BY JIM MUSTIAN AND JENNIFER PELTZ, NEW YORK — As schools across the U.S. shut down in hopes of helping to fight the coronavirus, New York City officials are arguing just the opposite.
They're keeping the nation's largest school system open to ensure that health and emergency workers aren't tied down with kids at home.
Mayor Bill de Blasio defended the decision Saturday.
Still, teachers, many parents and some health experts say the city is making a grave mistake by continuing to call more than 1.1 million children to public schools even as it calls for “social distancing” elsewhere to stem the virus' spread.
