Don’t cop out, Gov. Ducey; close schools until October

Everyone wants schools to open.

Everyone.

But not everyone wants to do so for the right reasons, or based on the best evidence.

Gov. Doug Ducey lost whatever nerve he had back in May, when he caved in to President Donald Trump and lifted the state’s stay-at-home order way too early. Since then, the governor has either waffled, wavered or completely passed the buck, not even mustering the internal fortitude to impose a statewide mask requirement.

Now Trump is pressuring governors to reopen schools, no matter what, because he’s more interested giving the appearance of “normal” prior to the election, even if it means putting children and their families and teachers and other school employees at risk.

So far, Ducey has committed only to pushing back the start of school to Aug. 17.

That should change.

He should push back the start of inperson school until Oct. 1. At least.

A report in The New York Times quotes internal documents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying that reopening schools would pose the “highest risk” for the spread of coronavirus.

Honestly, do we even need the CDC to tell us that? Should it not be simple … common … sense?

In Arizona, more than 60 school board members from throughout the state have signed a letter asking Ducey to delay in-person schooling until October.

The group wrote in part:

Remote learning is the only guarantee we have for the safety of our students and staff during the rising COVID-19 outbreak in our state. … No study indicates that the number of infections will have decreased by any certain day on the calendar, and administrators, teachers, and families across the state are very nervous about returning to our school buildings and classrooms.

The decision to offer face-to-face classes should be made with medical data which shows a decreasing trend in COVID -19 cases, not as an overarching requirement that financially forces teachers and staff to socially interact with students six hours at a time, every day of the week.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been trotting out the Trump line. She was in Phoenix this week doing so.

Interesting how it is with Trump and his people. The risk always applies to other people. In this case, children, teachers and all their families. And everyone with whom they interact.

There is a risk for Ducey, too. But only a political one. Going against Trump is not easy for Republicans like him, who genuflect before the president.

Standing up to Trump is not easy. But standing up for children should be.