Colorado Pediatrician Fights For Return To In-Person Learning

DENVER (CBS4) - While state and school leaders released a road map to get kids back into schools, one parent, who is also a doctor, has been pushing for in-person learning. Dr. Todd Porter is a community pediatrician in Denver.

He supports the return to in-person learning. While he's happy the governor's office is taking steps to get kids back into class, he hopes the right changes are made before the start of school after the holidays break.

"I think we've reached a tipping point," Porter told CBS4's Andrea Flores. "Every single day my patients come in, the majority are low income, more often are children of color, and they are disproportionately impacted by the loss of in-person learning. We are furthering the education gap that has already existed because of the loss of in person learning."

Porter, a father of three, understands the struggles of remote learning firsthand. That's why he's one of many health care workers speaking out in a new video out of Jefferson County released by "Jeffco: Choice for In-Person Learning," a coalition of parents, teachers, and health care workers.

"We need to put the focus back on the risk of schools, which is minimal, and look at the cost and benefit of what we're doing to our children," said Porter.

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Jeffco: Choice for In-Person Learning released another video showing the negative impacts of remote learning on kids' mental last month. Porter believes if quarantine restrictions in schools aren't changed, they could be the biggest burden to getting kids back into the classroom.

"I'm worried that the second semester will look a lot like our first semester," he said. "This virus is going to be with us for some time."