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to the school districts that have recently closed in response to this new variant. >> the situation in chicago, they have not found a solution. it will be closed for a fourth day, monday. they are not alone. they have found more than 5000 schools currently closed due to covid. what do you tell them, these school districts? >> i want to remind people that in the fall of this year, we had a delta surge. this was before pediatric vaccination. every jurisdiction is going to have to make these decisions locally.

the most important thing we can do is to get our kids vaccinated and our teachers vaccinated. to practice all those strategies that have been proven to work. all of those things have been proven to work. host: we are asking you to tell washington how your school is reacting. is there mask policies or testing on site? the doctor was on face the nation. here is what he had to say about the transmissibility of this

variant. >> you are very clear last sunday that you will not be protected if you wear a cloth mask. does the 15 minutes at six feet of distance mean any thing? if you are walking down the street, passing someone by, will not expose you just the same? >> i do not think an outside vetting represents the same amount of risk. your risk is binary. you could have a casual encounter or a prolonged encounter. about 15 minutes of cumulative exposure, six feet of distance -- they are trying to gauge where the highest risk of exposure occurs. it occurs in confined settings, but with an airborne illness like that, it does not matter if

you are six feet or 10 feet. host: dr. scott leave on face the nation yesterday. does that concern you about what you heard? is your school responding by having better air filters in the building? we want to hear from you this morning. >> thank you for having me. i think that the schools should be open and children should be in person in schools. that is my opinion. i think we should not be afraid of a virus because this depends on our future.

i do not think we should be closing schools. host: are the schools in brooklyn close? caller: no, they are not. we have our new mayor and we want the schools open. we want the children to engage with the teachers. we want them to have the ability to bring their children to school. schools are open. we thank them for their input. host: what is it like, testing for kids? caller: i do know in brooklyn, that we have -- that is the reason why we want the schools to be open. not only that, we are very

inclusive. we want children in school. i'm not certain what the testing will be like, but i'm sure the mayor is engaging in that aspect of it. if we lose that future, we will not be able to get anything back. host: this is up to the local officials in your community, so what decisions are they making? let us know. we want to hear from you. you have seen the headlines of what is happening in chicago. here is what betsy pringle had to say about schools returning to virtual learning. >> is there a scenario that you could envision, where if a

certain amount of caseload happens, you would recommend schools going back to a remote criteria? >> listen to the infectious disease experts and bring together the people who are closest to their students and communities. they have to collaborate, communicate and they need contingency plans. we saw them doing that before the holiday. they did not know what the impact of omicron would be in their area. community by community, the spread varies. they have to have contingency plans in place. we have got to make sure that learning continues, even if we

realize that the infection rate is too high to bring them together or we have 70 educators who have covid that we cannot bring them in for in person learning, but we want to figure out how we minimize those disruptions, bring equitable access to learning. that requires comprehensive contingency plans. host: you heard her talking about trying to avoid school shutdowns. they were largely due to covid-19 cases among staff. wondering how your schools are responding to the latest surge. good morning. caller: good morning.

i just wanted to say that i fully believe that kids should be in school. i believe in kids being in school. at the same time, teachers and staff, if you do not have the teachers to teach in the classroom, how can the kids be in there? i am hearing what is going on. last week there was a teacher teaching two classes at the same time. you cannot put both classes in the same room. those instructors are being pulled teach in other classrooms or you have a plan that is not being followed.

there are all sorts of issues. i feel like this aspect of not being in the classroom at this moment has a different twist or flavor than last year, when we were just trying to keep everybody safe. host: so you think that this is in the short term. caller: i hope so. but omicron is short-term. there are teachers who cannot be in the classroom. my partner teaches. host: what is the policy for teachers in the school? caller: i feel bad. the kids have to be grouped into one group.

in the case of my partner's classroom, for second grade, one person teaches the math curriculum and the other teachers teach the reading curriculum. they are testing their ability of reading. i will not come across as well, but i feel like there are some inequities in there. i lost your question in there. caller: as a teacher, if you come down with covid-19, what do you have to do for the school? what are they saying to the teachers? caller: the teachers are not mandated for testing. they are given the take-home test and it is up to them if they want to report a, but if

they do report a positive test case, they have to stay home. if they test positive, kids have to stay home. some towns do different testing. some do where you test a bunch of kids at once and if one comes back positive, you have to teach -- test them individually. host: that is a debate that lawmakers behind us have been talking about, test to stay. if a child is exposed, they should be able to stay in school , not have to go home and isolate. let me go to tom. good morning to you. caller: i wanted to bring in

another aspect for consideration. i drove a school bus in south carolina for years. in that yellow to, when i was driving, we would get 50 to 60 kids on the bus in the morning. nothing is done for the poor bus driver come up to protect the bus driver. much of the student population is transported by school buses every day, so if you have a school with 2000 students come about 1000 of those will be on school buses every day. once you get all those kids on the school bus and start driving them home, you are in an enclosed environment, and

nothing is done to protect anybody on that bus, absolutely nothing. i wanted to bring that aspect up. if you do not have half the school population come to school -- we have to do something about the very elementary elements of this problem. it is getting the kids to and from school, every day. host: anecdotally, i have heard that bus drivers i getting covid. they have had to cancel bus routes. parents are not only then juggling a job, but trying to figure out how to get the kids to campus. what is your reaction to that?

