2020-07-10 12:02:46
Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Kevin Kumashiro about the possibility of opening schools in the midst of a pandemic.
President Donald Trump railed this week against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s guidelines for schools to reopen in the fall.
Trump has made it clear that in order to maximize his chances of reelection in November, American society and economy must return to “normal,” in spite of a massive resurgence of the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, just hours after Trump denounced the CDC school guidelines on Twitter, Vice President Mike Pence claimed, “Well the president said today, we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough… That’s the reason why next week, the C.D.C. is going to be issuing a new set of tools.” But CDC Director Robert Redfield said a day later that the guidelines would not be weakened.
Meanwhile, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos who has emerged as one of Trump’s strongest allies, also insisted that schools must reopen. The proponent of so-called “school choice” insisted against given educators and parents a choice on whether kids should go back to school.
For more on his work, visit https://educationdeans.org.
Kevin Kumashiro, former dean of the School of Education at the University of San Francisco, a leading expert on educational policy, school reform, teacher preparation, and educational equity and social justice and the education correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali.
Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience.
Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman.
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