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Trump Threatens to Cut Funding if Schools Do Not Fully Reopen
Trump Threatens to Cut Funding if Schools Do Not Fully Reopen
(32 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday pressured the government’s top public health experts to water down recommendations for how the nation’s schools could reopen safely this fall and threatened to cut federal funding for districts that defied his demand to resume classes in person.
WASHINGTON — President Trump threatened on Wednesday to cut off federal funding to school districts that do not reopen in person this fall and assailed his own federal public health experts for recommending school-reopening precautions that he deemed too onerous and expensive.
Once again rejecting the advice of the specialists who work for him, Mr. Trump dismissed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “very tough & expensive guidelines,” which he said asked schools “to do very impractical things.” Within hours, the White House announced that the agency would issue new recommendations in the days to come.
The latest burst of threats and criticisms issued in a flurry of morning Twitter messages came as the president made a concerted push to pressure states and localities to resume in-person classes even though coronavirus cases are rising in most of the country. If children remain at home this fall, it will complicate Mr. Trump’s effort to revive the economy before the Nov. 3 election.
The president’s criticisms, in a barrage of Twitter threats, inflamed a difficult debate that has challenged educators and parents across the country as they seek ways to safely resume teaching American children by September. Even as the coronavirus is spreading faster than ever in the United States, Mr. Trump expressed no concern about the health implications of reopening in person and no support for compromise plans that many districts are considering.
Many parents, teachers and doctors favor finding a way to safely reopen schools but are weighing the risks and debating adjustments to keep children and staff healthy. Some major school districts are considering hybrid plans that would include a mix of physical classes and online learning so they can stagger how often children can show up in person to minimize class sizes. Shortly after the president’s statements, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City schools will not fully reopen in September, with students attending class in person only one to three days each week so schools can maintain some social distancing.
His all-or-nothing stance left him at odds with the nation’s two largest school districts. Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City announced shortly after Mr. Trump’s tweets that schools would not fully reopen in September, with students attending classes in person only one to three days a week to accommodate social distancing. The chief public health officer in Los Angeles County told school officials on Tuesday to be prepared to continue learning entirely from home given the surge of infections in California.
In his tweets, Mr. Trump acknowledged none of those concerns or factors but simply demanded that schools reopen, and he scorned the measures suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help them do that safely. He also invoked the one lever he has, federal funding, to assert control over schools, which traditionally are run by local school boards and state school superintendents.
But Mr. Trump’s attack on the C.D.C. underscored his growing impatience with public health experts he considers obstacles to his ambitions of reopening the country after months of lockdown. As he significantly trails his Democratic challenger in most polls, the president has brushed off warnings and pushed states to reopen businesses in hopes of reviving the crippled economy before the election on Nov. 3, a goal that would be hamstrung if parents had to remain at home with their children this fall.
Mr. Trump has no control over around 90 percent of school district budgets, which are raised by local property and sales taxes. And he has little control over federal funding already appropriated by Congress.
“I disagree with @CDCgov,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, a day after hosting a series of calls and events to pressure schools to reopen fully. “While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!”
But the Education Department can withhold some emergency coronavirus relief funding that school districts say they desperately need to fund staff, programming and the public health measures recommended by the C.D.C. And he could veto additional funds that schools want from Congress this summer.
During a coronavirus task force briefing later Wednesday afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the C.D.C. would issue new recommendations next week, saying the guidelines should not be a reason for schools to stay closed. “We just don’t want the guidance to be too tough,” he said, promising “five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward.”
Mr. Trump has regularly threatened to take action that he does not have the authority to take or that he does not follow through on, but his demands and warnings often shape public debate and steer the decisions of Republican governors and other officials who follow his lead.
The agency has recommended for weeks that schools that remain open modify layouts to maintain social distancing, install physical barriers where that is not possible, increase disinfection and cleaning of facilities, avoid serving communal meals in cafeterias, discourage sharing objects and ensure ventilation systems are up-to-date. If a school has a confirmed case, the guidance says, students and “most staff” members should be dismissed for two to five days while local health officials consider what to do next.
At a White House round table on Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri, a Republican, said, “I will tell you this, on a few phone calls I had with him, he can put a little pressure on you if he decides to do that. Sometimes we all need a little push to get things going.”
