Voters Look to Guidance From the CDC and Local School Officials Over Trump on When to Re-Open Schools
Executive Summary The questions of whether, when, and how to safely open America’s schools have become the center of political fights over the coronavirus. President Trump has taken a hard line on opening schools — his administration is insisting that schools must fully re-open for in-person learning, and is threatening to cut federal funding for districts that […]
Executive Summary
The questions of whether, when, and how to safely open America’s schools have become the center of political fights over the coronavirus. President Trump has taken a hard line on opening schools — his administration is insisting that schools must fully re-open for in-person learning, and is threatening to cut federal funding for districts that refuse (though he lacks the legal authority to unilaterally do so). Trump has also dismissed guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on schools opening as “tough,” “expensive,” and “impractical,” and has pressured the agency to water down its advice.
New polling from Data for Progress and The Justice Collaborative Institute finds that a majority of voters (75%) trust the CDC to provide guidance on when schools can safely reopen, yet less than half (42%) trust President Trump’s judgement on the matter.
The polling also finds that voters (76%) trust guidance from school officials on when schools should re-open, substantially higher than the 42% who trust Trump.