caller: from my experience, i have not been driving for a few years now, but from my experience, we would pick up the kids in the morning and take them to school and sometimes -- i remember one elementary child input on my bus one morning, and i will say this as gently as i can, but during the ride to school, he had an accident in his clothes. we all had to deal with that, that morning. 65 kids on that bus and we all had to deal with that. this is just something that school districts have to look at. half of them have to ride on

that tube every day. host: good morning. how old are your kids? caller: my kids are eight and six. host: how is your school responding? caller: very haphazardly. they initially rolled out a color-coded system where a certain percentage of the school tested positive over two weeks and they would be carded red, yellow or green. if you are in the red, they would consider closing down. they realized that was a big problem because half the system was going to be shut down. they backtracked because it was not going to work for a functional school system. now they are taking it on a mostly case-by-case basis.

there is a huge staffing shortage problem. students still have to quarantine for 10 days. the staffing shortages are a real problem, but there is a lot of pressure in the community to close down for a temporary period of two weeks. a lot of people do not believe that the school system has any ability or political will to open back up. it is a mess out there. host: how is politics impacting that? caller: i think our politicians

are being put -- policymakers are being put into a difficult situation. i can speak for myself. i talked to a lot of parents and there is a very frightened population out there. a lot of policymakers are either not properly explaining the relative risks and appropriate balancing that has to come with keeping schools open. montgomery county is probably the highest vaccinated county in the u.s. it is not mandated. even voluntary compliance is very high. people are still so frightened.

i think it comes from the media and a lack of leadership. there is a lot of pressure to close schools down again. our school board and locally elected leaders -- they really have not properly spoken to the public and leveled with parents to simply say, we need to start reckoning with the fact that the virus will be here forever and you can get vaccinated. there are good very punic coming online, and you have to accept that there will be some risk going to school in the future. we have not heard any messages like that in montgomery county. the school system has reflected that. host: to the kids have to wear a

mask? and the teachers? caller: they absolutely have to wear a mask. i understand that there are different views about it for a special needs kids in particular and young kids, that is extremely difficult to wear one of those masks for eight hours a day. teachers are not being provided good quality n95 masks, and they are not being provided regularly. they had to dig into their own pockets to pay for that. teachers are being put into a difficult situation. they are not to blame. we cannot keep putting the burden -- we cannot keep putting the anxiety of adults on

children. unfortunately, that is the way it has been in my county. host: a parent of young kids there. the professor of pediatrics and the hill notice -- newspaper is quoted as saying, if you have masking in your school district, you do not have a good medical reason to close schools, unless you cannot have enough adults in the building. if you stayed open in the winter of 2018, you should be open in the winter of 2020. do you agree or disagree with that? a parent in baltimore. how are they responding? caller: the schools in baltimore are just like that last guy. he hit it dead on.

it has really affected everybody . i have a 12-year-old. we are on remote learning right now. when the virus first came, the first thing governor hogan did was close all the schools down, which was the right thing to do. the adults were suffering pretty bad. once the summertime came and the numbers got low, everybody forgot that it is more present in the winter than in the summer. they allowed children not to wear a mask. now you are wondering why you have all these children sick. the children are sick because they were allowed to go out to kings dominion, waterworld and all that during the summer.

every time it gets warm, they make you feel like we are turning a curve. host: is it an option at your school that you can go to school or stay at home? caller: this is the thing. the guy who is just on probably knows this. in maryland, they allow 3000 children to do distant learning. parents started protesting. more people wanted their kids to go to school, but there were more people who wanted their kids to stay home. there is a medical option. if you take your child to the doctor, if they have asthma or anything like that, the doctor can sign a form and your child will be placed -- if you not

know anything about it, we want you to bring your children to school. it is the craziest thing. if your child has a fever and you call the school to tell them that they are sick -- but if you do not send your child to school, they will send somebody to your house. what do you do? they do not even want to see them. if a child is healthy, they went to bring them in. host: i am going to sylvia, who is a. . -- a grandparent. caller: they are doing very well. they have to wash their hands all the time. they are six feet apart in the

