the Public Health community is that for the sake of 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 prevention and treatment act requires each state to have procedures requiring teachers, principals and other School Personnel to report known or suspected instances of child abuse and neglect. This came up at last weeks hearing as well. We seen the reports of child abuse dropped by anhe average of more than 40 compared to the levels reported during the same period in 2019. That doesnt mean that child abuse has stopped or dropped by 40 . It just means its that getting discovered because our teachers were doing such great job of doing that, now those children are home with those very parents who are abusing them, and is not getting detected. Imagine the damage to tens of thousands of our children because ofet that. The evidence from hospitalsec strongly suggest that child abuse has actually increased during the pandemic. Teachers cant report what they cant see, andpo as a result, thousands of children being abused in america today. We cannot sit by and make excuses. We need to follow the safety guideline in stand up for those children who are counting on us to take action and do our jobs. Our children in america need as to do what we know we can do. They dont need excuseses from. They need us to look at these challenges and recognize how to overcome them, and there are roadmaps everywhere from cdc to the American Academy of pediatrics to so many other organizations. Dr. Redfield added last week, quote, we are seeing sadly far greater suicides now then we are deaths from covid. We are seeing far greater deaths from Drug Overdose that are above the access we had as background then we are saying that deaths from covid. Again, i know were used to sing the charts and we mourn every death from covid, but why dont we charts about the other deaths that are happening because people are shouting in . Because people are staying home . We can act like were living in a vacuum ord living in silos wn children are not in schools, that are very devastating things happeningin to them. I understand we want to make sure that we have a safe environment, but again we cant use that as an excuse. We have to go and figure out how to do it. We cant talk about how hard it is to do. A lot of people do hard work every day. People are going to hospital everyday working on the front lines. They are going to Grocery Stores working on the front lines. None of that is easy to do because they know that everybody else is relying on them. We need to have that same cando attitude. On the other side of the equation, cdc advises quote, the best Available Evidence indicates that covid19 poses relatively low risk to schoolage children. Children appear to be at the lowest risk for contracting covid19s compared to adults. As of july 17, the United States reported that children and adolescents under 18 years old accountedra for under 7 of the covid cases and less than 1 of covid19 related death. If we focus on the wellbeing of our children, the question really is not should we reopen, the question really is why havent we started planning more widespread to reopen safely . All schools can be doing this. We have seen some schools do it even in hot spots. Now were seeing schools that are not in hot spots try to figure out how not to reopen if this is not like inventing the wheel. Others have figured it out. 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 of the american should do and he testified it would have a dramatic impact on reducing the virus. I know the chairman talked about this as well, Wearing Masks as a know we are all doing. Social distancing, hand hygiene, staying smart about gathered and staying out of crowded bars and crowded areas. If we didab those five things we have done the modeling data, we get the same thing for the buck as if we shut the entire economy down. We should do all s of those five things and we should also encourage schools to safely reopen. We know schoolsoo present some unique and specific challenges. The good news is, mr. Chairman, each one of those challenges and responsibly address. We are not talking about a onesizefitsall model. Every School System is different. Hotspots move around. The good news is each one can be responsibly address. The main concerns is here are from teachers. Children may not be at great risk for getting sick but they can spread the virus. Teachers with hightt risk factos like any of the person in a high risk factor in anywhere else they go to work knows that there are risks you can help address. But smart School Reopening will ensure that the risk of covid come into the schools is really reduced and the chance of it spreading within the school is also mitigated. Finally, at risk teachers can be socially distance from kids by sighted them Virtual Learning responsibilities or other new tasks associate with mitigating the risk of spreading covid. Most of the School Studies ive seen teachers are not just six feet away from the nearest student many cases they are over ten feet away from the nearest student and they are all Wearing Masks. Many schools of the top to cdc guidelines on screen. Everyday parents to take their own child safety and own safety into their hands. They can take the temperatures, they can complete a checklist for symptoms. If the child or Family Member exhibits any of the symptoms, the child should just stay home. While no plan is perfect, cdc and the American Academy of pediatrics have laid out guidelines for safely reopening americas schools and to address those concerns. Those guidelines should be followed by everybody. Once in schools, students,ow faculty staff of course should wear masks and have access to easy hand sanitizing stations. Thats what we put over 150 million out there for our states, a lot of which by the way is o Still Available and can be used by our schools today. They dont need to wait for congress to pass a new bill. Thereay is over almost 100 billion available to our schools and anybody else who needs them. Temperature checks as students without the building are and require physical distancing are all things that are mentioned. Six feet or more for desks, each students in Smaller Groups. Monuscos doing platoons. Improve ventilation by opening windows. Many schools looking at conducting classes outdoors where its possible, increase white dents dance of desk amats come equipment. Get all guidelines have been laid up if someone does get sick, and window by the way its going to happen, have a plan in place to follow those scientific recommendations. No School System should be jut 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 a theyve gone through the guidelines and happy to share that with anybody who is nd willing. Mr. Chairman, washington d. C. Announced their schools will not be open in the fall. Not one child under 18 has died from covid in the entire district of columbia and yet, theyre shutting down all schools. If d. C. Followed the safety guidelines that we just listed and considering the devastating damage to these children, how can you justify the harm that youre doing to the tens of thousands of children in the city by shutting down inPerson Learning. Those kids are going to suffer and we know that the data is there. The science is there, the reports are everywhere about what damage is being done to those kids if those schools are not opened. Education is a local responsibility, as we know. And each school must adapt to their unique challenges. So thats why c. D. C. Laid this out in their guidance, made clear that a school in a hot spot ought to be more cautious than a school where transmission is very low and also, can and must develop a plan to resume inPerson Learning. The stakes are high and dramatically to lower risk too easily to be attainable for us to be having a debate about whether or not it can be done. It, of course, can be done and it is being done in hot spots and in places where its not a hot spot and yet, its not being done in places where its not a hot spot. In conclusion, mr. Chairman, i want to first thank you for holding this hearing. Thank our witnesses, that were about to hear from. Our teachers have faced an unprecedented challenge, in the spring, they had to deal with closing schools early and put out new guidelines. We did see parents, including myself, and my wife, and home schooling environment. Everybody has stepped up to the plate and has had to answer the call to this new challenge that were all facing. I want to thank all of the teachers and parents who home schooled for what theyve done and what theyre preparing to do to help indicate over 50 million children who are counting on us. I want to extend a thank you to all who will help us get our schools reopened and to help our kids have that opportunity to achieve the American Dream that we enjoyed, that we owed to them to have that same opportunity. With that, mr. Chairman, ill yield back. Thank the Ranking Member for his statement and id like now to introduce our witnesses. Im honored to have the former secretary of education arne duncan with us today. Secretary duncan led the department of education with distinction from 2009 through 2015. Hired to his service under president obama, secretary duncan led the Chicago Public schools for eight years. Since leaving government, secretary duncan returned to chicago where he works to help improve opportunities for young people. Well also enjoy kaitlin rivers, a senior score at Johns Hopkins facility and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins school of public educate. An epidemiologist specializes in Infectious Diseases and a recent panel igs for the National Academics of science reopening schools during the pandemic. And joined by superintendent robert runsy of Broward CountyPublic Schools