A.G. Gancarski
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott wants schools to reopen, but he said his grandchildren won’t be in them.
On Tuesday’s edition of Varney and Co. on the Fox Business Network, the first-term Republican from Naples said, while parents should have “choice,” that choice should include distance learning, in addition to five days in brick-and-mortar buildings.
“My daughters are going to be more focused on distance learning right now to make sure their children are safe,” Scott told Varney. “Other parents are going to want to make sure their kids are in the classroom.”
Scott said parents have their own reasons for sending their kids to school, such as free lunches.
“Some [parents] are going to do it because it’s a way for students to get a subsidized meal, things like that,” Scott said.
The Senator was sure to praise state’s Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who roiled parents statewide when he ordered schools to fully open when the new school year begins in August.
Scott’s comments come after his successor distanced himself from the order Monday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference it wasn’t his call and acted as if Corcoran had sovereign authority.
“Well, first of all, I didn’t give any executive order,” the state’s chief executive said.
DeSantis asserted the order came from the Department of Education.
“They have a board, they do different things,” DeSantis told reporters during a question-and-answer session in which he seemed to suggest that on this issue, like the decision to close bars, political appointees somehow got to make unfettered calls about how large economic sectors will go, free of interference from the man who put them in place.
DeSantis, a first-term Republican, continued a trend Monday of trying to distance himself from his previous insistence that schools be open, as was normal precoronavirus, five days a week.
While he wants the physical option, he said parents should be “free to choose” and instructors worried about exposure should feel emboldened to “teach virtually or maybe they take a sabbatical.”
The Governor, meanwhile, has attempted to soft-sell school reopening, including saying that if his kids were school-aged, he and First Lady Casey DeSantis would happily send them to brick and mortar schools.
“My own wife, our kids aren’t school-aged yet, I tell her that they’re at zero risk, I have no problem putting them in, and I think that convinced her. She said she would do it too.”
28 comments
S. B. Anthony
July 21, 2020 at 1:47 pm
Finally, some transparency from both Scott and Desantis. They’ve both finally revealed their positions on school opening. It’s this – – Poor people, get your kids back in school, and get back to your essential jobs so we can get this economy rolling again and get that impeached president re-elected. You folks are expendable. If you or your kids, or their teachers, or school staff, or their families get sick or die, no worries, plenty more standing behind them. Time to make America great again – for us of course, not you folks.
Chris Thomas
July 21, 2020 at 11:31 pm
Great comment and spot on .
DisplacedCTYankee
July 22, 2020 at 9:29 am
Isn’t “distance learning” just code for home schooling? “School choice is for rich people.
wild bill
July 22, 2020 at 1:00 pm
Not true.
School choice is available to all parents regardless of their financial situation and residential location. The State has numerous educational programs and financial assistance available to those with low income.
http://fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/
DK
July 22, 2020 at 3:41 pm
No. Distance learning is planned and taught by certified teachers. Parents aren’t honing curriculum or making lesson plans. They aren’t the instructors. They don’t grade the assignments, etc. Homeschooling is a completely different thing.
https://www.niche.com/blog/homeschooling-vs-online-school-whats-the-difference/
Tony Berry
July 22, 2020 at 10:58 am
Full marks!
j
July 23, 2020 at 2:03 am
Well said.
Bartholomew
July 21, 2020 at 1:54 pm
So I see Casey Desantis is the kind of wife who will let her man make all the important decision in her life. It’s great to be king, how nice!
Dnasty
July 21, 2020 at 7:38 pm
You’re absolutely correct
Frankie M.
July 21, 2020 at 2:18 pm
Dr. DeSantis says there’s zero risk so that’s good enough for me. As far as free school lunches go that doesn’t stop because schools are closed. They had brown bag lunches available back in March and throughout the summer.
Ocean Joe
July 21, 2020 at 3:03 pm
Scott: My grand kids will stay home, you can send yours to get free lunches.
DeSantis: My kids will go to school in 5 or 6 years. But you send yours August 15.
Linda
July 21, 2020 at 4:42 pm
When was the last time she was seen in public? It reminds me of another 1st lady
who occasionally shows her face!!
This is so AWFUL!!
