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.”
Anita Dunn, an adviser to the President, says that schools should probably reopen in September if people continue to get vaccinated, adding that it is not absolute because "it's an unpredictable virus." #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/VzvykrW7sB
— CNN (@CNN) May 2, 2021
Anita Dunn echoing President Biden earlier this week, the science shows kids should be in school so they “probably” will be by September. Curious at what point the self-appointed party of science is going to actually follow the science ??????? https://t.co/C1snbcLoBR
— Nicole Saphier, MD (@NBSaphierMD) May 2, 2021
Biden promised to reopen schools to 5 days a week in-person in his first 100 days.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 3, 2021
Now he isn’t committed to fully reopening schools THIS FALL.
Biden is failing our students.pic.twitter.com/2WqBBCGWZR
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.