Fairfax, Virginia—Over the weekend, Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, called for the full reopening of public schools across the country, despite the fact that the Center for Disease Control says “full-sized, in-person classes” would be of the “highest risk.” In making her dangerous call for schools to fully reopen five days a week with no considerations for teacher and student safety, Devos called out Fairfax County schools for offering the choice between virtual learning and classes in-person two days a week. 

“We have a message for Secretary DeVos: Stay out of Virginia,” Executive Director of Progress Virginia, Anna Scholl, said Monday. “The federal government has failed on every level to contain COVID-19, and while they were ignoring the crisis, millions of people have lost their jobs, millions have been infected, and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives. Their failure has put every single one of us at risk, and we can’t rely on them to have solutions that will work for everyone. The Trump/Devos plan to fully reopen schools without regard for the fact that a pandemic is tearing across the country infecting and killing more people each day will result in dead children and teachers. Whatever solution states and local schools come up with to balance the complicated and pressing needs of parents, teachers, and students, Secretary DeVos, President Trump, and the federal government have proven over and over again that they are not equipped to deal with it and should stay out of it.” 

Background:

• Secretary DeVos spoke at press conference and called out Fairfax County schools as an example of a school reopening plan that was not sufficient, despite complying with CDC guidelines. 
• Trump and Besty DeVos have said that they will consider restricting funding from schools that refuse to put their teachers and students in danger and hold in-person classes five days a week. 
• However schools decide to reopen, in order to do it safely, schools will need more resources, not fewer. If DeVos were serious about reopening schools safely, she would sell one of her yachts or helicopters to fund it.