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FL Sen. Rick Scott Identifies 2 Things Biden Admin Is Known for So Far: Open Borders and Closed Schools

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GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida argued Tuesday the Biden administration has been characterized so far by lax border security and a tendency to align with teachers unions’ wishes to keep many schools closed.

“In four weeks, the Biden administration has been known for two things: open borders and closed schools,” Scott told reporters during a Capitol Hill news conference with some of his Republican colleagues.

First, Biden officials claimed they would follow the science, but then the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report earlier this month saying schools can and should be open, he recounted.

“Then they said they need money,” Scott continued. “Well, last year Congress allocated $68 billion for K-12 education and approximately $4 billion of it has been spent, so it clearly is not waiting for money.

“It’s just basically Democrats and the teachers union don’t care about our students,” the senator contended.

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Scott went on to point out the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill that Democrats are seeking to pass includes an additional $120 billion in K-12 education spending.

However, 95 percent of it won’t be spent to open schools this year, but is allocated to the upcoming years of 2022 through 2028, he said.

Do you agree with Scott's assessment of the Biden administration? 

“So, this new stimulus package is not going to do anything to open our schools. They need to decide to open our schools,” Scott explained.

Florida was one of the states that reopened its K-12 schools en masse in August, and a COVID-19 surge did not follow, USA Today reported in late September.

“A USA Today analysis shows the state’s positive case count among kids ages 5 to 17 declined through late September after a peak in July. Among the counties seeing surges in overall cases, it’s college-age adults — not schoolchildren — driving the trend, the analysis found,” according to the paper.

Despite California’s far stricter COVID mitigation efforts, its infection rate per 100,000 people is almost exactly the same as Florida.

The Sunshine State in fact did a little better: 8,966 in California versus 8,746 in Florida, as of Wednesday morning.

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The Burbio K-12 School Opening Tracker shows each state’s in-person learning by percentage.

Iowa, Wyoming and Montana have 100 percent in-person learning, followed by Florida at 99.9 percent.

Other states with over 90 percent in-person instruction include Texas, Nebraska, Utah, North Dakota and Arkansas.

Some of the states with the lowest percentage of students in the classroom (approximately 19 percent or less) are on the West Coast: California, Oregon and Washington.

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, Maryland has the least in-person instruction, followed by Virginia and Massachusetts.

Scott also pointed out that the coronavirus relief bill does not have money to help secure the border, though there has been a surge of migrants creating potential health risk to themselves and American citizens.

The migrants are not being tested for COVID-19, unless they have obvious symptoms, before they are released into the United States, Fox News reported.

“This is the first time since the surge of 2019 that [Customs and Border Protection] has been compelled to revive the controversial [catch-and-release] policy,” according to the news outlet.

In addition to reinstating catch and release, the first day Biden took office, he signed an executive order directing construction on the U.S.-Mexico border wall to stop.

Scott concluded, “So Democrats don’t care about our families’ safety, and they clearly don’t care about our kids’ education.”

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Randy DeSoto has written more than 2,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths" and screenwriter of the political documentary "I Want Your Money."
Randy DeSoto is the senior staff writer for The Western Journal. He wrote and was the assistant producer of the documentary film "I Want Your Money" about the perils of Big Government, comparing the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Randy is the author of the book "We Hold These Truths," which addresses how leaders have appealed to beliefs found in the Declaration of Independence at defining moments in our nation's history. He has been published in several political sites and newspapers.

Randy graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a BS in political science and Regent University School of Law with a juris doctorate.
Birthplace
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality
American
Honors/Awards
Graduated dean's list from West Point
Education
United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law
Books Written
We Hold These Truths
Professional Memberships
Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Entertainment, Faith




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