Students Deserve Access to an In-Person Education

Statement

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) issued the following statement in response to the more than 4,500 schools across the country that chose to begin the week of January 2nd with disruptive learning.

"The disruption of long-term and intermittent school closures has been catastrophic to America's children. We have nearly two years of data that show that keeping kids out of classrooms has caused massive learning loss, a mental health epidemic among our youth, and stressful situations for millions of families. This has long been an unsustainable and failed learning model for students.

"Despite this indisputable and heartbreaking reality, administrators in more than 4500 schools across the country decided to start the New Year by shuttering classrooms, the latest case being in Chicago where the city's teacher unions overwhelming voted to move to remote learning for students in the third largest school district in the country. Make no mistake -- this was a decision that does not put the needs of our children first.

"A society that sacrifices the needs of an entire generation of children is a society that is jeopardizing its very future. This should not and cannot be the norm in America. The instability has crushed our students and we must take a stand to stop this insanity. We must work to empower families through the House Republican-led Parents Bill of Rights and we must make a commitment to keep schools open. Every K-12 student in this country deserves to have access to in-person education."

Source