[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S840-S843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Reopening Schools

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, in recent days the Biden administration 
has backed away from its original goal to reopen most schools within 
the first 100 days. This comes despite new Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention research recommending that schools can safely reopen for 
in-person instruction.
  Arkansas schools reopened their doors in August of 2020. Currently, 
the Arkansas Department of Education reports that 67 percent of K-12 
students are attending school in-person full time, almost 13 percent 
have a hybrid schedule, and 20 percent are entirely remote.
  Natural State school districts invested in cleaning supplies, 
barriers, and retrofitting classrooms. Educators thought creatively and 
found solutions to these new problems. And although every school and 
community has different challenges, they moved ahead with the same 
goal: finding the best and the safest way to get and keep children and 
teachers in the classroom.
  I had the opportunity to visit several school districts last fall. I 
was so impressed with their daily efforts to keep their doors open, 
keep their staff healthy, and provide the learning that children 
desperately need.
  These heroes need our support. Over the course of this past year, 
Congress has delivered $113 billion--and over $686 million to 
Arkansas--to support education through the COVID-19 pandemic, including 
nearly $68 billion to help bring K-12 students back into the classroom. 
That money is already hard at work. However, much of it remains to be 
spent.
  Parents can see that virtual learning simply isn't working. If you 
need more evidence of the unbalanced impact of 100-percent virtual 
learning, a study by the RAND Corporation in fall 2020 highlighted 
tremendous areas of concern. Researchers surveyed educators across the 
country and concluded that State and Federal Governments needed to 
prioritize making schools safe to attend. One particularly shocking 
result of the survey found that principals in America's highest poverty 
schools reported only 80 percent of their students had adequate 
internet access at home. When schools are virtual, we are knowingly 
failing 20 percent of those students without even getting to the 
question of how effective the instruction is or addressing the negative 
effects on students' social needs and development.
  This crisis in education also means that families are falling behind. 
Women, in particular, are shouldering an incredible burden through this 
pandemic. In February 2020, women held the majority of nonfarm payroll 
jobs. They outnumbered men in the workforce for the first time in 
American history. Today, the number of women in the workforce is at a 
33-year low. Much of this is attributed to the outsized role women are 
playing in balancing their families' financial, educational, and 
caregiving needs.
  Of all the challenges we have faced through the COVID-19 pandemic, 
the mission of educating children continues to be one of the most 
critical and complex. It has been rewarding to see educators receive 
their much needed COVID-19 vaccine. These heroes are essential to our 
recovery.
  Arkansas is setting the example. The Natural State can be proud of 
the teachers, administrators, and elected leaders who continue to find 
ways to keep schools open and provide critical services that children 
deserve. It is time that students in other States have the same 
opportunities.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, a year ago, schools began to close due to 
the coronavirus. Teachers quickly scrambled to try to figure out how 
they were going to teach kids who weren't there. They set up virtual 
classrooms on the internet. Parents started googling activities to keep 
their children motivated and active, but they didn't start that a year 
ago. They started 11 months ago. It didn't take long to figure out that 
kids at home are different than kids at school. And even before that, 
many parents had to start accommodating their schedule to try to figure 
out how they were going to deal with this new and unanticipated 
schedule.
  Congress stepped up. On multiple occasions, we passed emergency 
legislation to get money to schools to clean classrooms, to buy laptops 
for students, and to do almost anything else that schools thought they 
might need at the elementary and secondary level. But what started as 
what I believe everybody thought was a stopgap--certainly no longer 
than until the weather got hot in the summertime as we finished up the 
last school year--has become, in many places, permanent, full time now, 
where students for a year have not been in school. That is despite a 
lot of widespread consensus that both scientists and medical experts 
think that kids can be back in the classroom.
  The science on studying and learning is also clear that when schools 
are closed, students suffer. There have been a lot of studies to show 
that prolonged remote learning puts kids at higher risk for falling 
behind, for failing classes, for suffering from mental health problems, 
and, in many cases, just deciding not to show up. And, you know, the 
one thing about virtual is it is pretty easy to not virtually be there 
as well.
  The risks on all those areas--the mental health problems, the falling 
behind, the failing grades--are even greater for students with 
disabilities or for minorities or people who live in generally 
underserved areas. A study by McKinsey looked at the toll prolonged 
remote learning has taken on students. It estimated that when it comes 
to mathematics, students, on average, are likely to lose 5 to 9 months 
of learning by the end of this school year. It said that students of 
color--this is according to McKinsey--could be 6 to 12 months behind at 
the end of this school year. Think about that. One year of remote 
learning could leave students 1 year behind where they should be in 
math if you look at these expert studies.
  In addition to the academic damage, remote learning has led to an 
increase in mental health challenges facing students. A report by the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that mental health 
problems accounted for a growing proportion of students' visits to 
hospital emergency rooms. Visits were up 31 percent for kids between 
ages 12 and 17 and 24 percent for kids between ages 5 and 11, and 
according to the CDC, many of those visits are based on a mental health 
challenge rather

