Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said about three-quarters of students in the US are back to some form of in-person learning, commending the work of local districts on reopening during the National Safe School Reopening Summit on Wednesday. Cardona said more than 45% of elementary and middle schools are offering in-person school daily, and about 75% of schools have some form of in-person learning, like a hybrid method, according to new data from the National Center for Education Statistics. "That's a great start," Cardona said. "We must continue that so every school K-8 offers in-person learning five days a week. There are still inequities when it comes to in-person learning, Cardona said. "Only 28% of black students are going to school in-person daily, 33% of Latino students are doing it," Cardona said. "15% of our Asian students are going to school in-person daily. That's compared to half of white students that are doing daily throughout our country." Some of these inequities will be addressed with the funding from the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan, which is providing more than $122 billion for K-12 schools to go towards reopening.
"Only 28% of black students are going to school in-person daily, 33% of Latino students are doing it," Cardona said. "15% of our Asian students are going to school in-person daily. That's compared to half of white students that are doing daily throughout our country." Some of these inequities will be addressed with the funding from the Biden administration's American Rescue Plan, which is providing more than $122 billion for K-12 schools to go towards reopening.