Biden clarifies goal for reopening schools for in-person teaching

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his goal is for the majority of the country’s K-8 schools to be open five days a week for in-person classes by the end of his first 100 days in office.

“I think we’ll be close to that at the end of the first 100 days,” he said during a town hall hosted by CNN.

Biden added that it would be more difficult to open high schools, citing higher Covid-19 transmission rates among older students.

Biden’s statement was seen as an attempt to clarify earlier statement on schools reopening. Last week, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said Biden’s goal was to have most schools offering in-person teaching as little as one day per week. During Tuesday’s town hall, Biden said that was never his goal and called it a “mistake in communication.”