The debate over the reopening of schools increases as the CDC discovers that the spread of COVID-19 is low if precautions are taken

After almost a year of virtual learning due to coronavirus pandemic, Philadelphia’s youngest students will see the interior of a classroom in February. “We rely on science and data to help inform every step we take to develop and implement a plan,” said superintendent William Hite.

The reopening comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that there is little evidence of coronavirus transmission in schools if precautions are followed. In addition to face masks, physical distance and greater ventilation from the room, schools need to limit risky activities, such as indoor sports and restrict indoor meals.

Dr. Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard School of Public Health, called the closure of schools “a national emergency”.

“We are seeing the devastating costs pile up,” he said. “The reports we see about suicides and decreased literacy, less access to food, food insecurity problems.”

The new data “supports that schools are not the source or do not contribute significantly to the spread of the community,” said Allen.

But across the country, the divisive debate fury between districts and teacher unions that refuse to return. Chicago, the nation’s third-largest school district, is on the verge of a teacher strike.

“My message to the teachers’ unions is that we need you,” said Tameika Hinton, a 10-year-old single mother from Destin.

Hinton had to move in with his grandfather after cutting his work hours so he could stay home and oversee his son’s learning.

One of the reasons why unions are postponing the return is because there are only 23 states that prioritize teachers to receive Vaccine for covid-19.

The Biden Administration is trying to get the younger students back to the classroom as quickly as possible. The White House confirmed to CBS News that President Biden’s goal of reopening most schools in their first 100 days does not apply to secondary schools and there is no word on a timetable for the reopening of secondary schools.