JOIN US IS THE SECRETARY OF
EDUCATION, MIGUEL CARDONA.
SECRETARY CARDONA, GOOD TO SEE
YOU AGAIN.
I HAVE TO ASK YOU -- THAT IS
TRICKY ONE BECAUSE THE FEDERAL
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAS AN
ANCILLARY ROLE IN THE DECISIONS
MADE IN SCHOOLS, WHICH TEND TO
BE STATE AND LOCAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.
BUT YOU HAVE GUIDANCE THAT YOU
CAN OFFER AND CLARITY THAT YOU
CAN PROVIDE, AND ALREADY WEVE
GOT CONFUSION BETWEEN THE CDC
AND THE AMERICAN PHYSICIANS
ABOUT SOMETHING AS BASIC AS
MASKS.
HERE IN NEW YORK CITY I WAS
SOMEONE CIRCULATE ING A
CAMPAIGN, UNMASK OUR KIDS.
THE MATTER OF MASKS AND CHILDREN
GOING BACK TO SCHOOL IS NOT YET
RESOLVED.
>> THANKS FOR HAVING ME ON.
ONE THING WE CAN AGREE ON IS
THAT OUR STUDENTS DESERVE TO BE
IN THE CLASSROOM EVERY DAY, ALL
DAY IN THE FALL.
AND I KNOW THAT WERE GEARING UP
FOR BACK TO SCHOOL, AND THE
QUESTION OF MASKS HAS COME UP.
SO TO ME, WE WANT OUR STUDENTS
IN SCHOOL, SO REQUIRING MASKS OR
HAVING MASKS IN OUR SCHOOLS IS
JUST ANOTHER MITIGATION STRATEGY
TO GET OUR STUDENTS SAFELY BACK
INTO SCHOOLS.
AS YOU SAID EARLIER, YOU KNOW,
SCHOOL OFFICIALS AND HEALTH
OFFICIALS SHOULD BE WORKING
TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE POLICIES
ARE PUT IN PLACE THAT GET
STUDENTS IN SCHOOL.
THIS ISNT ONLY ABOUT REDUCING
TRANSFORMATION, WHILE THATS THE
PRIMARY GOAL.
ITS ALSO ABOUT BUILDING
CONFIDENCE AND SENDING CHILDREN
BACK TO SCHOOL.
>> SO WHAT ROLE -- I JUST DONT
WANT TO HAVE A RE-GO OF LAST
SUMMER WHERE EVERYBODY WAS
SAYING SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO
EVERYBODY ELSE.
WHERE DO YOU STAND AND WHAT WILL
YOUR DEPARTMENT DO TO SORT OF
SAY, HEY, WELL DEAL WITH SOME
OF THE VENTILATION, BIG ISSUE,
SERIOUS ISSUE IN A LOT OF
SCHOOLS, WATER AND VENTILATION.
THIS IS HOW SCHOOLS SHOULD LOOK.
ARE YOU IN ANY POSITION TO OFFER
THAT GUIDANCE OR PROVIDE SOME
BASELINE RULES ABOUT SCHOOLS?
>> WE WANT OUR SCHOOLS TO BE
SAFE ENVIRONMENTS FOR STUDENTS
AND STAFF.
AND WE KNOW WHAT WORKS.
WE HAVE A YEARS WORTH OF
EXPERIENCE UNDER OUR BELTS,
YEARS WORTH OF SCIENCE.
IN MY EXPERIENCE, REOPENING
SCHOOLS IN CONNECTICUT, WE KNOW
WHAT WORKS.
WE KNOW WHEN YOU LATER ON IN THE
MITIGATION STRATEGIES, YOU CAN
HAVE CHILDREN GOING TO SCHOOL
DAILY WITHOUT SPREAD.
WE WANT OUR STUDENTS IN SCHOOL
AND WE WANT THE MITIGATION
STRATEGIES FOLLOWED AND WE WANT
TO MAKE SURE THE DECISIONS ARE
BEING LEFT TO THE EDUCATORS AND THE HEALTH EXPERTS.
THE HEALTH EXPERTS.
>> WERE LOOKING AT NEIGHBOR
STATES, --
NINE STATES ALL HAVING PASSED
LEGISLATION PROHIBITING SCHOOL
DISTRICTS FROM ENACTING MASK
MANDATES.
ON THE OTHER HAND, AT LEAST SIX
STATES, CONNECTICUT, HAWAII,
NEW MEXICO, NEW YORK, VIRGINIA
AND WASHINGTON WILL REQUIRE
MASKS FOR K-12 STUDENTS.
