After weeks of tense negotiations, California’s legislative leaders agreed on Thursday to a $ 6.5 billion proposal aimed at getting students back into classrooms this spring, after months of closings because of the pandemic.
But the plan lacks the blessing of Governor Gavin Newsom, who said on Thursday that “it does not go far or fast enough”. If Newsom vetoes him, the legislature would need two-thirds of both chambers to overthrow him. That hasn’t happened since 1979.
Legislative leaders seemed not to be discouraged, with Assembly Budget President Phil Ting saying that they “believe this is the right plan to encourage more schools to open.”
Ayla Einhorn, a fourth-grader at Clarendon Alternative Elementary School, works on her computer while students and parents participate in distance learning classes at San Francisco’s Midtown Terrace Playground on Thursday. (AP)
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“Parents like me have been watching their children at Zoom for the past year and the learning loss is absolutely stunning,” Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, said in a Zoom conference call with reporters.
The state cannot force California’s school districts to reopen. But it can offer districts a lot of new money as an incentive to resume face-to-face education. In December, Newsom announced a plan that would give $ 2 billion to districts that reopen in February. This plan was strongly criticized by school officials.
The “Safe and Open Schools Plan” that legislative leaders announced on Thursday gives schools more time and more money to reopen than was included in Newsom’s plan.
In a press release, Newsom said his plan “is based on the same science that has been recognized by medical professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the President’s Chief Medical Adviser, Dr. Fauci, and the President himself”.
Second grade students at Clarendon Alternative Elementary School Yaichiro Tanaka, on the left, and Haruki Ishiyama look at a computer screen while students and parents participate in distance learning classes at San Francisco’s Midtown Terrace Playground on Thursday. (AP)
“I look forward to taking advantage of the growing moment to open our schools and continue discussions with the legislature to get our children back to school in the safest and fastest way possible,” said Newsom.
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The legislative plan came amid a rapid decline in coronavirus cases in California. Health officials in Los Angeles County, the largest in the state with 10 million residents, announced earlier this week that cases had dropped enough that all districts could resume teaching in the classroom if they so wished.
One such district, Long Beach Unified, the fourth largest in the state with 70,000 students, said on Thursday that it plans to resume some face-to-face classes for elementary school on March 29. If case levels continue to fall, this will bring grades 6-12 back to classrooms in April.
The legislative plan would allocate $ 6.6 billion in state funds for schools, including $ 2 billion for reopening costs this academic year and $ 4.6 billion that schools can use until next fall to extend the school year. instruction, increase school hours or other expenses to catch up on learning lost in almost a year of distance learning. Schools will also have access to an additional $ 6 billion in federal funds, says the project.
To get the money, school districts must offer face-to-face instruction by April 15 for “vulnerable” students in primary schools, including English students, homeless students, those without computers and adopted children.
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The proposal also requires schools that receive the money to reopen for all K-6 grade students when case rates in their counties drop to less than 7 per 100,000 – and for all groups of vulnerable students in the older grades. tall.
Regardless of funding, the proposal requires all schools to adopt a COVID-19 security plan by April 1, which was approved by the unions. Schools must continue to offer distance learning as an option to students.
Bringing students back to classrooms has become an urgent political issue for Newsom, which faces a possible electoral recall later this year. His plan took the same approach of offering schools financial incentives to reopen without making reopening mandatory.
But it was widely criticized by school superintendents, unions and lawmakers, who said it set unrealistic deadlines, which included requirements to reopen as early as mid-February. They also said the plan did not include enough money to pay for the frequent COVID-19 exams of students and teachers, and did not address teacher vaccinations.
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The California Teachers Association started a television advertising campaign this week saying that the coronavirus remains a health threat and that schools should not reopen until teachers are given priority for vaccination.
The legislative proposal would require county public health departments to offer vaccines to school officials who return to face-to-face classes. It also slows down the reopening schedule, which would give school districts time to negotiate with unions, Ting said. And it gives school districts greater freedom over how to spend funding, which each district would receive based on its student population.
Some of the main critics of Newsom’s original plan – including Los Angeles Unified, San Diego, San Francisco and other major state school districts – issued a joint statement on Thursday, calling the new proposal a step in the right direction.
“These clear state guidelines will help to reopen schools in the safest possible way. In addition to ensuring adequate health measures in schools and highlighting the need to control the spread of the virus in the community, the proposed action recognizes the critical role of vaccination for all school staff to play in creating the safest school environment possible, “said the statement, signed by the superintendents of the school districts of Los Angeles, Fresno, Long Beach, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego.
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Pro Tempore State Senate President Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said the proposal is based on the governor’s structure.
“We all share the same goal – to get students back to school safely,” she said.