California teachers unions mobilize against Democratic school reopening bill
SACRAMENTO — California teachers unions are demanding that the Legislature maintain pandemic restrictions on school reopenings and have begun mobilizing against a Democratic bill introduced last week that could force schools to reopen in March.
In separate letters to legislative leaders, the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers urge lawmakers to avoid rushing to reopen K-12 schools as Capitol momentum builds to address learning loss and education inequities. Most of the state's 6 million public schoolchildren remain at home with distance learning.
"The teachers and classified professionals of CFT ask that science and community safety, not political pressure, be the guiding force in any discussion about reopening our schools to in-person instruction," California Federation of Teachers President Jeff Freitas said in a letter obtained by POLITICO on Wednesday.
In a letter dated Tuesday, also obtained by POLITICO, CTA President E. Toby Boyd added that safety "should not be a relative or subjective term up to regional or political interpretation" and called for uniform state standards for reopening schools.
The unions' December rush to address newly introduced legislation is unusually early — and a sign of how they are trying to stop a reopening requirement before it gains steam.
AB 10 criticism: Both CFT and CTA say their members want to be back in classrooms but that it is still not safe to do so, pointing to a surge in Covid-19 cases this month and widespread shutdown orders from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The unions voiced particular concerns with CA AB10 (21R), which would require CONTINUE READING: California teachers unions mobilize against Democratic school reopening bill
