White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Tuesday defended sending San Diego teachers to instruct migrant children while schools for citizens in the city remain closed.
Psaki spoke about the story during the White House press briefing, indicating that anger over the prioritization for migrant children over American children was not fair.
“They’re on Spring break right now,” Psaki said referring to the students and teachers in San Diego Schools.
Psaki also noted students in San Diego were scheduled to return to the classrooms for part-time hybrid learning on April 12.
“I’m just saying that context is important, and these kids are going back to school for hybrid learning,” she said.
Fox News reported Monday the San Diego school district informed teachers about volunteer opportunities to teach migrant children in the convention center in-person.
Currently, 750 unaccompanied migrants are housed at the San Diego Convention Center, 70 of them testing positive for coronavirus, according to local reports.
“All children in California, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutional right to education,” the San Diego County Office of Education said in a statement to Fox News, defending the decision.
The San Diego school district struck a deal with their teacher’s union to reopen schools for all grade levels the week of April 12.
The district will call back staff the week of April 5, after Spring break.
Hundreds of more unaccompanied alien children are expected to be transferred to the convention center in the coming days.