Parents Call For Schools To Remain Open Amid Omicron Surge

After a wave of school closures due to COVID-19, parent advocate groups across the U.S. request schools to remain open. “Despite an uptick in Covid-19 cases and the surge of the Omicron variant, schools are safe, essential and must remain open for in-person learning,” a parent groups’ open letter read. Several California and Los Angeles-based parent groups, including the California Students United, California Parent Power, United Teachers Los Angeles, and Uncensored and Reopen California Schools, signed—along with almost 40 other parents’ organizations—on Jan. 3 the letter to K–12 schools nationwide. The open letter argued that throughout the pandemic, children, “despite being the lowest-risk demographic,” have been “subjected to the harshest restrictions” and “forced to pay the greatest price, while adults have largely gone on with their lives and recreational activities.” Last Thursday, almost 3,800 public schools in the U.S. were still not offering in-person instruction due to the pandemic, according …  » Read full article