Biden rallies for relief at Wisconsin town hall
MILWAUKEE — President Joe Biden predicted Tuesday that most elementary schools will be open five days a week by the end of his first 100 days in office, but said it will be tougher for high schools to reopen at the same rate because of the risk of infection.
The comments, made during his CNN town hall in Milwaukee, mark his clearest statement yet on school reopenings. While Biden has made it a goal to reopen America’s schools, he’s faced growing questions about how he would define that, with school districts operating under a patchwork of different virtual and in-person learning arrangements nationwide.
“I said open a majority of schools in K through eighth grade, because they’re the easiest to open, the most needed to be open in terms of the impact on children and families having to stay home,” Biden said, clarifying his stance.
Asked when the nation would see kindergarten through eighth grades back to in-person learning five days a week, Biden said, “We’ll be close to that at the end of the first 100 days.” He said he expected many schools would push to stay open through the summer, but suggested reopening would take longer for high schools due to a higher risk of contagion among older students.
Eager to move beyond his predecessor’s impeachment trial, Biden took his case for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package directly to the American people with a prime-time town hall designed in part to put pressure on Republican lawmakers.
The CNN town hall Tuesday night in Milwaukee comes as White House officials say the massive spending bill already has broad public support. The House is expected to vote on the measure next week.
“The vast majority of the American people like what they see in this package,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said as she previewed Biden’s sales effort. She added that the support in opinion polls “should be noted by members of Congress as they consider whether they’re going to vote for it or not.“
Biden took questions from a small audience of Democrats, Republicans and independents invited for a small, socially distant gathering at historic Pabst Theater.
Biden’s trip to Wisconsin, a political battleground state he narrowly won last November, comes as coronavirus infection rates and deaths are falling after the nation endured the two deadliest months so far of the pandemic. The White House is also reporting an increase in the administration of vaccines throughout the country after a slow start.
But Biden has stressed that the nation still has a long road ahead as thousands of Americans die each day in the worst U.S. public health crisis in a century.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CNN prior to the town hall that the general public likely won’t have access to the vaccine until May or June, pushing back earlier estimates that the vaccine would be available to all Americans by April.
Biden’s team hopes funding provided in the coronavirus aid bill will help accelerate vaccination production and distribution. His team also argues that the federal government must keep open the spigot of government relief to help people suffering economically and to get the country back to pre-pandemic employment levels.
But many GOP lawmakers continue to bristle at the price tag of a package that calls for sending $1,400 checks to most Americans as well as assistance for businesses, schools and homeowners and renters.