Trump Threatens To Defund Schools If They Do Not Reopen In Fall

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to Trump’s threats with the news that schools would not fully reopen in September. In-person classes will be held only one to three days a week to avoid crowds and to comply to social distancing rules. The chief public health officer in Los Angeles County told school officials on Tuesday that they should be ready to continue remote education, with California being one of the states with a surge of recent coronavirus cases. Many universities have recently announced they are switching their fall semester to be entirely online.

Trump cannot unilaterally cut federal funding for schools but he can stop federal grants and bailouts, as part financial relief package.

Sasha Pudelski, an assistant director of policy and advocacy for AASA, the School Superintendents Association, tweeted that Trump would not be able to do it without Congress.