Trump May Consider Boosting Aid To Schools To Facilitate Reopening

Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday that the Trump administration is willing to boost federal aid for schools to help them reopen.

“The president has said that he’s open to suggestions about additional funding if it appears that would be necessary in certain states and localities, so he will look at that,” Kudlow told a group of reporters outside the White House.

President Trump has urged school districts to reopen in the fall, as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in sunbelt states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona and California. Trump has claimed on social media that Democrats want schools to remain shut down in order to hurt his reelection chances, and has threatened the withdrawal of federal funding for school districts that do not reopen in the fall.

On Sunday, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos defended the administration’s stance on school reopenings. In an interview with CNN host Dana Bash, she said “the rule should be that kids go back to school this fall” and claimed that “children get the virus at a far lower rate than any other part of the population.”

In response, Bash referred to an outbreak at a Christian summer camp in Missouri, resulting in 82 positive cases. Bash also alluded to an announcement from the Texas Department of Health in early July that at least 1,335 people have tested positive from childcare facilities in the state.

Ayanna Pressley, D- Mass., has attacked DeVos' comments on reopening.

“You have no plan,” Pressley wrote in a Twitter post directed at DeVos. “Teachers, kids and parents are fearing for their lives. You point to a private sector that has put profits over people and claimed the lives of thousands of essential workers. I wouldn’t trust you to care for a house plant, let alone my child.”

Many schools shifted to online classes as the coronavirus spread throughout the nation during the spring.

Teachers and public school administrators have expressed concerns that they could catch the virus if schools reopen later this year.