‘Children of color’ will be ‘disproportionately affected’ during school reopenings, says former CDC director [Video]

• Former acting CDC director Richard Besser warned that a lack of resources will cause children of color to be disproportionately affected during school reopenings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• Without additional measures in place, the current trend of the black community being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic may be replicated among children during school reopenings, he said.
• Besser explained that while wealthy communities can afford to make the necessary safety precautions and adjustments, low-income communities may struggle to do so.

A lack of resources will disproportionately affect children of color during school reopenings amid the coronavirus pandemic, said Richard Besser, the former acting director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shared his opinion on school reopenings on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Asked if the current trend of the black community being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic will be replicated among children during school reopenings, Besser, who is also a pediatrician, responded, “If we’re not intentional about making sure that doesn’t happen it will happen.”

“The death rate for blacks, Latinos, Native Americans far surpasses their proportion of the population,” he continued.

.@RWJF's @DrRichBesser on #COVID19's crippling impact on #BIPOC children as they aim to return to in-person learning this fall:

"Without additional resources we will see children of color, black and brown children, disproportionately affected." pic.twitter.com/Vjv41AR7r8— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 19, 2020

He pointed out that since schools in America are mostly funded through property taxes, the disparity in income among communities will also affect the schools’ ability to make “the adjustments to their schools that are necessary for them to be safe places for children, for teachers and staff.”

Besser said that these adjustments are “very expensive.”

He explained that schools would need to check air flow and ensure “enough classrooms so you don’t need as many children in each class and they can socially distance.”

Schools may also need to hire additional staff to “decontaminate classrooms and disinfect them every night” and “to screen staff and children every morning,” he added.

While wealthy communities will be able to meet these requirements, “in low income communities schools have been under-invested for generations,” he said.

“Without additional resources, we will see children of color, black and brown children, disproportionately affected as schools start to reopen,” Besser continued.

Health experts have repeatedly warned that bringing children back for in-person instruction could pose numerous safety risks.

However, despite the increase in coronavirus cases across the country, President Donald Trump has pushed for school reopenings in the fall.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos also called for schools to reopen in the fall, and has even threatened to withhold funding from schools that do not comply.

Source: The Hill