[[Page S841]]

than some other kind of health challenge.
  The risk of keeping kids at home are significant. What is worse, they 
are unnecessary by the growing number of people who are looking at 
this. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who is the head of CDC, recently appointed 
by President Biden--she began her work there on January 21--talked 
about what we should do earlier this month. She said that there was 
``increasing data''--``increasing data that schools can safely 
reopen.'' That ends the quote, but she went on to say, even if teachers 
aren't vaccinated for the virus.
  Anthony Fauci--Dr. Fauci echoed that point. He said: ``I would back 
the CDC recommendation because that is really based on data . . . we 
need to try and get the children back to school.'' That ends Dr. 
Fauci's quote. He went on a step further by saying that it is not even 
workable to wait for every teacher to be vaccinated before schools 
reopen because, when you think about that, if every teacher had their 
first vaccine today in the double-vaccine world we are still in, it 
will be the end of March before every teacher had their second vaccine, 
and you are so far down the line, before you know it, the school might 
not be able to reopen in that circumstance.
  Dr. David Rosen, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at 
Washington University in St. Louis, said:

       There is no situation in which schools can't be open unless 
     they have evidence of in-school transmission.

  The Biden White House actually immediately said they just didn't 
agree with the experts on this, even the ones in their own 
administration. The President's Press Secretary said that Dr. Walensky 
was speaking in her personal capacity when she said that you can go 
back to school even if teachers weren't vaccinated, even though she was 
speaking in an official White House coronavirus briefing. Now, how the 
head of the CDC speaks in her personal capacity at an official White 
House coronavirus briefing on this topic, I don't know, but that is 
what happened
  The White House just keeps repeating these points that teachers 
should be a priority for vaccination. I don't have a problem with that. 
I think that would be a great thing. It would make teachers more 
comfortable and might make parents more comfortable. In fact, when we 
were debating the budget resolution just a couple of weeks ago, I 
offered an amendment that would have incentivized school districts to 
get kids back to school after teachers had been vaccinated. That is 
more stringent than the President himself has said and more stringent 
than the CDC has said, but my amendment was blocked on a party-line 
vote. Every single Member of our friends on the other side voted 
against an amendment that would say we should incentivize, financially, 
getting kids back to school when teachers have been vaccinated.
  Now, a couple of my friends on the other side walked up and said: 
Well, we just need to work this language a little bit because all of us 
that have kids know how important it is that we get our kids back to 
school. Democrats say we need emergency legislation to help the 
schools. I have been part of five bills that did that, and we provided 
$67.5 billion for K-12 schools to reopen safely. So far, States have 
spent just under $7 billion of that $67 billion, so clearly money is 
not the obstacle to getting back to school.
  The new plan would give an additional $128.6 billion for schools, 
according to the CBO, and, again, only 5 percent of that money would be 
spent by the end of this fiscal year, only about $6.5 billion. The rest 
of the money would be available over the next 7 years. Hopefully, that 
money is not money that is designed to get kids back to school. We 
don't need to be waiting 7 years to get kids back to school.
  If schools need money right now, they, first of all, should spend the 
money that the Congress has already provided. There is no reason to 
have over $60 billion still waiting to be spent if that is what it 
takes to get kids back to school.
  This probably isn't about funding. It is really a discussion about 
whether the schools should reopen and what else we need to do with 
money that might be available right now because of this coronavirus 
legislation.
  We need to be sure we get back to school. Our goal should not be to 
keep the schools closed. If it is, why are we providing all this extra 
money so that schools can reopen, even though it will be a long time 
before that is spent?
  I started out my career, after college, as a high school history 
teacher and then later I was a university president. I know the 
challenges educators face every day and the ways well-meaning policy 
experts sometimes miss the reality of the classroom. I also know that 
teachers are used to big challenges. They see them every day. They meet 
them every day. They do their best every day to overcome the challenges 
in front of them. Teachers want to help kids learn, and they don't know 
what to do when they can't have the contact they need to have with the 
kids. They know that kids won't be doing as well as they need to do, in 
more cases than not, until they are back to school.
  In a recent Axios poll, teachers said they would return to school and 
are ready to do that. It is really time for a commonsense appraisal of 
what needs to be done to get kids back in school. This should not be 
something that we wait till next fall to do. It is something that needs 
to happen right now.
  The CDC guidelines are helpful, but they need to be more flexible. We 
need to constantly look at all the data. As people working hard to get 
kids back to school, we need to be sure that we understand where that 
is working, why that is working, how that is working, and we are 
getting that information out to school districts all over America. It 
is time to go back to school.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, the experts, the health officials, and the 
data have made it clear, we can and we should safely reopen our 
schools. But parents, students, and even some teachers are asking the 
question: Why have we failed to do that?
  There is a pretty simple answer. Politicians are putting political 
interests ahead of the livelihoods of our kids and of our families. 
According to the science presented by the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, CDC, schools can dust off their books and safely open 
up classrooms to students with commonsense precautions.
  Transmission of COVID among students is relatively rare, and 
classrooms have not been a significant source of community 
transmission, according to the CDC. Furthermore, the CDC says ``it is 
possible for communities to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 while 
keeping schools open for in-person instruction.''
  So what is the holdup? Despite his CDC's own advice, President 
Biden's administration continues to play games, to ignore the science, 
and to send mixed messages to the American people.
  Their lack of clarity and their reluctance to get students back in 
the classroom is a detriment to our children, our working families, and 
our economy.
  Just recently, President Biden's own CDC Director stated that the 
``vaccination of teachers is not''--not--``a prerequisite for safe 
reopening of schools'' and that ``there is increasing data to suggest 
that schools can safely reopen.'' But shortly after her statement, the 
White House Press Secretary moved the goalposts once again, claiming 
that the Biden administration's aim is to have more than 50 percent of 
the schools offer ``some teaching'' in person ``at least one''--one 
``day a week'' by the 100th day of Joe Biden's Presidency. One day a 
week, folks. Yes, you heard it right, have kids in school only one day 
per week and no sooner than the end of April.
  Just days after this, after coming under immense pressure from the 
American people, including folks on the left, the President moved the 
goalposts again and threw his communications staff under the bus--a 
schoolbus--for the one-day-a-week goal.
  Folks, our youngest generation is falling behind. Virtual learning 
does not give them the attention they need to be successful, and the 
isolation it creates has had an enormous impact on their mental health.
  But it is not just impacting our kids. The closure of schools and 
childcare centers has disproportionately impacted women, most notably 
our moms. An analysis from the National Women's Law Center found that 
275,000 women left the workforce in January alone, with many staying 
home to care