An administration official, who discussed internal deliberations on condition of anonymity, said the new guidance had been in development for weeks but had yet to be cleared by top C.D.C. or task force officials. The guidelines would address how schools can reopen and whether parents should send children, most likely including a checklist for making that decision. The official denied that Mr. Trump or other White House officials had pressured the agency to ease the existing guidelines for schools, which were updated in April.
In citing European countries, Mr. Trump was making an apples-and-oranges comparison. Germany and the other nations that he mentioned have all gotten control over the pandemic and seen their coronavirus cases drop substantially, while cases are increasing dramatically in the United States. America has seen 50,000 new cases a day in recent weeks, far more than in March when schools were first shut down. With total cases now topping three million, some parts of the South and West are pausing or reversing their plans to reopen businesses and daily life.
Another official said that some in the White House had learned of the C.D.C.’s plans to distribute new guidance only on Tuesday, when Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the agency’s director, told governors about it in a call led by Mr. Pence. Dr. Redfield said on Wednesday that Americans should not interpret C.D.C. guidelines as requirements.
In Germany, by comparison, there have been just 384 new cases a day on average in the last couple weeks. Schools were reopened in May only when cases were far lower than they are now in the United States, and significant adjustments were made to keep them from spreading the virus. Class sizes were cut in half, hallways were made into one-way systems, breaks were staggered, teachers were ordered to wear masks and windows and doors were kept open for air circulation. Some schools test students and teachers twice a week.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and one of the coronavirus task force’s most prominent members, did not attend the briefing on Wednesday, an absence that drew attention. Dr. Fauci later said in a brief telephone conversation that he was part of a small group of officials asked to call in from the White House Situation Room to a meeting the task force held before the briefing. Dr. Fauci said the officials who called in were less relevant to the topics discussed in the briefing.
In Sweden, by comparison, most schools were never closed but thousands more people died than in neighboring countries that imposed lockdowns — and its economy has fared little better. Instead of a model, Sweden has become a case study in what many public health experts and government leaders around the world have said should not be done.
In taking on defiant educators, Mr. Trump invoked the one lever he had — federal funding — to impose his will on schools, which are traditionally run by localities and states.
So far out of Europe, there has been little evidence that school reopening has caused a widespread spike in coronavirus cases. Most countries implemented virus-control steps in the schools, including mask-wearing, reduced class sizes, and keeping children in small groups at recess and lunchtime, steps Mr. Trump is resisting.
“In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but it is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”
Questions about school reopening still remain, among the most important: scientists do not know to what degree children are able to spread the virus to others. There is some evidence that children are less likely than adults to transmit the virus, and that younger children transmit the virus less frequently than teenagers do. This may suggest that the risk of spread in preschools is lower than in high schools, which would be a welcome finding for many working parents and for early childhood educators, who cannot teach as effectively online as high school teachers can.
In reality, it may be a hollow threat. The president has no control over about 90 percent of school district budgets, which are generally financed by local property and sales taxes. And he has little control over federal funding already appropriated by Congress.
Mr. Trump did not explain specifically what about the C.D.C. guidance he disagrees with. The agency for weeks has recommended that schools that remain open modify layouts to maintain social distancing, install physical barriers where that is not possible, increase disinfection and cleaning of facilities, avoid serving communal meals in cafeterias, discourage sharing objects and ensure ventilation systems are up-to-date.
“Trump has no legal authority to withhold funds,” Arne Duncan, the secretary of education under President Barack Obama, said during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday. “Threatening people, bullying them, lying doesn’t stop the virus from spreading.”
The question of reopening has become an acute one for tens of millions of parents and children across the country after months of online learning that often proved disappointing. The American Academy of Pediatrics has urged schools to reopen, arguing that the psychological and social costs to children at this point outweigh the risks of the virus.
He added: “It’s ludicrous. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so sad.”
But while children have proved less susceptible to the disease, teachers by virtue of their age are more vulnerable and many have expressed concern about returning to work in buildings that were never intended to keep children six feet apart or otherwise prevent the spread of a deadly virus.
