President Trump warned governors that he will be pressuring them to reopen schools for in-person instruction in the fall.
Trump claimed on Tuesday that some governors may be planning to pursue distance learning instead of in-person education because of political reasons. He said that he will work to pressure all states to reopen their classrooms in the fall.
“We hope that most schools are going to be open. We don’t want people to make political statements or do it for political reasons. They think it’s going to be good for them politically, so they keep the schools closed. No way,” he said during a meeting at the White House.
“So we’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools, to get them open. And it’s very important. It’s very important for our country. It’s very important for the well-being of the student and the parents,” he added. “So, we’re going to be putting a lot of pressure on open your schools in the fall.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics released guidance that advised schools to have a goal of reopening with in-person instruction because students need the socialization and other developmental education that is difficult to obtain from online classes. It is rare for children to become seriously ill from the coronavirus, though teachers and other adults in schools can still be vulnerable to a serious infection.
Several states have already announced plans to have schools open in the fall, including Texas and Florida, two states that are currently suffering a surge in new coronavirus cases.
