© Provided by Washington Examiner Education Secretary Miguel Cardona expects all schools to be open "full-time, in-person for all students" by September as states grapple with learning during the coronavirus pandemic.
Students nationwide have been forced to learn remotely for over a year due to the coronavirus. Teachers unions have wielded considerable influence on the reopening of schools, including working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on school reopening guidance released in February.
"With regard to the September (date), yes, I expect all schools to be open full-time, in-person for all students," Cardona said Thursday on MSNBC. "We really need to make sure students have an opportunity to learn in the classroom, and quite frankly, I would rather have it this spring. Students don't learn as well remotely. There is no substitute for in-person learning."
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"We should be in school if it's safe to get into schools ... We're reaching out to make sure that places where they're not offering in-person learning or full-time, in-person learning, we want to make sure we're supporting those states, those districts to find out why they're not," he added. "We really need to make sure we keep that level of urgency. Our kids can't wait."
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Before the release of the CDC guidance, the Biden administration had promised to "follow the science" regarding school reopenings during the pandemic, but teachers unions pushed back on plans to restart in-person learning until their demands were met, which included vaccinating all teachers.
Tags: News, Miguel Cardona, Department of Education, Education, Public Schools
Original Author: Mike Brest
Original Location: Education secretary expects 'all schools' to be fully open by September