classrooms. before christmas, to see santa claus, they had vaccination groups to come in to offer vaccinations. they are trying to educate the parents a little bit more. testing, testing all the time. if your child is sick, do not send them to school. i have my mother here who is almost 90 and i wanted my grandchild to be vaccinated. i feel like if we take the politics away, more people will be vaccinated. host: a debate over schools and whether they should be remote or close down. wall street journal says,

reigniting political messaging on the virus. party officials seeing democrat records on covid-19 education policy, giving them an opening to sway voters in the midterm. it goes on to say that democrats say there -- they are on track. vaccinations are now available to teachers and students. the law passed in march included $130 billion for schools to improve ventilation. using testing at your school? have you seen those changes take place in your school? college and universities, if you

are a student or educator, call in this morning. we want to know how colleges and universities are responding as well. mark in oklahoma. good morning. caller: good morning. in oklahoma, they do not use masks. in the cities, they knew. do you think these vaccines really work? host: what do you think? what is the point you are making? caller: it seems like the medical industry is a pyramid scheme. they wanted these vaccines to work, but now they do not. the only thing they are hoping

for is a placebo effect. people are going to feel confident, if they believe in these vaccines to go out. even if they do not think they will work. instead of all this nonsense, they should say, we have 2000 people -- this many were vaccinated and this many were not. the medical industry is a pyramid scheme. this guy used to set up on stage and he would -- that is [indiscernible] they know this is not work.

i wish the vaccines did work. i am a vaccinated person. host: all right. i want to share with you something from the wall street journal. it is an opinion piece about what mark is saying about perhaps these vaccines did not work. as of january 1, omicron represented 95% of u.s. cases. some of omicron's -- more than 30 mutations are to the spike protein used by the existing vaccine and because they have been outbreaks in heavily vaccinated populations, sanctus are concerned. we do not know yet how well

available vaccines and medications work against it. what do you think your schools should do during this omicron surge? bernie in louisville, kentucky. how are schools responding? caller: i work at the university. there has been a lot of talk about higher education. we kind of live in a fact waste scenario. we do not really put any stock in opinions. as far as our students go, everybody is complying. there are signs everywhere and these are not children but young adults. in order to graduate, we have to

abide by certain rules. faculty and staff is at 91% vaccinated. i think we are going to go ahead and stick with the science and hope that everybody stays well. host: is there any testing policy on campus? caller: sure. there are testing facilities everywhere. you can get tested almost anytime of the day. we have a campus downtown -- we have several campuses around the city. there are several places you can get tested. for faculty and staff, you need to get tested. once you have been vaccinated, once you feel you have come into

contact with somebody who has had the virus, it does not cost a dime and it is convenient. host: many of you are aware of the headlines of what is going on in chicago with the dispute of the teachers union. schools have shut down. the third largest school district in the nation. on meet the press, lori expressed her views on the decision to walk out and protest. clinics someways what is happening in chicago is what is happening in a lot of communities and cities. will kids be in school in chicago this week? >> i am doing everything that i can to make sure that happens. what they did was an illegal

walkout. we are working diligently every single day to narrow differences. i have seen this every single day. they were at it yesterday. fundamentally, what we cannot do is abandon the science. we know that the safest place for kids to be is in school. if we spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make our school safe, they are safe. we have to get the teachers unions getting real and getting serious about getting back into in person learning. host: the miami mayor, who is newly elected was asked about the teacher's strike and

teacher's responsibility to children. >> i would like you to weigh in on the situation in chicago. classes verse -- classes were canceled. they said we are not going to bob parents of their right. it is not going to happen, it is morally wrong. some parents are suing the union. what is your take on all of this? >> in florida, we have done everything we can to keep schools open. we feel like the risk is extremely low and it is important for kids to have as much normalcy as possible, to be in a social setting with a friend, to get educated -- these are the building blocks of the future. for me, it is a tremendous concern when you see schools being closed.

and made every effort to keep schools open and they want schools open, so they should be open. host: we are talking about schools in the country as many of them have shut down because of the omicron variant. questions about how to handle this could come up at the hearing. they will be appearing along with other officials before a committee on capitol hill. we will have live coverage of that on c-span3, and on our website. you can download it with our new c-span video. it is called c-span now. lori, and educator. what do you teach? caller: i teach chemistry in our

public schools district. what -- host: you broke up there. what grade? caller: fourth grade. host: how is your school responding to the omicron variant? caller: there has been a change since covid first started. we still have social distancing to appoint, but as far as right now there are requirements. we have had quite a lot of staff out. it has been hard to find substitutes. we have had to combine classes. that is basically my comment. i think something that would help -- i think the school i teach at does a good job at this, but the biggest thing is keeping parents and teachers

informed. i saw your piece on the chicago strike. one thing i did not hear was about the well-being of the teachers. just to consider the health of the teachers and the students when they make these decisions and keep us informed. host: if a teacher gets covid at your school, how long are you out for? how long are kids supposed to stay out for? caller: i teach at a native american reservation and they have different standards that are a little bit longer, for if a student is exposed. host: the native american communities can set their own policies, and they may differ from the schools policies?

