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The decision on how and when to reopen schools was hard enough before President Trump this week injected politics into the issue. Staying in character with another simplistic, bombastic declaration that ignores the nuances of the coronavirus, he tweeted Monday that “SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL.” Nevermind that COVID-19 cases continue to surge at alarming levels across the country, including here in California, and many hospitals are nearing capacity while Trump does nothing to slow the spread. He ramped up the pressure Wednesday by threatening to withhold federal funding from schools that do not resume in-person classes this fall, which is absurd for many and puts the lives of students, teachers and staff on the line for political reasons. Trump instead should pressure Congress to provide additional funding needed to make schools safer to reopen. (7/9)

Millions of Americans dutifully pay taxes with the promise that their children can get a first-rate education in the United States. The right to a publicly-funded education is an integral part of our social contract — it means any child can grow up to follow their dreams. If we fail to reopen our schools in the fall, we will fail to deliver on that promise for the 55 million students who depend on our public school system. We are at risk of having an entire generation of children fall permanently behind. If that happens, our children’s futures will be the biggest casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Rep. Jim Banks, 7/9)

Two weeks ago, I asked Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, what a functioning Department of Education would be doing to prepare the country to reopen schools in the fall. “A functioning Department of Education would have been getting groups of superintendents and principals and unions and others together from the middle of March,” she told me. It would have created a clearinghouse of best practices for maintaining grab-and-go lunch programs and online education. By mid-April it would have convened experts to figure out how to reopen schools safely, and offered grants to schools trying different models.“None of that has happened,” said Weingarten. “Zero.” (Michelle Goldberg, 7/10)

No one wants to welcome students back to classrooms more than America’s educators. We know that nothing can replace the magic of a student’s curiosity when they are able to learn alongside their peers from a teacher who has dedicated her life to the success of other people’s children. But the Trump administration's plan is appallingly reckless. Concerned more with election dynamics than the lives of students and their educators, the White House pressure campaign presents a false choice between the health of our students and the health of our economy. (Lily Eskelsen García, 7/9)

All you parents throughout the land, you must obey Uncle Sam’s command! He needs you. Well, not really you. Your children. And not really Uncle Sam. Uncle Donald. He wants them back in school this fall. At their desks. In their seats.(Scot Lehigh, 7/9)

The decisions are coming quickly now. They are jarring and they are ominous, and they tell the same story, over and over again: the 2020 college football season is in big trouble. In the 24 hours since the Ivy League canceled all fall sports, Ohio State shut down the voluntary workouts of all its teams for a week due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests among its athletes; the ACC eliminated games in all fall sports until at least Sept. 1; and the Big Ten announced that its schools will play all their fall sports within the conference, eliminating every non-conference game. Another 24 hours like that and we’ll be well on our way to having no sports at all on college campuses this fall. (Christine Brennan, 7/9)

Anticipation fuels sports. You are constantly expecting something to stir your emotions: a superb matchup, a playoff run, the chase of a record, the dawn of a new season, the debut of a potential superstar. Depending on the teams you root for, what’s next can inspire some worry, but in general, sports are a domain of abundant hope. You can always conjure reason to believe the wait will be worth it. So, of course, as 2020 continues its inexorable march through misery, the novel coronavirus has invaded that happy place, too. Now that more American sports leagues are within weeks of their scheduled returns, the anticipation has encountered a redoubtable foe, one that muddles the comeback experience: trepidation. (Jerry Brewer, 7/8)