The School Superintendents Association objected to Washington dictating such decisions, citing Mr. Trump’s past support for local control of schools. “You don’t support local decision making if its conditional on only making choices you support,” the organization said in a statement.
Fifty-four percent of voters surveyed by Politico and Morning Consult last month said they were somewhat or very uncomfortable with reopening schools this fall. But many remain unsatisfied with online learning attempted last spring by many schools as an alternative. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said this week that she was “disappointed, frankly, in schools and districts that didn’t figure out how to serve students or that just gave up and didn’t try” during the pandemic.
As unemployment reaches levels not seen since the Great Depression, the nation’s public schools face severe state budget cuts and mass layoffs, even as children’s academic and social support needs grow.
Education groups have released an array of plans for safely reopening schools, and some estimate they will need at least $200 billion in additional funding to meet public health requirements and stave off mass layoffs and programmatic cuts. Those requests are stalled in Congress.
But Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, signaled that Mr. Trump’s threat was serious and that the department was “looking at all of our options” to determine how it could be carried out.
The issue has become paramount for Mr. Trump, who is anxious to restore the economy as he heads into a fall campaign trailing former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., his Democratic challenger.
“As the secretary has said, the investment in education is a promise made to students and families,” Ms. Hill said. “If schools are not going to keep that promise, why would they get the money? Why shouldn’t that money go directly to parents to find an option for their student if the school they are assigned to refuses to open?”
While he accused Democrats of wanting to keep schools closed for political reasons, his opponents said he was the one making classrooms into another partisan battleground rather than leading a thoughtful national discussion about how and when to safely reopen.
Mr. Pence also indicated that the administration would seek “a strong incentive” for states to fully reopen when Congress takes up the next round of emergency relief funding this month.
The Education Department may be able to reroute or withhold some emergency coronavirus relief funding that school districts say they desperately need to fund staff, programming and the public health measures recommended by the C.D.C. And the president could veto additional funds that schools want from Congress this summer.
On Wednesday, Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Trump would seek to “substantially bump up money for education” in the next coronavirus relief package, but “this money should go to students.”
A senior House Democratic aide said lawmakers would most likely push to limit the president’s authority to withhold school funds in a next round of relief.
Many parents, educators and doctors believe that the social, educational and psychological costs of a prolonged shutdown or online learning now outweigh the risk of the virus itself, a position expressed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. But how schools reopen safely is a matter of serious discussion.
Joining the briefing with Mr. Duncan and former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, a former C.D.C. director, said schools should reopen, but safely.
“Here’s the bottom line,” he said. “The single most important thing we can do to keep our schools safe has nothing to do with what happens in schools. It’s how well we control Covid in the community.”
In citing European countries, Mr. Trump was making an apples-and-oranges comparison. Germany and the other nations he cited have all gained control over the pandemic, while cases are rising significantly in the United States. While the United States recorded 54,000 new cases on Tuesday alone, Sweden logged just 283, Germany reported 279, Norway had 11 and Denmark just 10. Even accounting for population differences, those countries are in significantly better condition than the United States.
So far, there has been little evidence that school reopenings in Europe have resulted in widespread increases in coronavirus cases. Most countries took steps like wearing masks, reducing class sizes and keeping children in small groups at recess and lunchtime, measures that Mr. Trump is resisting.
But scientists do not know to what degree children spread the virus to others. There is some evidence that children are less likely than adults to transmit the virus, and that younger children transmit it less frequently than teenagers do. This may suggest that the risk of spread in preschools is lower than in high schools, which would be a welcome finding for many working parents and for early childhood educators, who cannot teach as effectively online as high school teachers can.
While children have proved less susceptible to the disease, teachers are more vulnerable because of their age. Many have expressed concern about returning to work in buildings that were never intended to keep children six feet apart or otherwise prevent the spread of a deadly virus.
Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said the mortality rate for those 25 and younger was less than a tenth of a percent, though she cautioned there was much to learn. “Until we know how many have been infected, we have no evidence that there is significant mortality in children without coexisting diseases,” she said.
But she added that children might be a threat to relatives in multigenerational homes. “Americans have done a great job in keeping infection rates low in children in the sheltering time,” she said. “We are worried now that as cases spread that it is getting to the older parents and the grandparents.”
