Tipsheet

Biden Administration Official Will Not Commit to Reopening Schools by the Fall

The Biden administration continues to avoid acknowledging the safety of sending children back to school for in-person learning, despite guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that indicates that a return traditional, classroom learning is safe.

President Biden previously said that schools should “probably” be open come the Fall, but now the White House is walking back that timeline. Presidential counselor Anita Dunn would not even commit to having K-12 schools fully reopened nationwide by September. CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Dunn on the president's previous comments, and pointed out that the science indicates that a return traditional classroom instruction is safe.

“Eighty percent of the teachers and school personnel in this country have now been vaccinated,” Dunn said. “He [Biden] said ‘probably,’ he didn’t say absolutely…if people do go get their vaccines, he does believe that schools should be able to reopen in September.” 

Dunn also avoided acknowledging the Biden administration’s clear coordination with teachers unions in crafting coronavirus guidelines. Leadership in teachers unions have lobbied for schools to stay closed, at the expense of school-aged children.