Title: Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives that primary and secondary schools in the United States should be opened for in-person instruction.
Policy area: Education

Summary:
This resolution urges each elementary and secondary school in the United States to open for in-person instruction as soon as possible.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 218 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 218

 Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives that primary and 
 secondary schools in the United States should be opened for in-person 
                              instruction.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 11, 2021

Mr. Banks submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives that primary and 
 secondary schools in the United States should be opened for in-person 
                              instruction.

Whereas education is an essential service that provides benefits to students, 
        families, and the Nation as a whole;
Whereas closures of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic affected at least 55 
        million students across K-12 schools;
Whereas research shows that extended absences from school due to closures 
        inflict long-term damage on students;
Whereas an estimated 1.1 million additional students may drop out of high school 
        due to school closures caused by the pandemic;
Whereas researchers estimate that school closures could result in lower future 
        earnings for students and a lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 
        United States as a whole;
Whereas a study from Jama Network Open estimated that the closures of primary 
        schools in the country will result in 13.8 million years of lost life 
        among our Nation's youth;
Whereas in-person education provides superior learning to virtual instruction as 
        well as social and emotional benefits;
Whereas in-person schooling has not been shown to contribute substantially to 
        transmission or fuel COVID-19 outbreaks;
Whereas a survey of more than 57,000 child care providers in the United States 
        found that child care workers were not at higher risk of COVID-19 
        infection than the general adult population;
Whereas multiple studies across several countries have found that children are 
        less likely to spread the virus and more likely to have mild cases of 
        COVID-19 in the case of an infection;
Whereas, according to a May 2020 study from Jama Pediatrics, ``children continue 
        to face a far greater risk of critical illness from influenza than from 
        COVID-19'';
Whereas children aged 5-14 years old are seven times more likely to die of 
        influenza than of COVID-19;
Whereas the United States is rapidly deploying COVID-19 vaccines across the 
        country and has already administered more than 23 million doses of the 
        vaccine;
Whereas State and local governments have many tools at their disposal to offer 
        parents education options that work best for their families during the 
        pandemic through school choice and education savings account programs;
Whereas Congress provided $13 billion to K-12 schools in the Coronavirus Aid, 
        Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March of 2020 and another 
        $54 billion in Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 in December of 
        2020, as well as several billions in funding to State governors to use 
        for education in their States;
Whereas a study by Corey DeAngelis, Ph.D., of the Reason Foundation and Christos 
        Makridis, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that 
        school closures were linked to union influence rather than COVID-19 
        transmission rates and risk;
Whereas New York City closed schools in November based on an arbitrary positive 
        testing threshold supported by the United Federation of Teachers, even 
        though the school district of 1.1 million students had a low positivity 
        test rate;
Whereas the United Teachers Los Angeles issued a paper that requested several 
        radical left-wing policies in a plan to reopen, including Medicare For 
        All, defunding the police, expanded welfare access for illegal 
        immigrants, and a moratorium on charter schools;
Whereas the Fairfax Education Association, the teachers' union in Fairfax, 
        Virginia, are demanding that all students be vaccinated and there be 
        zero community spread before fully reopening schools, even though the 
        teachers have been given priority access to the vaccine;
Whereas half of all Chicago teachers skipped school during the city's attempt to 
        reopen on January 4, 2021, and voted to defy an order to return to 
        school on February 1, 2021; and
Whereas many school districts, as well private and parochial schools, across the 
        country have successfully reopened safely: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) affirms that United States school systems have adequate 
        resources and public health evidence to safely reopen for in-
        person education;
            (2) affirms that extended school closures pose a risk to 
        the well-being of American children, especially the most 
        vulnerable, and to the future of the Nation; and
            (3) urges every school in the United States to open for in-
        person instruction as soon as possible.
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