Chicago Tribune - Commentary: Presidential tweets won't help Chicago schools. Real relief from feds will.

Op-Ed

By Sen. Dick Durbin

There's a debate across the country about what the fall will look like for our nation's schools, schoolchildren, teachers, parents, faculty and staff.

There's a legitimate concern about empty classrooms. Those who study childhood behavior worry that lack of socialization takes its toll on children. Teachers are often sentinels for evidence of child abuse, which now during this pandemic may be going unreported. Remote learning works well for some, but fails miserably for others.

The other side of this ledger is equally compelling. Exposing children to COVID-19 is a serious risk. Kids may fare well in fighting the infection, but they may bring it home to relatives with tragic results. Teachers are still at high risk to exposure even with shrunken classes. Too many schools do not have the resources to implement social distancing in the buildings and on the buses. Hand sanitizer and masks are needed and a new expense. As Major League Baseball is teaching us, protocols need to be detailed and still can come up short.

Recently, President Donald Trump all but mandated schools reopen or face cutoff of federal funds. Those are funds that support school lunches, special education and aid to low-income schools. Put simply, the president's position is a stark choice: your money or your health.

Republicans in the Senate have taken that threat and turned it into legislation with their proposal for the next coronavirus relief package. They've suggested a mere $70 billion for our nation's schools -- with two-thirds of those funds held hostage unless schools reopen for in-person classes.

We have come to tune out the rants of this president and in this case we should. With spiking infection rates in many areas and a wide variance in school resources, this should clearly be a carefully considered local decision.

Beyond presidential threats, there is something Washington can do.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Little Village Academy in Chicago with Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson. I can tell you in Chicago and around Illinois, state and local school officials have tough decisions to make when it comes to providing a safe and effective learning environment for students and teachers alike -- whether that be in-person, in a school or at home.

What I've been hearing from local officials is simple: The best thing the federal government can do to help is to provide assistance and support that ensures a school's operating status for the fall semester keeps students and staff safe while allowing learning and development to continue effectively and equitably. The federal government should also ensure that schools have science-based guidance to support safely reopening -- free from political influence.

That's why I am pushing for the inclusion of the Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act in the next COVID-19 relief package. In addition to supporting the child care, early education and higher education sectors, the bill would provide $175 billion to elementary and secondary schools to help meet technology, cleaning, staffing and other needs of schools -- regardless of their reopening plans for the fall. It would provide funds to school districts based on their share of low-income children, similar to the CARES Act, which brought more than $200 million to CPS and a total of $512 million to elementary and secondary schools across Illinois.

I also believe in the near term, as virtual learning becomes more prevalent as we fight this pandemic, we must guarantee a commitment to universal broadband. It's unacceptable that in 2020 so many children and families lack this basic necessity that many of us take for granted.

Schools in Chicago and around our state don't need more tweets, self-congratulatory briefings, or medical advice from President Trump. What they need from Washington is federal resources and guidance based on the best science our government has to offer. And that's what I'm fighting for in this next relief package.

Democrat Dick Durbin is the senior U.S. senator from Illinois.

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