COVID-19 & School Closings — Arguments against Reopening: Weak, Getting Weaker

Don’t look now, but every major excuse for keeping schools closed — as they still are for about two-fifths of American kids — is crumbling before our eyes. Joe Biden’s CDC says reopening is safe. The winter wave of COVID infections is finally falling back to earth. And teachers are rapidly getting vaccinated.

In the places where they’re powerful, the teachers’ unions will push this fight as far as they can. Some have already declared that teachers shouldn’t have to teach in person even after they’re vaccinated. But as the excuses fall away, the political pressure to reopen should become overwhelming. The terrible policy of closing schools — which has disrupted educational progress, kids’ social development, and parents’ work across much of the country for nearly a year, with essentially zero health benefits to show for it — will start to end.

About the Author

Robert VerBruggen

Robert VerBruggen is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

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Don’t look now, but every major excuse for keeping schools closed — as they still are for about two-fifths of American kids — is crumbling before our eyes. Joe Biden’s CDC says reopening is safe. The winter wave of COVID infections is finally falling back to earth. And teachers are rapidly getting vaccinated.

In the places where they’re powerful, the teachers’ unions will push this fight as far as they can. Some have already declared that teachers shouldn’t have to teach in person even after they’re vaccinated. But as the excuses fall away, the political pressure to reopen should become overwhelming. The terrible policy of closing schools — which has disrupted educational progress, kids’ social development, and parents’ work across much of the country for nearly a year, with essentially zero health benefits to show for it — will start to end.