[[Page S842]]

for their kids and often becoming their de facto teachers and tutors.
  Women across the country have made enormous strides in all fields of 
service, and our moms shouldn't be forced to put their careers on hold 
because our schools, at the direction of this administration, are 
failing to do their jobs.
  In Iowa, because of Governor Reynolds' bold leadership, many of our 
kids have safely been back at school since August. The Iowa General 
Assembly passed and the Governor signed legislation to require safe in-
person learning in our State's public school system. Now the rest of 
the country needs to follow Iowa's lead and get our kids safely back in 
the classroom.
  At the Federal level, I am helping lead an effort that would require 
schools to offer a safe in-person learning option to students by April 
30, 2021.
  It is increasingly clear that the Biden administration, one that 
prides itself on following the science, is actually more loyal to 
leftwing special interests than the well-being of our kids. Science, 
not special interests, should be guiding these decisions, and that 
means Washington should not be locking students out of the classroom.
  This type of meddling is precisely why I have always been leery of 
the overinvolvement of the Federal Government in education. So to get 
our bureaucrats and special interests out of way and to put students 
first, I am helping lead that effort to require schools to offer safe 
in-person learning to our students by April 30, 2021.
  To guide us through this pandemic, I suggest we follow these revised 
and updated three r's of education: first, respect the science; second, 
reopen our schools safely; and third, return students, teachers, and 
learning to the classroom.
  It is long past time schools across the country follow the science 
and the data. Let's do the right thing by safely getting our kids back 
in the classroom and help get our parents back to work. The well-being 
of our children, our working moms and dads, and our Nation's economy 
depend on it.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from West Virginia
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from the 
great State of Iowa for bringing forth her three r's. I think they are 
very succinct. They are the message that certainly I want to convey 
with my colleague from the great State of Florida here today: respect 
the science, reopen the schools safely, and return students, teachers, 
and learning to the classroom.
  A year ago, we were only just starting to realize what COVID-19 was 
about, almost a year to this date practically. Yet no one could have 
foreseen that many children would leave their classrooms in 2020 and 
still not have returned in March of 2021.
  Fortunately, during these past few months, we have come a long way in 
our knowledge of COVID-19. We knew little about how the virus spread 
when most schools closed last March, but now experts have had the 
opportunity to learn more about the spread of the disease, specifically 
as it would spread in a K-12 school environment.
  At the end of January, the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, published data showing that in-person learning for K-12 
students with limited in-school COVID-19 spread is, indeed, possible. 
The schools studied adhered to the public health practices many of us 
have followed--wearing a mask, social distancing, washing hands, 
avoiding large groups, and quarantining after exposure to the virus.
  Since this data was released, CDC has gone on and issued additional 
guidance for reopening our schools. This guidance focuses on many of 
the same public health strategies as well as cleaning facilities and 
additional ventilation.
  In addition to the improved knowledge of how COVID-19 affects our 
schools, we also have safe and effective vaccines. By enabling our 
teachers and other education professionals to have the vaccine on a 
priority basis, we continue to forge ahead with reopening our schools.
  Yesterday, Dr. Clay Marsh, who is our State's coronavirus czar--he 
has done an incredibly great job. He has also led our efforts in our 
successful vaccine efforts. And I want to remind the Nation that West 
Virginia is No. 1 in vaccine distribution per capita. We have done a 
fantastic job.
  Dr. Marsh said yesterday:

