PHX Reporter

The push to keep schools closed is based more on politics than science, William Watson, a sales consultant in Phoenix claimed.

“The Democrats have tried to make this a winning issue for them,” he said. “Obviously, there was absolutely no way to handle this perfectly, but I think President Trump has done a pretty good job with the limited resources he had at the time.”

In addition to using COVID-19 to help win the presidential election in November, Democrats are “beholden to the public sector unions, especially the teacher’s unions,” Watson said.

“It’s clear now that the science is secondary to the political outcome,” he said. “Unfortunately, they are politicizing the deaths of a lot of citizens.”

In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey ordered public schools to open but most of them "offered the minimum level of in-person options the state allowed," the Arizona Central reported on Aug. 16.

The focus was largely given to students who had disabilities, the Arizona Central reported, as well as ELS students, those who qualified for the free and reduced lunch program, among other factors. 

The on-site school programs aren't traditional classrooms. The AZ Central report noted that the students receive internet access for remote learning during regular academic hours, and will likely continue until there is in-classroom instruction. 

The media has created a “frenzy” over COVID-19, Watson believes.

Age is the factor that most determines the impact of COVID-19, Watson said.

“That is the one thing that we can all definitively say,” Watson said. “The plurality of deaths have occurred among people who are over 80 years old. As you step down in different sectors of age groups, it gets less and less, especially 18 and under. We know from the data that a lot of people, especially younger people who have contracted COVID have been completely asymptomatic.”

He senses in his community that remote learning has not been as effective as in-person instruction.

“I think it’s fully apparent that they’re not getting the same level of education from a virtual environment,” he said.

He would agree that tax refunds would be justified if school don’t open soon.

“We all know that’s never going to happen,” he said. “That kind of goes back to the issue of school choice."

Some private school parents have argued for tax refunds because their children don’t attend public school, “but we all know that’s not going to happen,” Watson said.