7 in 10 parents say sending kids to school a risk: poll

by Marty Johnson - 07/14/20 8:52 AM ET

A large majority of American parents in a new poll said they view having their children return to in-person school in the fall as a moderate or large risk.

In the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index poll, 71 percent of parents said that sending their kids back to school is either a large or moderate risk to their own health. Similarly, 51 percent of parents said that they are either very or extremely worried about sending their children back to school in the coming months, while 23 percent said that they are somewhat concerned. Just 14 percent said they are not very concerned and 9 percent said that they are not concerned at all.

The latest iteration of the poll, which has been occurring weekly since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, was conducted July 10-13, following the Trump administration’s push to have all schools across the country open in the fall.

President Trump threatened to cut schools’ federal funding if they don’t re-open, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told governors it was unacceptable for school districts to have in-person teaching only part of the time.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released guidance for the nation’s schools on how to reopen in the safest way possible, but Trump pushed back on the recommendations, calling the guidelines “very tough & expensive.”

CDC Director Robert Redfield said last Thursday that there are greater health risks with keeping schools closed rather than having them reopen.

“I’m of the point of view as a public health leader in this nation that having the schools actually closed is a greater public health threat to the children than having the schools reopen,” Redfield told The Hill.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow also said last Friday that having students return to school in the fall is “not that hard.”

A week earlier, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released new restrictions surrounding international students in the country on nonimmigrant visas, saying that students had to be enrolled in an in-person class at their institution, otherwise they would not be allowed back into the country or would be forced to leave. This prompted Harvard and MIT to sue the administration, saying it is trying to force in-person learning. The lawsuit has gathered considerable steam, as roughly 60 public and private universities signed an amicus brief in support of the complaint.

The new survey polled 1,063 adults. Its results have a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.