Sonja Fitch
July 21, 2020 at 4:31 pm
New name!!!!! Deathsantis! You two are damn white men privileged nazi scum! Florida is going to be number 1 in covid cases by Saturday! Yep gonna even have more than NewYork! Deathsantis!
wild bill
July 22, 2020 at 9:19 am
Sorry Sonja, you are entitled to your opinion but not your own facts. The numbers can be skewed any way you want but you need to look at the whole picture to understand them.
This is the latest data as of 8:20am this morning July 22nd.
Of course the # of cases will go up as more people are tested but the # of deaths and the ratio per 100k is much lower than many other states.
https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-USA/0100B5K8423/index.html
Covid per Deaths per
Cases 100k 100k
New York 412,805 2,122 32,218 166
California 409,386 1,036 7,891 20
Florida 369,834 1,722 5,319 25
Tony Berry
July 22, 2020 at 11:02 am
Boy howdy pardner! If you ever learn the definitions of the terms trajectory and lagging indicator your tiny head is going to explode.
wild bill
July 22, 2020 at 1:20 pm
Did you have something to add to the discussion?
How long do we wait for the “lagging indicaor”, one week maybe two.
I’ll check back in a couple of weeks, that is if I still have a head.
Rpasley
July 22, 2020 at 2:25 pm
Yes, I see…no one in FL is really getting sick…that’s why the ICUs of FL and TX are close to being maxed out. Why would Floridians enjoy better outcomes from the same virus as other parts of the US? And regarding the “lagging indicator” element, “…according to internal FL DOH records, deaths reported by DOH were reported an average 7-21 days after the COVID-19 positive person died (date from March through mid-June, with some deaths reported as late as 44 days after death. Additionally, DOH does not provide the date of death for any case.” Trump can hide the numbers by prohibiting the CDC from collecting data and you can ignore the reality on the ground but neither of you will be able to hide the bodies or the families affected.
Bonniejax
July 21, 2020 at 5:54 pm
It’s truly hard to believe Scott is that damn tone deaf to insinuate only poor needy people would send their kids to school. And DeSantis is idiotic to think people actually believe he had nothing to do with schools opening. If they had a good PR team the poor souls are probably somewhere doing shots, chased by Corona beer, and shaking their heads in disbelief.
Cindy
July 21, 2020 at 6:58 pm
Two peas in a pod! Whatever the idiot in D.C. says, they jump on the bandwagon. The fact that they say one thing today and change their opinion when the backlash starts is the same as their idol. Like their leader, they always blame someone else. Dump them both along with tRump.
John
July 21, 2020 at 11:24 pm
Just take a break from work and be with you kids people. This situation is an excellent opportunity to spend two or three years raising your kids rather then working!
Peter
July 21, 2020 at 11:27 pm
Yes!!! Many of my coworkers have retired or gone down to 10-20 hrs a week of simple client relation work.
Carol
July 21, 2020 at 7:10 pm
Zero risk? What planet is he on? Yes, he’ll risk his kids in a few years, but politics dictates you should risk yours now. This is despicable.
Yes Infected Children
July 21, 2020 at 9:04 pm
ZERO risk? Check the nearly 50% positive rate for kids in Lee & Collier Counties. Tell the families of Naples toddlers recently infected by their daycare provider….oh,they also happened to pass to their parents and siblings who then passed it to an ex-spouse and ex-in laws. Don’t even want to know what happened after they spent 5 days at Seaworld and Aquatica before they knew they were infected.
George Rozes
July 22, 2020 at 6:09 am
Amazing. DeSantis the coward will not own anything, he just throws people under the bus. Just like his mentor. Then Rick Scott, entitled as always, says baubles will draw the kids back to school. How demeaning. Then again, that’s the playbook. Give us just enough to shut us up and keep us from voting them out.
Verna
July 22, 2020 at 7:00 am
If the only way kids can get a decent meal is by going to school, the US has a bigger problem than COVID
steph
July 22, 2020 at 2:36 pm
it is not the only way kids can get a decent meal, stop spreading BS.
LisaSW
July 22, 2020 at 3:59 pm
I believe Verna’s comment was sarcasm. No need to attack her for your short-sighted interpretation.
However, he’s scum for even thinking a “subsidized meal” would entice families to send their kids back into the classroom.
At the very least it would be so that the parents could get back to work full-time.
Steph
July 22, 2020 at 2:34 pm
The vile evil of trumpland continues, Republicans send “The People’s” children and grandchildren to their deaths, but not their own. Kind of like going to war their own children do not fight. WAKE UP.
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