New records are being set every day as the COVID-19 pandemic surges across the country. Health care experts suggest the reopening of schools should be put on hold - especially in states across the South and West, which are struggling with a deadly resurgence of the virus.
Despite this, President Trump and his administration has continued to encourage the reopening of schools, despite the risks. But parents of school-age children across the country, as well as the millions of Americans who work in schools, worry whether forcing schools to reopen could spell disaster.
Experts believe children are less likely to contract COVID-19, less likely to have serious symptoms, and less likely to pass it on. But there just isn’t much data. NPR reports that a South Korean study suggests children under ten years old are about half as likely to transmit the virus as older children, but no one is quite sure.
School districts are facing pressure from their state governments, and from the President himself, to reopen, but aren’t getting clear guidance. As the school year approaches, parents aren’t sure what to do.
With children in school, many parents will be freed to go back to work. Republicans have been consistently pushing for people to go back to work despite the risks of COVID-19, which might explain why they are so eager to reopen schools.
Trump has spread misinformation about the dangers and even threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that do not reopen completely, a move that has even alienated some of his Republican colleagues.
And it appears parents aren’t buying it.
Parents overwhelmingly believe reopening schools is a risk: “82% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans” say it’s risky, reports Axios on their recent poll, which found political as well as racial divides when it comes to reopening schools.
“89% of Black parents saw returning to school as a large or moderate risk, compared with ... 64% of white parents,” they found. Black Americans were also more hesitant to reopen the economy until it was safe to do so.
Teachers agree. Unions nationwide are considering major strikes, saying they will refuse to teach until schools are safe to reopen. Trump has recently signaled that he will support more funding for schools in the next COVID-19 relief bill, but it may be too little, too late.
So what can parents do?
Parents around the country are scrambling to figure that out. Wealthy parents are hiring tutors and creating “learning pods” compatible with their work-from-home jobs. Homeschooling has exploded in popularity, and is especially appealing to Black parents, who have long had issues with American public schools even before the crisis.
Despite the appeal, homeschooling is much more common among wealthy, white families than low-income and/or Black families, as they can afford a stay-at-home parent. With COVID-19 forcing many parents to stay home, however, and education and community activists creating new, creative pathways for Black families, that may see a major shift.