WASHINGTON \u2014 President Joe Biden is in a political firestorm over how and when to get more schools open amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Republicans seizing on confusion surrounding Biden’s goal to reopen a majority of schools within his first 100 days to paint the president as beholden to teachers\u2019 unions at the expense of American families.<\/p>\n
His administration in recent weeks has sent muddled and at times contradictory messages about Biden’s goal. On Tuesday night, the president\u00a0said\u00a0his 100-day goal was to have most elementary schools open five days a week, seeming to conflict with his own press secretary, who had said last week that schools would be considered \u201copen\u201d if they held in-person classes even one day a week.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s aides dismiss the controversy as a flareup that will disappear once the coronavirus is better under control and more school districts reopen, pointing to recent polls suggesting the public so far believes Biden is doing a good job in handling the issue.<\/p>\n
But there could be lingering damage if Biden is seen to break an early promise on an issue so important to so many Americans.<\/p>\n
Teachers\u2019 unions have said they support reopening schools once officials are able to make the buildings safer, but they need the $130 billion included in Biden’s proposed American Rescue Plan to make it happen. And even if the bill passes Congress by the Democrats’ mid-March deadline, it\u2019s unclear whether districts would be able to make changes in time to hasten school openings before the end of Biden\u2019s first 100 days.<\/p>\n
Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association, said teachers are willing to go back to in-person learning \u201conly if this bill is passed, only if the dollars get to the school districts in time for them to be able to do the work that they need to do in terms of spacing, in terms of sanitizing, and only if we get the majority of our teachers vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s possible. But at this stage, at this point, it\u2019s not probable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in an interview she hopes Biden will meet his goal, and has said teachers should return to school when COVID-19 mitigation strategies are in place. But she noted that with social distancing, school still won’t feel normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going to be able to have every single child in every single school in the normal way that we think about normal school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Until the nation reaches herd immunity with the widespread distribution of the vaccine, Weingarten said, \u201cwe\u2019re not going to be normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
This leaves Biden caught between teachers\u2019 unions expressing caution towards his expanded goal on reopening, and critics who say just one day of classroom time a week for a majority of schools is far too little. Data from Burbio, a service that tracks school opening plans, recently reported that 66% of K-12 students already are learning in-person to some degree.<\/p>\n
Republicans have been using the issue to hit at Democrats for weeks, pointing to data suggesting that many schools are safe to open now and charging that the Biden administration is siding with teachers\u2019 unions over science and the needs of American families.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn places across America where public education depends on the whims of a powerful public sector union, the best interests of children have often come dead last,\u201d Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said during a floor speech earlier this month. \u201cAs the months have rolled by and the data have poured in, it\u2019s become clear that schools can open safely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn administration that puts facts and science first would be conducting a full-court press to open schools,\u201d McConnell said.<\/p>\n
Republicans see the issue as one that has an urgent and immediate impact on nearly every American family, and one that\u2019s particularly salient for the kinds of suburban swing voters who can be decisive in tough House districts and statewide races.<\/p>\n
Republican strategist Rory Cooper said the issue is particularly relevant in “collar counties around major urban areas.” He and other parents are \u201cenraged with the state of schooling right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Children face “mental health issues, academic issues, physical and social issues. And the priority seems to be on the adults who worked in the school system, rather than the children who are supposed to benefit from it,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n
Democrats believe they can turn the issue back on any Republicans who vote against the COVID-19 aid bill, and plan to hammer those lawmakers for blocking funding to get kids back to school.<\/p>\n
But Republicans are already using the issue against Democrats in races this year. One of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Republican opponents, Kevin Faulconer, launched his campaign\u00a0hammering Newsom on the issue\u00a0after stepping off a yellow school bus, a symbol of the frustration of parents whose kids remain locked out of classrooms because of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
While teachers\u2019 unions have embraced what they say was much-needed leadership from the president after the Trump administration left educators worried about their heath and without adequate protection, they also acknowledge that Biden\u2019s goal has put pressure on the unions to deliver.<\/p>\n
\u201cHas it made it harder, you know, on everyone to have an ambitious, bold goal for the American people? Of course,\u201d Weingarten said, adding that she gives Biden “credit for wanting to help families get to a sense of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of what’s contributing to the confusion, according to National Education Association President Becky Pringle, is that there’s no one-size-fits-all program that schools can implement to meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on how to safely reopen. She said she felt that’s what was guiding the Biden administration’s now-discarded one-day-a-week standard for reopening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an acknowledgment that every school has different challenges in meeting those guidelines,” Pringle said, noting that implementing social distancing guidelines, for example, would be a different challenge in crowded urban schools than it would be in more sparsely attended rural schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another challenge for Biden in getting teachers and students fully back to in-person learning is the question of vaccinations for teachers, where the administration’s message has been muddled.<\/p>\n
While Biden said Tuesday that teachers should move up in priority for getting vaccinated, White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified his stance on Wednesday, saying that while teachers should be a priority, vaccinating teachers was just a recommendation and not required for schools to reopen. And Dr. Anthony Fauci, the administration’s top infectious disease expert, said it would be \u201cnon-workable\u201d for every teacher to get vaccinated before schools reopen.<\/p>\n
Domenech said the comments from the administration are certain to be met with frustration from teachers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo say that vaccination should not be a prerequisite, I think that sets up an unnecessary issue,” he said.<\/p>\n
And with his 100-day goal for schools, Biden is taking responsibility for something that he cannot ultimately control.<\/p>\n
Even if school districts receive the money they need to quickly implement changes, the decision on whether to reopen is left up to teachers\u2019 unions and local officials, and is made on an individual basis across the nation\u2019s more than 13,500 school districts.<\/p>\n
Psaki acknowledged that during a briefing Wednesday, declaring that while the federal government can help with money and guidelines on how to safely reopen, \u201cthis is going to be up to local schools and school districts.\u201d<\/p>\n