A Minnesota think tank is doing all it can to increase the public pressure on Governor Tim Walz to reopen schools.
The Center of the American Experiment has put up a billboard, circulated a petition and scheduled a rally with the aim of pressuring Walz into allowing schools to reopen come fall. The governor mandated that all K-12 schools go online last semester amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, the state has been highly ambivalent about if/how it will resume in-classroom education in this coming academic year.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has set forth a series of guidelines designed to help schools make plans for how they will operate amidst the pandemic, but these do not represent a final declaration for what education will look like this year. Walz himself has indicated that he is less optimistic than he was previously about the near future of education in his state.
“If you’d have asked us three weeks ago, I was much more certain that we’d be able to move a large number [of students] back in [to schools] than I am today,” he said, recently.
Looks like MN Gov. Walz is signaling that schools won’t reopen (at least fully) come fall. pic.twitter.com/YiGoRm4ZRs
— Kyle Hooten (@KyleHooten2) July 8, 2020
Amidst this uncertainty, Minnesota parents have become keenly interested in private schools, which may be able to function under a different set of rules than the government-run public schools.
However, not all parents can afford to send their children to expensive private schools, but still need their kids to become educated and have some place to go during the work day. This is one of the many reasons groups like the Center now campaign to guarantee that schools will reopen. Thus far, the Center’s efforts have been seen manifested in the form of a billboard, a website with a petition and a planned gathering to demonstrate the strength of their ideological ranks.
The Center-owned website OpenMNSchools.com contains a petition that Minnesotans can sign to voice their opinions to the governor. The message conveyed by that petition can be seen below.
The Center’s rally in support of opening schools is to be held outside the Governor’s Mansion (1006 Summit Ave.) in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 26 at 4pm.
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
