SACRAMENTO — The biggest state Capitol battle this spring could pit California leaders against local school officials, civil rights groups and teachers unions over whether Zoom school should have a permanent place in the public education system.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and influential state lawmakers are standing firm against allowing distance learning next school year, saying that children are best served by returning to classrooms for social and academic reasons. They are tired of California's status as the slowest state to reopen schools despite having the lowest infection rate in the nation as vocal parents call for full in-person learning.
The debate has given “school choice” a new meaning and sparked racial justice concerns about what's best for the state’s most vulnerable students.
Newsom says that "everybody should be back in the fall and in person" and released a budget proposal Friday intended to accomplish that. He's not only a father of four young children but a governor facing a recall election. While political momentum has swung in Newsom's direction lately, even partial fall campus closures could give opponents an opening, especially if students in other states are fully back in class.
A growing number of legislative Democrats are coalescing around limits on distance learning, fearful that some schools will stay with a hybrid or virtual model in the fall — and that the approach will hurt students who have disengaged from school and lost access to vital services.
“I just question why, if we're talking about racial justice, we would want to levy all those additional things on our Black and brown children," said Sen. Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), vice chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. "I don’t think we should be doing it at the expense of the children or at the expense of CONTINUE READING: California's biggest schools clash: To Zoom or not to Zoom?