Posted on 05/16/2020 6:52:29 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The children's commissioner for England intervenes after clashes between unions and scientific advisers about schools reopening.
The government and teaching unions must "stop squabbling" and agree a plan to get children back to school in "a safe, phased return", the children's commissioner for England has said.
Anne Longfield also called for "rigorous" coronavirus testing of teachers, children and families to ease safety fears among parents.
"I am disappointed that the debate about when some primary school kids can return has descended into a squabble between government and the teaching unions," she said.
"All sides need to show a greater will to work together in the interests of children."
She added: "We cannot afford to wait for a vaccine, which may never arrive, before children are back in school."
Ms Longfield urged the sector to aspire for all children to return to school in some form before the summer, and to use school buildings for summer schools and family support over the holidays.
Her comments came after teachers' unions called for more answers from the government about the safety of reopening primary schools in England from 1 June, after a meeting with chief scientific advisers on Friday.
The teachers' union NASUWT claimed evidence it received from the government during the crunch talks on COVID-19 was "flimsy at best".
It added the meeting "raised more questions than answers" - and claimed Number 10 provided no information "to change the widely held view that the evidence base for opening schools from 1 June is weak".
Meanwhile, mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has said he would only allow teachers and children to return to school when it was "safe to do so", and Labour leader of Gateshead Council, Martin Gannon, said the easing of the lockdown rules was "frankly madness".
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
Want to cure the virus by Monday? Stop paying all state teachers, professors, and academic bureaucrats .
Cuomo, Newsom, Pritzker will be forced to reopen everything and declare the virus never existed.
Sounds like bureaucrat-on-bureaucrat crime.
They should be natural allies; but the govercrats want to get things moving while the educrats are happy getting paid for doing jack.
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