Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) weighed in on the possibility schools remain closed heading into the fall semester as the United States battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Rubio acknowledged that schools across the country will likely remain closed if the number of cases in the state continues to be high, but he also pointed out how “risky” kids not learning will be and how difficult children not being in schools will be for working parents.
“I think it’s pretty clear by now that the people running our schools and our states are not going to open up schools as long as infection rates are at a certain level, so I think that puts the onus on all of us, whether you believe it’s safe or not, to do everything we can to bring the infection rates under control,” Rubio advised. “I hope as we make these decisions that it undergoes the cost-benefit analysis. Clearly, the benefits of closing schools are weighed against the community spread that we are seeing in the outbreaks, and I understand — it’s not inconsequential and it’s a real threat. The costs are significant, though.”
“[I]t has an economic impact, it has a learning impact, it has a long-term impact that will be with us long after the pandemic has passed,” he added. “So, we’ve got to weigh the cost with the benefits. And there will always be risks as long as there is no immunity from this virus, so we’re going to have to do the best we can and be flexible, but at some point, schools really do need to open.”
Rubio said the more affluent families will struggle with the difficulties from children not being in schools and likely will figure out a solution easily, but emphasized that the lower-income and working families will be “really impacted.”
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