Today, President Trump went on record that he wants our nation’s schools and universities to re-open this Fall. Tweeting online, Trump stated that “Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!” Meanwhile, Biden continues to urge a lockdown approach, calling for a nationwide mandated mask policy, and preventing large gatherings including schools from reopening. We believe that this could be a major issue as we head to the Fall.
Many of our nation’s leading universities have already announced that they will be largely closed this Fall. For example, Princeton has banned sophomores and seniors from studying on campus this Fall while MIT is only inviting seniors back to campus. Other universities such as many state universities and private colleges including Vanderbilt and Notre Dame have already announced that they will re-open this Fall. Less clear is the approach that many of the elementary schools will take. We expect there to be a wide range of outcomes, with some school districts opening normally while others decide to remain largely closed forcing most students to study virtually.
The nation’s medical authorities are quite clear on the need to re-open the schools and universities. Both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics have publicly supported the re-opening of our schools and universities. According to the President of the AAP, “Our shared goal should be to have students physically present in school this fall if at all possible.” Governor’s in many blue states, however, appearing to be ignoring this advice. Indeed, many Democratic governors seem to be relishing their ability to impose roadblocks and hurdles to re-open our schools and nations, insisting on mandatory mask use at all times, limiting in-school class time, canceling athletics and other extracurriculars, and forcing significant social isolation. The significant mental health concerns from the extreme isolation and draconian lockdowns seems to have been completely ignored. Nor is the disparate impact on less affluent students.
How will the country respond? We believe that most students and parents want to resume their normal life and return to school. With mortality rates from COVID-19 falling nationally to multi-month lows, better healthcare medical treatments, and increasing evidence that our young people are at almost no serious health risk from the disease, we think a clear majority of Americans will look favorably on opening our schools and universities and reject the quarantining of the healthy. Expect parents and students alike to increasingly call for a return to normalcy. We believe that Trump is on to a winning issue and that Biden has made a strategic mistake by aligning himself with calls for shutting down the nation’s schools.
NewEnglandPolitics.com 