       The classroom is a safe place to be.

  He continued by saying:

       The K-8 classroom--there is a tremendous amount of really 
     good data to suggest that it is even a safer place to be than 
     staying in your community.

  Following these comments, our State's board of education voted in 
favor of our students in kindergarten through eighth grade returning to 
a full 5-day, in-person learning. It had some blended, some in class, 
and some at home.
  While data we have seen makes a very compelling case for why we can 
get children safely back into the classroom with the right mitigations, 
other realities make it even more necessary.
  With the option of remote learning at home, there are still many 
children--especially in States like mine, West Virginia--who struggle 
with connectivity. Despite robust funding from Congress to attempt to 
address these issues, the digital divide is very real, and it begins to 
exacerbate the have-and-have-not phenomenon. As a result, these 
children can be affected for years.
  I hear concerns from parents all over my State. Last year, I had a 
Mercer County principal tell me that many of the students' parents in 
their class had to drive their students to a parking lot of a fast food 
restaurant so they could get Wi-Fi so they could do their homework.
  A constituent from Lewis County recently wrote to my office 
expressing her frustration with balancing her work with also the remote 
learning that her children are doing. To make matters worse, they can't 
get on the internet at the same time in their home.
  Another parent from Berkeley County wrote to me with a heartbreaking 
story about how her daughter cries at the computer because she requires 
extra help on certain assignments. Parents helping their children on 
schoolwork can only go so far. In-person attention is absolutely 
necessary and something that the internet can't solve through a Zoom 
meeting or a video meeting or what a lot of this is--going to certain 
assignments on your computer where there is nobody to interact with 
whatsoever.
  These are very real concerns that parents have, a fear that their 
children will fall behind and are falling behind without access to 
their schoolwork.
  Even more disturbing are the concerns I have heard from child abuse 
advocates throughout our State. The heightened stress, school closures, 
loss of income, and social isolation from this pandemic have increased 
the risk of child abuse and neglect. Yet, without the safe space of the 
school and the watchful eyes of our teachers and other caring 
professionals, I fear too many children are falling through the cracks 
and would have nowhere to turn
  Last week, our West Virginia DHHR deputy secretary said there were 
8,000 fewer referrals to child protective services this year in our 
State. Sadly, we know it is not because it is not occurring; it is 
because teachers and school employees aren't there to notice the abuse 
and neglect and report it. This is where our teachers are so incredibly 
caring and invaluable.
  According to data from the CDC, between April and October of 2020, 
emergency departments nationwide have experienced a rise in the share 
of total visits from children with mental health needs. In my State of 
West Virginia, our State board of education has reported a spike in 
attempted suicides in Cabell County.
  In addition, parents have had to make hard decisions as they attempt 
to balance their careers with their children's education, especially 
more difficult for those parents of younger children who can't leave 
their child at home for any period of time as they are doing their 
schoolwork.
  As more workers are being asked to physically return to their 
workplaces, the lack of in-person learning and adequate childcare is 
hindering many from returning to work. This is especially true for many 
women who work outside the home. In fact, many women are having to quit 
their jobs as a result.
  According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the January 
jobs report showed that some 275,000 women

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left the workforce, while about 71,000 men left the workforce. Overall, 
approximately 2.4 million women have left the workforce since last 
February. This has been a common and unfortunate trend we are seeing as 
a result of the pandemic, and I know for certain it is definitely tied 
to the fact that schools have not reopened.
  West Virginia's State superintendent said recently:

       There is absolutely no substitution for a teacher in the 
     lives of a child.

