Fauci says Biden’s plan to reopen schools in 100 days ‘may not happen’

Fauci says Biden’s plan to reopen schools in 100 days ‘may not happen’

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“The president is taking the issue very seriously … both from the student’s and the teacher’s point of view,” said Fauci during a virtual event promoted by the National Education Association.

“He really wants and believes that schools need to reopen in the next 100 days, essentially all K-8 schools, in 100 days. That is the goal. This may not happen because there may be mitigating circumstances, but what he really wants to do is everything in his power to help you get there. “

Biden is pressing Congress to approve another $ 170 billion for K-12 schools, colleges and universities to help them operate safely in person or facilitate remote learning. Congress approved $ 82 billion in aid for schools in December, which Biden said he saw as an “entry”.

The new financing would be part of a broad $ 1.9 trillion aid package that would also include expanding unemployment benefits and direct stimulus checks.

“I’ll give you a word: money,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain told CNN’s Erin Burnett this week, when asked why he thought some public schools across the country are still closed in places where private schools are open. “That is why the President of the United States sent a plan to Congress, even before taking office, to make the necessary investments to make schools safe.”
Klain referred to a study published on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, in which researchers analyzed data from 17 K-12 schools in rural Wood County, Wisconsin, who did face-to-face learning at the last fall. They found Covid-19 case rates lower than in the general community and few cases of transmission within the school. Groups of 11 to 20 students of the same level of education met for classes and had lunch indoors, where students used to sit next to the same person.

“Students in very small groups, classes about 11 or 12 years old, distant, in a rural area – they can go to school safely,” said Klain, adding that “in other states we have not seen this type of investment. “

Biden also signed a number of executive actions to help support the reopening goal and establish a national strategy to keep the coronavirus pandemic in check, but the measures do not even require schools to reopen within any set time frame.

An executive order directs the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to provide guidance on reopening schools with a focus on masking, testing and cleaning. A separate presidential memo offers schools reimbursement for purchases of personal protective equipment through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund.

“The educational community, teachers and staff associated with education are an absolutely critical part of society at large,” said Fauci on Thursday. “But it is also a very critical part of our response to this outbreak – because we are not going back to normal until the kids go back to school.”

CNN’s Katie Lobosco contributed to this report.

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