Can schools reopen?

Guests: Anya Kamenetz, Becky Pringle, David Rubin

Parents, teachers, even most kids want schools to reopen this fall. They’ve seen the limitations of online learning and are missing the socialization. There are also many challenges to parents, particularly working parents, who have to monitor their children’s learning. Still most people agree that schools can only open if it is done safely. President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have threatened schools with funding cuts if they don’t reopen schools fully in the fall and this has made the discussion even more complicated as infection rates spike around the country. This hour, we talk about reopening schools and what it will take. We start off with NPR education correspondent ANYA KAMENETZ on the politics of the reopening debate. Then BECKY PRINGLE, a former middle school science teacher and vice president of the National Education Association, and DAVID RUBIN, a pediatrician and director of Director of CHOP’s PolicyLab, talk about the complexities of getting back to school safely.