WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Tuesday questioned education officials on safely reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic. During today’s hearing, Murphy pressed former Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. and Denver Public Schools Superintendent Susana Cordova on the need for more emergency funding for education and supporting students with disabilities as well as questioning the need for law enforcement in schools. Murphy has previously questioned college presidents on safely reopening on how athletes and fans are going to practice proper health precautions in sports arenas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the need to appropriate additional funding to schools, Murphy said: “…let me express alarm at the prospect of leaving for a two week recess in July without appropriating additional funding for schools. The CARES Act put in about as much money for the airline industry as it did for the entire American public school system… We need to get additional funding to states and order school districts before the July recess, because the planning that’s going to need to be done in order to make sure that schools can reopen safely is going to be done this summer.”
On the need to provide additional resources for students with disabilities, Murphy said: “I’m panicked about this, because many of them have not been able to engage in any distance learning because they can’t learn without support services while they’re home. So, talk to me about the need for schools to be able to plan and hire now, in order to be able to set up the support services they’re going to need around the students. And then what’s the impact of a 25% cut in funds for a school district on students with disabilities when they return?”
Expressing concerns about having law enforcement in schools, Murphy said: “When we think about how to create safe schools, we’re obviously talking about making sure that students don’t get infected with the virus. But we’re also talking about making sure that students aren’t targeted because of their race. And the reality is that while police officers have made a lot of students feel safe, they have frankly made a lot of other students feel unsafe.”
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