Trump threatens to cut funding to schools that do not open

Reopening schools has become a bone of contention in the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to resume classes in person, threatening to cut federal funding to schools that do not open in fall, while teachers, medical experts and opposition party members are criticizing his stance concerned about the risk of school reopening as the nation’s daily COVID-19 cases exceed 60,000.

“It's time for us to get our kids back to school,” said Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday at a briefing. President Trump also pressured schools to reopen schools, saying he “may cut off funding if not open” on his Twitter account. After the president requested the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to modify its guidelines for how schools could reopen safely describing them as tough, the agency plans to issue new guidelines next week. The CDC’s initial recommendations included spacing desks 1.8 meters apart and taking daily temperature checks.

The Trump administration wants to reopen schools because children’s return to school would allow parents to go back to work, which would accelerate the recovery of the economy. “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, schools are open with no problems,” said President Trump on his Twitter account. “The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children and families.”

However, some point out that the situation is completely different between European countries, which have maintained the number of new COVID-19 cases low, and the United States showing a dramatic increase in coronavirus cases. According to Worldometers, Washington’s Wednesday new cases reached 61,848, which was the highest so far.

Children are less affected by the coronavirus but can spread the virus to family members or across their community. There are concerns about reopening schools given that 30 percent of teachers at public schools are at 50 or over.


Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com