Sec. DeVos: No data to suggest kids shouldn't go back to school
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos lays out plans to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told "Your World" Wednesday that the reopening of schools for in-person instruction this fall is "in everyone's interest, particularly the kids' interest."
"We are strongly encouraging and urging governors across the country to reopen schools this fall for teachers and administrators, school leaders to be planning for that and anticipating that all kids will be able to be back in school this fall," DeVos told host Neil Cavuto. "There's nothing in the data that suggests it would not be appropriate to have kids in school. And while there may be spikes in certain areas and certain communities, those are exceptions to the rule. The rule should be that kids need to be back in school."
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"It's important for their health across the board," she added.
Earlier Wednesday, President Trump said he disagreed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on their “very tough & expensive” guidelines – which he called “impractical” – for reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump also tweeted Wednesday morning that the administration may deny federal funding to school districts that don't open for in-person learning, a stance DeVos defended Wednesday
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"The American investment in education is really a promise to students and their families. And if schools aren't going to reopen again, that's, you know, breaking that promise," DeVos said. "And so why should they receive funds for something they're not going to do?"
"We can't sit around while everything else is opening back up again and have a huge segment of the population, our kids, our future, biding their time and not going back and learning," the secretary concluded.
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.