This archive report was first published on 18 July 2020.
On February 1, 2020, Joe Biden unveiled a plan to safely reopen schools, highlighting the need for a coordinated national approach to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to his proposal, federal agencies should establish a set of national guidelines to aid school reopening decisions, as the Trump administration's response had left school districts to improvise on their own.
Mr. Biden called for emergency funding of $30 billion for school districts and $4 billion for upgraded technology and broadband, as well as a large-scale effort by the U.S. Department of Education to improve remote learning and smooth the reopening process.
His wife, Jill Biden, an English professor and education advocate, appeared with him in a video to announce the plan and detail some educators' concerns, acknowledging the hardships facing students, families, and teachers.
She emphasized the need for a better plan, saying, 'it's wrong to endanger educators and students.'
Mr. Biden's proposal also aimed to address systemic racial and socioeconomic disparities in education that have worsened during the pandemic.
He stated, 'Everyone wants our schools to reopen. The question is how to make it safe, how to make it stick.'
Reducing coronavirus cases was identified as the first step towards safely reopening schools.
