U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with people at CNN’s town hall, also known as a town hall, on Feb. 16, 2021.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke to the media and Republicans, Democrats and Independents in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tuesday night (Feb. 16). When confronted with questions about when the school would be open, Biden dismissed his spokesman’s claims and said his goal was to have classes five days a week.
Biden said on the show that his goal for the resumption of school is to have most K-8 schools open five days a week for face-to-face learning within 100 days of taking office, personally correcting an earlier statement by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. Psaki said last week that Biden’s 100-day plan is to keep more than 50 percent of schools open at least one day a week.
Biden had promised during the campaign that he would push hard to get schools back to face-to-face classes if elected, and in December, re-emphasized his goal of ensuring that “most schools” would be open within 100 days of his taking office. But he has adopted a hands-off policy on reopening schools since taking office.
Based on Biden’s first-day plan to combat the Chinese Communist virus (Wuhan pneumonia), the White House sharply adjusted the criteria for reopening schools, saying that the goal applied only to “most K-8 schools” and not to high schools.
Pusaki later said at a Feb. 9 press conference that all schools would not necessarily reopen during Biden’s 100 days in office, and that face-to-face instruction would be available at least one day a week. Psaki also dismissed the notion that schools would be open for classes in the summer.
Biden’s goal of reopening schools after taking office has been criticized by many Parents who accuse the new administration of being unambitious, since school districts have essentially partially opened on their own before Biden took office. There is also speculation that the White House is trying to avoid upsetting teachers’ unions, which are an important Democratic vote, and the guild has in many cases strongly opposed school reopening.
In response, Biden corrected his spokesman’s argument Tuesday night, saying that Psaki’s claim was not correct.
“No, it’s not true. The content of those briefings is not true. There was a mistake in the communication.” Biden said, “What I’m saying is that in terms of the impact on children and families having to stay Home, I said (to) open most of the schools in K-8 because those are the ones that are the easiest to open and the ones that need to be opened the most.”
“I think we’ll be close to that at the end of the 100th day, (opening) elementary and middle schools.” Biden said.
Asked if schools might be open five days a week for face-to-face classes during the summer, Biden said, “I think many schools are five days a week. The goal will be five days a week.” “My guess is that they may push to open schools throughout the summer .”
In response, Psaki tweeted, “Last week I said the goal for @POTUS is to open schools five days a week as soon as possible. And we’re going to rely on science. That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
But the government’s reopening guidelines, released last week, put more than 90 percent of U.S. K-12 students in “red zones,” the level with the strictest reopening guidelines for schools.
According to the guidelines, elementary schools in red zones should adopt a blended learning model or reduce attendance, while middle and high schools can only teach online unless they can strictly implement all mitigation strategies and the number of cases in the area drops to a minimum before they can resume school.
Sports and other activities are also only available online.
Biden said Tuesday, “The absence of the opportunity to learn in school has had a significant impact on both children and parents.” He said it would be “rational” and “easy” to return children to physical buildings through measures such as providing personal protective equipment (PPE), smaller class sizes and attention to children in eighth grade or younger.
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