David Krupa, 13th Ward GOP Committeeperson, thinks closing Illinois schools for the rest of the year was a bad idea.
“It’s a fairly new development, but everybody kind of knew it was going to go this way,” he said a few hours after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the executive order.
On April 17, Pritzker ordered that in-school instruction will not reopen for the academic year. Previously, in his initial closure order, the governor instructed school systems to switch to remote learning.
“I’ve said time and time again, our decisions are hard ones, but they follow the science — and the science says our students can’t go back to their normal routine,” Pritzker posted on his Facebook page.
“I think it’s a bad move on Gov. Pritzker’s part. I think it’s a huge hassle on parents. And it’s hurt families,” Krupa said.
“It’s a hassle for parents to find places for their kids to go while at work,” he said.
No daycare centers are available now or in the near future except to parents deemed essential workers.
As for remote learning, Krupa was clearly against it. “Online schooling, while it might be the future of schooling, it’s not now."
He said people need training on the equipment and systems, and there are many security issues associated with it.
“On top of that, parents have to be accountable for their children for school during working hours,” Krupa said.
Gov. Pritzker said in his Facebook post that the state received $569 million from the federal CARES Act in response to COVID-19 to support K-12 schools. Those funds can help students with technology and internet access, support teachers and help schools provide meals to children and communities.
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