California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, California | Photo of Rich Pedroncelli / AP, piscina
SACRAMENTO – The Los Angeles Unified School Board voted on Tuesday to authorize the district to sue California over Governor Gavin Newsom’s new school reopening plan, increasing tension between the nation’s second-largest school district and the governor.
After a closed session on Tuesday, the school board announced that it had unanimously “authorized the opening of litigation against the state of California, state entities and public officials related to the structure of California’s Safe Schools for All.”
The Democratic governor is under intense pressure to reopen schools in California, as the majority of the state’s 6 million public school students have been out of class since the pandemic’s forced closure nearly a year ago. But school districts and workers’ unions have tremendous power over local decisions, and Newsom said he will not force them to open. Instead, he is offering $ 2 billion to pay for additional staff, testing and other expenses as an incentive for districts to reopen the newest series as early as February 16.
California lawmakers seemed skeptical on Monday, during their first budget hearing, that school districts could – or should – act as quickly as Newsom asked. The nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Analyst also said in its review of Newsom’s budget that the governor’s schedule is “probably unworkable”. But Newsom’s Finance Department responded at the hearing that a quick timetable is needed to save a significant portion of the remaining school year.
The district has not yet sued, and a LAUSD spokesman on Tuesday tried to minimize the vote, saying the district would seek legal action “if necessary”. Litigation-related documents will be available if the district continues the process, according to council officials. The council on Tuesday also authorized disputes to recover funds the district spent on providing meals to the community during school closings due to the pandemic.
Los Angeles unified superintendent Austin Beutner criticized Newsom’s $ 2 billion plan to reopen state elementary schools next month. On Monday, Beutner, who oversees California’s largest district, joined unions demanding state standards and more funding for all schools, regardless of reopening classrooms.
According to the Newsom plan, only schools willing to reopen classrooms are eligible to receive this extra funding. Superintendents in California’s largest districts have joined Beutner to say they will not apply for this funding and will instead proceed with their own plans as soon as the state’s Covid-19 record case rates decrease.
Fresno Unified, Long Beach Unified, San Bernardino City Unified and Sacramento City Unified told POLITICO on Tuesday that they are not ready to commit to funding or cannot qualify due to high rates of coronavirus.
Tuesday’s LAUSD process announcement throws more water into the Newsom plan, which has been touted as a way to encourage schools to open without forcing them to do so. While other states received students back in some capacity, most California schools remained closed for 10 months.
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The debate over the school’s reopening in the past two months was set against the backdrop of a record increase in Covid-19 cases in most of California, and the governor’s plan would not allow schools to open without waiver until case rates fell significantly from where they were.
But trends may be improving. The state on Tuesday withdrew the Sacramento region from home stay orders after projecting that hospitalizations in intensive care units are declining at a sufficient rate.