WHO DECIDES OR DOES EVERYBODY
DECIDE THIS ON THEIR OWN?
>> YOU KNOW, WHAT IM
NOTICING -- THATS A LITTLE BIT
DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR.
THIS HAS BECOME TOO POLITICIZED.
LAST YEAR WE FOUND SUCCESS WHEN
WE ALLOWED OUR SCHOOL LEADERS
AND OUR HEALTH EXPERTS TO MAKE
DECISIONS, COMMUNICATE WITH
PARENTS, BUILD CONFIDENCE AND
SAFELY REOPEN OUR SCHOOLS.
I THINK THE MORE IT BECOMES
POLITICAL, THE MORE CHALLENGING
ITS GOING TO BE FOR EDUCATIONAL
LEADERS AND FOR EDUCATORS WHO
WANT TO SEE STUDENTS IN THE
CLASSROOMS.
SO LET THE DECISIONS BE ON THE
SHOULDERS OF THE EDUCATORS AND
THE HEALTH OFFICIALS THAT DID IT
LAST YEAR ASK THEYRE PREPARED
TO DO IT AGAIN THIS YEAR.
>> LETS TALK ABOUT VENTILATION.
YOU GOT SOME MONEY FOR THAT IN
THE RELIEF ACT.
HOW IS THAT BEING DEPLOYED AND
GIVE US SOME EXAMPLES OF THE
KINDS OF THINGS -- HOW ITS
IDENTIFIED AS A PROBLEM AND WHAT
GETS DONE ABOUT IT.
>> THANK YOU, ALI.
SO LAST YEAR WE HEARD FROM
PARENTS, FROM EDUCATORS THAT
VENTILATION IS A CONCERN.
$122 BILLION IS OUT THERE AND IT
COULD BE USED TO ADDRESS SOME OF
THOSE SAFETY NEEDS AROUND AIR
QUALITY.
TOMORROW ILL BE IN ATLANTA
VISITING A SCHOOL THAT USED THE
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS TO
IMPROVE VENTILATION SYSTEMS AND
AIR QUALITY AND BUILD CONFIDENCE
IN THE COMMUNITY.
BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW,
VENTILATION IS A PART OF A
BIGGER INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUE, AND
THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN CAN BE
USED TO IMPROVE VENTILATION
SYSTEMS.
BUT I VISITED SCHOOLS AS OLD AS
130, 140 YEARS OLD LIKE IN
PHILADELPHIA, AND THE IDEA OF
REBUILDING OUR SCHOOLS AND
MAKING SURE THAT WERE TAKING
CARE OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE, OUR
SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE NEED IS
CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
IN THE BUILD BACK BETTER AGENDA,
$100 BILLION TOWARDS SCHOOL
INFRASTRUCTURE IS CRITICAL TO
MAKE SURE THAT ALL STUDENTS
ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE ACCESS
TO A HIGH-QUALITY LEARNING
ENVIRONMENT SO THEY CAN THRIVE.
SHORT-TERM VENTILATION ISSUES
AND AIR QUALITY ISSUES, THE
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN IS HELPING
WITH THAT.
BUT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR OUR
SCHOOLS IS A LONG-TERM ISSUE.
>> WHAT OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE CAN
THAT GO TOWARD.
VENTILATION MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AT
THE TOP OF THIS LIST ASIDE FROM
THE PANDEMIC.
BUT WHAT ARE THE BIG ISSUES THAT
SCHOOLS NEED IN TERMS OF FIXING?
>> YOU KNOW, I VISITED SCHOOLS
THAT WERE SO OLD THAT THE
WINDOWS WERE PAINTED SHUT.
I SAW SCHOOLS WITH POOR AIR
FLOW.
I SAW SCHOOLS WHERE CLOSETS WERE
BEING USED AS WORK SPACES.
YOU KNOW, WERE RETRO FITTING A
BIT TOO MUCH AND PUTTING
STUDENTS IN SCHOOLS THAT ARE
VERY OLD.
IF WE WANT TO PREPARE OUR
STUDENTS FOR THE WORKFORCE OF
TOMORROW, WE NEED LABS WHERE
STUDENTS CAN LEARN HANDS ON,
STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES
WHERE THEY CAN GET THE HIGHEST
LEVELS OF LEARNING TO BE
SUCCESSFUL IN LIFE.
UNFORTUNATELY IN MY VISITS -- I
VISITED 16 STATES OVER THE LAST
THREE MONTHS, I SAW SCHOOLS THAT
WERE TOPNOTCH AND BRAND-NEW, AND
THEN I SAW SCHOOLS THAT I
WOULDNT WANT TO SEND MY OWN