Good morning. Welcome to Xios today. It's Friday, July 17th. I'm Naila Boodoo. Here's how we're making

you smarter today. An inside look at Joe Biden's plans to tackle an impending foreign policy

nightmare. Also, a glimpse of the fight ahead in Congress to get funding for schools

struggling with the pandemic. It's a big topic on many people's minds

with the countdown to schools reopening ticking down.

The unique burden we're placing on teachers

is today's one big thing. To the extent possible, our default should be to try and

get the children back to school. That's Dr. Anthony Fauchy speaking last night to Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook.

Having said that, you've got to look at where you are location wise.

You have to say, wait a minute,

do I have to close the school for now,

or can I go back?

But in order to be safe, do I need to do it in a modified way?

Paramount is the safety and the health of the children as well as the safety and health of the teachers.

This week school districts around the country started announcing decisions on reopening.

Some of the largest, like LA, have already made the decision to go online only for the coming

year, but many are talking about hybrid models that combine distance

and in-person learning. Kim Hart is the city's reporter at Axios.

Regardless of what plan they're going with, I asked her if she thought districts were ready.

We are definitely not ready. I think the uncertainty is what is the most troubling to the teachers that we spoke with in Ohio and Indiana and Florida and across the board.

It's just the lack of confidence that the districts have done their due diligence and have their best interests at heart and have thought

through all of the different scenarios to make sure that they are safe and that the children are

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