Millions of American students deprived of school for ten months, incalculable educational, psychological or social damage … Faced with this situation, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has made the rapid reopening of schools one priorities at the start of his mandate. But despite growing social demand, this desire could come up against the persistent reluctance of some teachers.
Almost a year after the closure of schools decided at the start of the pandemic and when half of the 55 million American students have still not returned to class, the impatience of parents and politicians on all sides has never been so noticeable. After months of procrastination and politicization of the debate by the Trump administration, a consensus seems to be emerging among educators, public health experts and the media that schools should have been the last places to close and the first. to reopen.
Mr Biden’s pledge to reopen classes for the majority of elementary and secondary students in “The first 100 days” of its mandate is based on the federal government’s commitment to fund the necessary sanitation facilities and systematic testing campaigns in schools. Its $ 1.9 trillion (around € 1.6 trillion) rescue plan – which has yet to be adopted by Congress – provides for $ 400 billion to fight Covid-19, including $ 130 billion for schools.
Paradoxical situation
This speech breaks with the strategy of his predecessor. Donald Trump also regularly pleaded for the reopening of schools, but presented it above all as a condition for the resumption of the economic life of the country. States led by Republican governors then reopened their schools more readily than Democratic States.
Result of this polarization: democratic strongholds are today subject to the reluctance of teachers and their unions. In Chicago, teachers, engaged for several weeks in a standoff with the authorities, have spoken out overwhelmingly against a return in progress, Sunday, January 24. Supported by their powerful unions, they are asking for guarantees, in particular the possibility for teachers who are fragile or living with sick people to continue their courses at a distance or the multiplication of tests for students and staff. A similar blockade prevented schools in San Francisco from reopening on January 25. In Baltimore, the unions, supported by local elected officials, are also opposed to a return to school in February.
You have 55.97% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
