TRUMP THREATENS SCHOOLS THAT WON’T REOPEN
US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to withhold federal funding if school districts don’t bring their students back in the fall as local officials pushed back on the American leader for meddling in states’ policies on school reopening.
With American parents anxious about their children’s safety in the fall—and their own work interruptions if they must stay home—trump continued to politicize school reopening and he accused Democrats of wanting to keep schools closed for political purposes.
He complained that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued safety guidelines that were impractical and too expensive. “I will be meeting with them,” he posted on Twitter.
Trump said Germany, Denmark and Norway have reopened schools “with no problems.”
Germany did begin to reopen its schools in May, but in many cases students are taking turns going to school and studying at home for half the week—just the thing administration officials have criticized. Germany authorities are aiming for classes to resume in close to normal fashion after the summer vacation.
Beyond his powers
Shortly afterward, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the CDC would be issuing new guidance next week “that will give all new tools to our schools.” The recommendations will keep students safe, he said, but “the president said today we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough.”
Trump did not say what funding he would pull but Pence suggested at a coronavirus task force briefing that future COVID-19 relief bills could be tied to reopening schools as one way “to give states a strong incentive and encouragement to get kids back in school.”
Trump’s Twitter warnings drew backlash from some governors who said he has no authority over schools’ fall plans with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, saying New York state will reopen when it’s safe to do so.
“School reopenings are a state decision, period,” he said at a news conference. “That is the law, and that is the way we are going to proceed. It’s not up to the president of the United States.”
“We’re doing everything to be ready in September,” Cuomo said. “If anybody sat here today and told you that they could reopen the schools in September ... that would be reckless and negligent.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer tweeted, “Our schools & child care providers need more federal funding—not less—to be able to safely open.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has made reopening schools a priority to help parents get back to work, and he said on Wednesday he supports CDC guidance to help that happen.
Senate Democrats have proposed $430 billion for schools and child care providers as part of the next aid package to be debated in Congress later this month. Mcconnell, too, has suggested more money for schools will be needed.
Elsewhere in the nation, many states continued to confront a resurgence of the the virus, which has claimed more than 130,000 lives in the United States. But safety obstacles in schools can be surmounted, Trump insisted, and reopening “is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”