[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
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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
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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.
____________________