by Mary Margaret Olohan
President Joe Biden’s new target for reopening schools is behind where United States schools already are in returning to in-person learning, data shows.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Biden’s school reopening plan calls for “most” schools to have in-person learning “at least” one day a week by the new president’s 100th day in office. Psaki also told reporters that Biden’s plan “is for all schools to reopen, to stay open, to be open five days a week, for kids to be learning.”
“That’s what our focus is on,” Psaki said. “This is simply a goal for 100 days.”
The digital school data collecting platform Burbio found that 66% of K-12 students are already attending in-person classes five days a week or attending classes one day a week or more, Fox News reported.
According to Burbio, 40.6% of K-12 students are attending in person traditional learning, 25.5% of K-12 students are attending schools that offer hybrid learning or 2/3 days a week learning, and 33.9% of K-12 students are attending “virtual only” schools.
WATCH: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is pressed by a reporter to clarify the Biden administration's stance on reopening schools. pic.twitter.com/YVeft1kRVJ
— The Hill (@thehill) February 6, 2021
“The president wants to see all kids safely back in school,” a White House spokesperson told the Daily Caller Jan. 27. “He also understands that reopening is not a light switch.”
“The truth is that remote learning has been particularly difficult for younger children,” the spokesperson continued. “Further, if younger children safely resume in-person learning, it will greatly alleviate parents’ child care challenges and could potentially boost our economy by getting more parents back into the workforce. So we are going to prioritize getting K-8 schools safely reopened as quickly as we can, with a continued goal of getting all kids back to school.”
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation
