School Anyone?
“Nothing is more important in our national life than the welfare of our children.”
President Harry S. Truman
Now a battle is raging about reopening our schools in a time of pandemic. The kerfuffle over this relatively simply process is astounding. You would think that the Nation’s children were about to be marched over a cliff into rock ridden surf…a certain death. The death rate for those under 24 from this flu is infinitesimally small. Come on now, is this really about the “flu”? During the “Spanish Flu” that occurred over 100 years ago, the schools were not closed in the United States.
Some have ventured that this is really about politics. If the kids aren’t in school, the folks can’t go back to work, and the economy tanks. And then Biden wins the presidency. Elizabeth Warren said in a recent video, “We need new leaders. We need new voices.” This “new leader, new voice” has been around for nearly 50 years in Washington. Practically since the earth cooled. Hardly a new leader or new voice.
The cold hard facts are that children need to go to school, not only to learn but to become more socialized. Confinement in the home with an iPad as your only link to education is harmful to the child…as many in the medical community have pointed out. A national organization of pediatricians has said as much. Four top pediatricians interviewed by NBC stated they support the reopening of schools with following responses: “Yes “, “Absolutely”, “Without a hesitation”, “I have no concerns.” The benefits of being in the classroom far outweigh the risks of viral infection was their consensus. NBC host, Craig Melvin, was stunned as this obviously didn’t fit the narrative he was pushing.
Against this return to schools is the NEA and their affiliated unions. The Los Angeles School District set conditions that are almost unachievable. The Union has called for the police to be defunded as a condition to reopen. Brilliant. Among their demands are the defunding of charter schools. Charter schools that often times provide a better education for the children and are run by non-union teachers and administrators. They are fighting to open. It’s well known that the Union is in the tank for anyone that’s a Democrat. The LA School District ultimately decided to continue their policy of “virtual distanced learning”. Their opposition to the current Secretary of Education, and her advocacy to reopen classrooms is not exactly a state secret.
Problems abound, according, those opposed to reopening the schools. Nonsense. The country that created the smart phone has the wherewithal to figure out how to put the youth of the country back in a safe educational environment. The blatherskites who object, are not the least concerned about the education of children. One of them, Speaker Pelosi, claims that the President is putting children’s’ lives at risk. In Europe they opened the schools months ago. They haven't had any problems as Austria, Norway, Belgium, Finland and Denmark open their schools months ago.
It’s abundantly obvious that the media does not want the schools to reopen, more duplicity by them. If one child gets the “flu”, it will be a dreadful event, widely reported, followed by condemnation of the President. The press knows Trump will get damaged as a result. 95% of his coverage for the last 3 plus years has been nonstop negativity.
This shouldn’t be about damaging the President. It’s about the welfare of the Nation’s children. Parents are not universally equipped to be effective teachers. We can safely send kids back to school but not until the liberal politicians and the media stop using them as pawns in their fanatic effort to tip the upcoming presidential election results in their favor.
President Truman’s words are as important today as they were over 70 years ago.