Is there a national plan for school openings?

| 13 Jul 2020 | 12:05

    I recently read Larry Kudlow’s (Trump financial advisor) comments about the ease in which schools can be opened in the Fall. He indicated that it was no big deal and that we all should suck it up.

    What a moron.

    Sans data, how is it possible to reopen schools? Busing, the safety of our children, faculty and staff must be safeguarded prior to any school opening.

    Opening schools without proper precautions ignores the need for mapping cases, family dynamics, prior conditions, social distancing and a raft of other problems including dealing with the discovery of inflection among the school populace or their families.

    There is also a false narrative about the essential nature of returning to a brick and mortar structure. During various crises in our history events dictated a alteration of our norms.

    During World War II men and women put their education on hold in order to serve the national interest.

    If as President Trump indicates that we are at war with this virus, a similar mindset should be in place.

    As a Viet Nam era veteran, I see a draft dodger continuing to dodge his responsibilities.

    After World War II the GI Bill allowed veterans to resume their educations.

    A false time line for education of our youth should not override safety, data and good health procedures. We should deny the opening of schools based upon political and economic premises.

    Distance learning has succeeded in many areas of the nation. We need a comprehensive national policy in order to plan our school openings.

    Our schools are not Cosco or Walmart as the Florida governor has indicated as a rubric for openings.

    In short, we deserve better governance and that includes in my view an absentee Congress, including both Democrats and Republicans who in real time have delivered very little relief to the public at all.

    Stephen Zecher

    Monroe