# What This Resolution Actually Does

This is a resolution expressing the House of Representatives' opinion that schools should reopen for in-person learning. It's important to understand what this means: it's not a law that forces anything to happen. Instead, it's basically Congress saying "we think schools should be open" and urging them to do so. It has no legal power to require schools to reopen or to punish them if they don't.

The resolution argues that school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic caused serious harm to students. It cites research suggesting that students fell behind academically—learning only about two-thirds of what they normally would in math and most of what they'd learn in reading. The resolution also mentions concerns about mental health problems, increased dropout rates, and widening achievement gaps between wealthy and disadvantaged students. It points out that parents, especially mothers, had difficulty working when schools were closed, and argues that in-person learning provides social and emotional benefits that remote learning can't match.

The resolution also makes arguments about COVID-19 safety, claiming that schools haven't been major sources of virus transmission and that children are less likely to spread the virus or get severely ill from it. It notes that Congress had already provided $190 billion in funding to schools to help them reopen safely. The resolution also includes criticism of teachers' unions, suggesting that some school closures were driven by union demands rather than actual health risks, and mentions examples like Chicago teachers not showing up to work and some unions requesting unrelated political policies as conditions for reopening.

In practical terms, this resolution doesn't change any laws or requirements—it's a statement of congressional opinion. Schools are not required to follow it, and it doesn't provide additional funding or enforcement mechanisms. It's essentially Congress on record saying it believes schools should be open, but the actual decisions about reopening remain with individual school districts, state governments, and local health officials.

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that elementary and secondary schools in the United States should be opened for in-person instruction, and for other purposes.

Banks, Jim

 <p>This resolution urges each elementary and secondary school in the United States to open for in-person instruction as soon as possible.</p>