I will be voting against Republican inaction
I’m going to vote against Senator Sullivan in November.
It’s going to be a huge personal tragedy for students if COVID-19 causes them each to lose a year or more of education.
Beyond that, the American economy will be devastated as parents are forced to stay home because schools are closed, and long-term economic growth will be slower because graduates are not as skilled.
But schools are not going to open just because someone says the magic words “open sesame.”
Reopening requires laying the groundwork. We need protective devices for social distancing, computers and internet for home-schooling, more teachers for increased in-school supervision, more support for students working from home, more physical plant workers for on-going deep cleaning.
All this takes money but COVID-19 has left states and communities cash strapped. The money has to come from the federal government.
But you can’t wait until school is starting in August. The money should have come months ago so that states and communities could have planned, hired and built infrastructure.
The House passed a bill back in May that provided $90 billion for aid to schools. But Senate Republicans sat on their hands until last week. They still are not even working with Senate Democrats to hammer out the details. That is being left to the administration.
So, I’m going to vote against Sullivan because of his failure and his party’s failure on this issue.
Ben Muse,
Juneau