The federal government has announced plans to open schools this fall. This plan has come during one of the worst surges in the pandemic since its inception. As of press time, the U.S. braces for another week of COVID-19 records. If schools reopen prematurely, there is no doubt that additional deaths will result. So some wonder why the government would push to re-open schools during such dangerous times. The answer can be summed up in two words: economics and re-election.
Regarding COVID-19, the U.S. is between a hard rock and a concrete place. If schools open, some children, and especially some of their family members and teachers exposed to them, will die. If schools don’t reopen, the economy takes a hit. President Trump, in light of the dangers, is pushing for schools to open. Furthermore, Betsy Devos, the Secretary of Education, has cavalierly opined that only about two percent of children might die if schools re-open. That would be THOUSANDS of children! It is said that she has issued threats that schools that don’t comply would forfeit federal education dollars. This can, therefore, be seen as a declaration of ideological war with this ultimatum: send your children to school and risk death, or lose federal funding!
Amidst all of this, there are still those who are saying the virus is a hoax!
The newest wrinkle is that it is NOT really a virus; it is a bacterium, and the bacterium’s toxicity is being enhanced by 5G! 5G is the next generation of wireless network technology. What this implies is that all scientists and physicians all over the world, even in places where there is no 5G, are successfully in compliance with a conspiracy to keep this fact from people! Why this is being done has not been made clear, although the assumption is that it has something to do with culling the population. Those who hold this notion are ignoring the fact that the population is already being culled as a result of the virus!
Let’s consider the current COVID-19 statistics as of July 13, 2020: there are 12,951,666 cases worldwide with 570,713 deaths. In the U.S., there are 3,358,298 cases with 136,307 deaths. The U.S. has more cases than any other country on the globe. And to make matters worse, as cases surge, deaths rise, states are rolling back re-openings, and the White House is pressuring to get rid of Dr. Fauci, the chief White House advisor on the pandemic, based on allegations that he has made some errors. In other words, he is being undercut as the virus hits record case numbers.
One of the reasons COVID-19 numbers in the U.S. are so high is related to the fact that President Trump moved very slowly in responding at the beginning of the pandemic, alleging that it was a hoax. There have been a number of missteps since that time, and the push to re-open schools in this toxic environment is the latest in a long line of them.
The following are just a few of the questions posed by an astute observer on Facebook about prematurely opening schools: If a teacher tests positive for COVID-19, is she or he required to quarantine for 2-3 weeks? Is their sick leave covered? If that teacher has five classes a day with 30 students each, do all 150 of those students need to then stay home and quarantine for 14 days? Do all 150 of those students now have to get tested? Who pays for the tests?
What if someone who lives in the same house with the teacher tests positive? Does that teacher now need to take 14 days off work to quarantine? Is that time covered? Where is the district going to find a substitute teacher who will work in a classroom full of exposed, possibly infected students for substitute pay? Substitutes teach in multiple schools. If he or she is diagnosed with COVID-19, do all of the students in each school now have to quarantine and get tested? Who is going to pay for that?
These are just some of the things that need to be addressed before schools re-open. Sending children back to school on a mandatory basis is to subject them and their families to certain jeopardy. Those parents who can afford to homeschool their children may not have those issues, but certainly many parents don’t have the wherewithal to homeschool. This is a serious problem that must be addressed before schools are mandated to open, and anything less could be considered as a war on the poor! A Luta Continua