  He continued by saying:

       There is no substitution for what that means to the 
     community and the families--not just for the academics but 
     for the social, emotional, [and] physical well-being.

  He is absolutely right, and this is just another reason why it is so 
important for our children to return to school safely.
  At the same time, I know there is no one-size-fits-all solution. 
State leaders, local governments, school administrators, and parents 
must take this data and these recommendations and apply them to the 
realities they see in their own communities.
  Congress has provided $68 billion in resources for K-12 schools that 
they could use last year, which schools could use to implement these 
strategies. For these, this may mean continuing some form of remote 
learning. For others, including my State of West Virginia, it means 
bringing every K-8 student to a 5-day school week.
  Before I conclude, I want to take a moment to thank the teachers, the 
parents, and the students who have adjusted and readjusted over the 
past years.
  Despite the many challenges--whether they are technical, logistical, 
or emotional challenges--you have tried to make it work the best you 
can, and for that we are all very grateful. But now we have to do the 
three r's. We must look at the data, listen to the stories, and look at 
the realities in our classrooms and in our communities.
  Get our children back to school. Respect the science. Reopen the 
schools safely, and return students, teachers, and learning to the 
classroom, where it should be.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Durbin). The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I first want to thank my 
colleague from West Virginia and my colleague from Iowa for their focus 
on getting our kids back in school.
  I agree with the three r's: respect the science, reopen our schools 
safely, and return our teachers and our children to our classrooms.
  It has been almost a year since schools first shuttered due to COVID-
19. In many States across the Nation, unfortunately, schools remain 
closed. The consequences are devastating. Being forced to stay at home 
is taking a significant social and emotional toll, and it also directly 
impacts our children's future.
  Continuing to subject kids to this unnecessary virtual-learning 
system is not backed by science or facts. I applaud my State of Florida 
for getting schools reopened quickly and safely.
  The science is overwhelming and clear about reopening our Nation's 
schools. It is safe, and it is necessary for the well-being and the 
future of students. The CDC confirmed last month that in-person 
instruction does not pose an increased risk of community transmission. 
Schools can and should be open, and they can do so safely.
  We need to be honest about why we are even having this conversation 
today. The only reason schools across the Nation remain closed is 
because my Democratic colleagues and the Biden administration are 
standing with teachers unions instead of standing up for our children.
  For months, we have heard Democrats preach about following the 
science, but now Democrats don't want to acknowledge the scientific 
evidence that school reopenings are safe. They are blindly following 
the teachers unions because they are afraid of losing campaign 
contributions, and they are pushing a lie that schools can't reopen 
without more taxpayer money.
  Here is the truth: The funding they claim is absolutely necessary for 
schools to reopen would not even be allocated for 2 or 3 years. 
According to the Congressional Budget Office, Biden's COVID spending 
bill would distribute only $6.4 billion to K-12 schools this year. The 
remaining $122 billion would be spent between the years 2022 and 2028.
  Here is another fact: Congress has already provided $68 billion for 
K-12 schools, but so far States have spent just $4 billion of that 
money. Schools don't need more money to open safely. Yet the Biden 
administration keeps clinging to this lie and doing everything possible 
to keep schools closed.
  Last week, Speaker Pelosi said:

       We want as many kids to be back in school as possible. For 
     that to happen, it takes some money.

  Also last week, Vice President Harris would not directly answer 
whether it is safe for teachers to go back to school if they are not 
vaccinated, despite clear CDC guidelines that it is not a prerequisite 
if other safety measures are in place.
  And earlier this month, all 50 Senate Democrats voted against 
students safely returning to classrooms even after teachers have been 
vaccinated. We all agree that teachers should be able to receive 
vaccinations. I will work with any of my colleagues on a way to get 
vaccines to teachers more quickly.
  We all agree that schools should have additional resources to ensure 
our students and teachers have safe, clean, and healthy classrooms, and 
we have allocated $68 billion to do just that right now. But keeping 
schools closed doesn't make sense. It is hurting our children and 
America's poorest families the most.
  I grew up in a poor family that struggled to make ends meet, and 
education was life-changing for me, just as it is for families across 
our great country. Every student in this Nation deserves the option of 
in-person learning.
  It is time for the Biden administration to acknowledge that the best 
place for children to learn is in the classroom, and it is time for my 
Democratic colleagues and the President to stop putting union bosses 
ahead of America's students and families.
  Let's get our schools open now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The majority leader.

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