correct? caller: correct. it is somewhat more strick -- strict than ours. they provided vaccination clinics, and testing -- it has been a positive thing. if a child that is a native student needs to be quarantined, it will be longer. host: it's lori -- lori and wisconsin. thank you for calling in. sharon in maryland. she is a grandparent. how old are your grandkids? caller: yes. how are you doing today? i am a grandparent and i was calling -- my grandchildren were in school. a couple students had tested positive for the covid.

now we have omicron. people just have to use their minds and their brains. this virus wants to kill. there is no discrimination. it is going to ravage your body. and children who have underlying conditions -- everybody has to get vaccinated, so we can clear up this stuff. it will not ever go away, until we have grown adults that have children -- i sure love my grandkids and they are some good, smart kids. they came through good with flying colors and did well. i made sure my family was vaccinated, every last one of them. so we could be together as a family. these people out here are arguing over dumb, stupid stuff

about their children. you love your children, you get vaccinated. the younger ones that cannot get vaccinated, think about them because they are not a joke. they are -- are not adults. they are children. you are not using your brain. it does not make sense. host: i am going to go to diane and to part. what do you teach? caller: hello. i teach middle school. i have taught for 28 years in central florida. i had a couple things that i wanted to say. i want to thank governor desantis. i think he is doing an excellent job. he was on tv last night. i really like what he is doing in florida. host: for those who do not know, what is he doing? caller: i will let you listen to

that. he can say it better than i can. i wanted to say two things to parents of middle schoolers because that is my expertise. there are two resources that i want to point them to come in case you have a student who is home. they do not have to go without. i am concerned about the reading levels of the children. i do not want them to miss out on reading. books, i teach science, but it shows up in every subject area. books still work. they work well. you do not have to rely on the internet. i am not getting any commission on this. there is a set of books called

the complete and look school student, everything that you need to ace. they had different subjects and pretty much follow the school standards. it is an excellent resource for your child. you can order it on amazon, sit with your child and read. i taught algebra and chemistry. i cannot stress the importance of the reading ability. the second thing i want to point to, especially for the middle schoolers -- again, i am not getting a commission. a family plan for brain pop. it is a video series and the content is very clear, very well presented. it has a little quiz at the end

and little activities, but i like videos because of the content and i like the quiz can't -- questions at the end. it is very clear about science, math -- a wide variety. i wanted to give those resources to parents who maybe have children at home. i do not want our kids to fall too far behind. they do not have two. yet them to read. if they can read, they will be ok. host: carol in new jersey. a grandparent. caller: what i was calling in reference to, my children went to school in philadelphia, but the philadelphia school system has failed. the school that my daughters went to is at least 100 years old. they shut it down because of asbestos, then they had a

ventilation problem, and the school is still open. they have a right to say that they do not want to internet school. the problem is in chicago and philadelphia. they do not care. they go in, leave, and they have no interest in the community, whatsoever. the system is completely broken. i know friends and relatives who have all taken their children at philadelphia schools. host: where are they going? are they moving to other areas? caller: even other states. other areas of the state, they are going to delaware county -- they go to different areas. different states and from communities. host: christopher in south

carolina. in morning and thank you for calling in. let me try that one more time. christopher? caller: hello. can you hear me? good morning. i am a high school teacher at a public school. i have lived in the south my entire life. i teach in a very poor area. this week we just went virtual because we do not have enough teachers. this is a big problem. it will be a bigger problem going forward not just because of covid because of long-term issues in the world. host: how dire is it? you do not have enough teachers. give us some numbers. caller: friday, we had about five missing teachers. it does not like a lot, but we have a staff of roughly 25 to 30 people.

it apparently got worse over the weekend. i am not part of the administration, but we also had a lot of kids out. i was looking at missing on average between 15 to 30% of my class every day over the last week. a decision was made at the upper level. we are hoping people will test negative and we can all get back to work. host: are these teachers -- they have covid, but hopefully they are asymptomatic and able to teach from home? caller: hopefully. tragically, -- we did not have anybody die. we did have a veteran teacher at the school, probably in her 50's. when the initial covid thing came through, we had all gone virtual for teachers. we would teach virtually and keep the kids in school come as

best as can. she was forced to come back due to a policy. she came back and two weeks later she covid and ended up on a ventilator. she takes care of her mother. so when people talk about, it is not going to hurt the kids, that is fine. i do not want the kids hurt by anything, but there is a world of teachers out there trying to deal with their own lives, at the same time. very briefly, i would like to say that education and -- we were already short on teachers at my school, prior to covid. we were short of c -- teachers in my state. i am tired of the apolitical punching bag. i understand