New York Times: “There is widespread agreement on most points of the political spectrum that a functioning American economy requires working schools, and that the abrupt, unplanned shift to remote learning was disastrous for many children who desperately need in-person instruction.”
“But even conservatives who said they agreed with the president’s focus on reopening schools say he has been a poor spokesman for the cause. They pointed to Mr. Trump’s downplaying of the danger posed by the virus, followed by his threats to withhold federal aid to districts that did not reopen classrooms, as potentially alienating to centrist and even right-of-center teachers and parents. ‘I thought it was really good and useful to have someone with a big megaphone make those arguments,’ Mr. Hess said. ‘But he made them in such a five-thumbed, unserious, reckless way.’ Teachers’ unions have played a decisive role over the summer in shaping decisions on reopening, by raising alarms about health and safety, some of which have been tied to Mr. Trump’s insistence that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on safe school reopening were too strict. Teachers have threatened to conduct sickouts or strikes, and have already filed a lawsuit to block reopening in Florida, where the virus is raging.”