Let parents, not teachers, decide when children go back to school         

Candidate Joe Biden promised to “follow the science” regarding COVID-19 and to open up schools nationwide. That was a rational promise because, for almost a year, the science has been clear that children were at lower risk both to catch and transmit the virus. For almost as long, we have been aware that children and adolescents were at extreme risk for other maladies caused by social isolation and mass expulsions from school.

President Biden, in his best imitation of the truth minister from 1984, has deemed that in-person school for one day a week, even if it is not a full day, means schools are “opened up.” Darn the science, full speed ahead on the lockdowns. And full speed ahead at kowtowing to the teachers unions that provided ample funding to candidate Biden.

The science worldwide is constant and clear: Children need to be in school. They are safe in school. Schools should be open — and open now.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has done a great job frustrating the control freaks and alarmists on the Left. He has held the position that parents should make the choice of whether their child should return to in-person education. Every child in Florida has the opportunity to attend school in-person, full-time.

And that is the way it ought to be everywhere in the nation.

The Left disagrees. It wants to continue to perpetuate fear and alarm so that it can control people. It would rather control people than let them govern themselves, assess risk, and choose how they want to respond to the risk.

The Left disagrees with the science. It claims to be following the science but ignores the data that support in-person learning for children. It disregards the increased suicides and mental illness in adolescents and young adults who are victimized by these lockdowns.

The Left disagrees with the DeSantis approach. In Florida, high school sports continue to happen — boys playing football, girls playing volleyball, etc. Children are continuing to learn by attending school. Families are living pre-pandemic-like lives, making judgments on how to respond to best accommodate the risk.

In the meantime, the vast majority of children in America have gone almost a year without in-person learning. Experts warn of the effects of this delay. It isn’t that they will simply be a year behind, but that their learning will be harmed.

Teachers unions, the latest example coming from Chicago, continue to show that they may be one of the biggest enemies to educating our children. They have lobbied to stay closed. They have proposed absurdities such as bringing the children to school to have the students sit in classrooms with an adult monitor, while the teacher stays home to “teach” remotely.

Apparently, some teachers unions believe that in-person learning is not necessary. The science and data simply do not support the position that so many school boards and unions have taken.

Parents need to continue to demand in-person education. State legislatures need to use funding as a lever to get schools open, as does Congress. And Biden needs to honor the promise he made to the parents and students of America.