Newsom's $2 billion plan to reopen California schools fizzles

Teachers work with first-year students at Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, a public school in Sausalito.

First-year students wear masks at Bayside MLK Academy.

Teacher Samantha Kelly helped Raziya Wilson Brown (Raziya Wilson Brown) enter the first grade

In Sausalito.

Samantha Kelly assists student Randy (Randy Too-Bolvito) in the first grade.

Governor Gavin Newsom (Gavin Newsom)’s widely touted US$2 billion proposal, which provides California schools with a fee of up to US$750 per student before mid-February, to reopen the proposal, but in Sacramento Many have stagnated, and there is no time to raise the money.

Although the reopening of schools remains a priority for Newsom and national and state health officials, the plan has implications for the legislature, where elected officials question whether

Implement strict testing requirements for faculty, staff and students in the proposal.

Legislators also criticized Newsom’s proposal, which requires districts to submit a health and safety plan by February 1, because the vaccination issue has not been resolved. Some lawmakers said they do not support the reopening of schools unless they vaccinate teachers and support staff.

"In the governor's proposal, I didn't see anything about how to vaccinate teachers and faculty members in person. What should I do?" Senator Kang, Democrat from Chino (San Bernardino County) Connie Leyva (Connie Leyva), the chairman of the Education Committee, asked at a recent hearing.

Newsom's office did not respond to a request for comment.

of

The education plan launched at the end of December offered some hope for families and health officials who asked the school to reopen.

However, as most public schools are still closed statewide, school districts seeking additional funds and support to send students back to classrooms have encountered another setback. Health experts say that the lack of personal guidance has caused many children to struggle academically and in some cases even commit suicide. Parents work desperately and supervise school education. Political pressure is increasing, but throughout the Gulf region, due to the reopening, there are still differences between the region and the teachers’ union.

The state's assistant planning and budget manager Jessica Holmes (Jessica Holmes) said that regions must initially submit plans by February 1 in order to reopen before the middle of the month to be eligible for this funding. However, if there is no approved plan, there is currently no application. Department of Finance.

She said: "We recognize the February 1 deadline, and we may exceed that deadline." "We are working with the legislature to move forward on a timetable. We are still in the same location and emphasize reopening."

Newsom proposes to fund the $2 billion proposal from the state’s unexpected income this year, which should have been used for education, but will have to wait until July. The governor’s proposal will be earmarked for funds to reopen the school as soon as possible. It is mainly applied to elementary schools. The transition kindergarten from the second to the second year is restored to mid-March and then promoted to the sixth grade. The program will also provide additional funding for all students of all grades with the highest needs, including the disabled, homeless and foster youth.

It is unclear how many districts will apply by Monday. At least some education officials said they are still on standby.

County Sheriff Mary Jane Burke said that in Marin County, districts are preparing to apply, just in case the money comes.

She said: "I support the governor in trying to find a way to remove obstacles so that students can go to school." "We don't know what will happen next, but let us be prepared."

Oakland officials said they are awaiting final approval of the plan before commenting on the status of the region's application.

School officials in San Francisco said that the area “cannot meet the time and conditions associated with these funds, including extensive student supervision tests, promises to reopen within the scope of the'deep purple' community transmission of cases, and corresponding labor. protocol."

First grade teacher Samantha Kelly talks with Bayside MLK student Jack Knight.

SFUSD director Vince Matthews, other directors and several statewide education organizations wrote to Newsom, expressing concerns and suggesting changes.

With the stipulated agreement, the reopening is widely supported.

For example, in San Francisco, a recent poll of parents found that 57% of parents said that they will send students back to school as soon as they restart. With the exception of Asian Americans and Filipino Americans, most of all ethnic backgrounds and races support sending their children back to the classroom.

Holmes of the Treasury Department said that the latest state guidelines require that if the county's daily incidence rate is less than 25 cases per 100,000 people, it will "reopen", which, according to state health officials, is "enough to ensure health and safety." .

However, regions (especially large urban areas) refused to reopen, saying they

this way.

The governor's proposal aims to provide district officials with resources to meet health and safety standards-including funding for tests, masks and other equipment-and reopen with the silent union.

From the beginning, it was suspected by the legislature. Some legislators questioned whether it would provide more money to affluent communities, which have shorter opening hours, and punish those who face more challenges due to rising infection rates and reduced funding. urban area.

Patrick O'Donnell, a Long Beach Democrat, Chairman of the Education Committee, and Congressman Patrick O'Donnell said that although Newsom's plan was criticized, it discussed plans to reopen the school.

He said: "The first game was not perfect, but it was just the beginning."

O'Donnell said that the biggest key will be to vaccinate teachers as part of the plan. Labor leaders said schools may not be able to reopen on a large scale unless teachers and faculty are vaccinated, and conflicting information about the position of teachers in the vaccine production line has exacerbated tensions.

O'Donnell said: "Vaccines are the Holy Grail." "What we need now is to get more vaccines into the arms of teachers."

. Some labor groups said they also hope to vaccinate students before they return.

Legislators insisted that the reopening plan should include a more equitable regional program to ensure that all regions can be supported even if the reopening deadline cannot be met, and set clearer minimum health standards.

The delay has disappointed education officials, who said the money will help students return to class.

"The governor's move to provide more funds to schools is absolutely right," said Itoco Garcia, principal of Bayside Martin Luther King, a public school in Sausalito. "I believe that the ethical, ethical, responsible and safe thing we need to do is to make as many children as possible in our state receive personal guidance."

Since mid-September, most of Garcia's 108 students have studied full-time in small classrooms, and there are 5 COVID-19 cases among the faculty and staff that have not spread in schools, Garcia said.

Other state officials have also worked hard to push the school to reopen, including Congressman Phil Ting (Phil Ting), chairman of the budget committee and a San Francisco Democrat. he

It is required that if the number of cases in the county drops to a certain level, the school should be reopened, but the bill should be shelved for negotiations with Newsom.

Ding said in a statement: "Under safe conditions, all of us have a sense of urgency to reopen schools," "The negotiations between the legislature and the government continue to move towards this goal."

Jill Tucker and Dustin Gardiner are staff members of the San Francisco Chronicle. e-mail:

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Jill Tucker has been in California education for 22 years and has written stories that range from issues facing the Bay Area school district to broader national policy debates. Her work changed state laws and stimulated political and community action to meet local needs.

She is a frequent guest of KQED's "Newroom" TV show and "Forum" radio show. Jill is a native of the Bay Area and has a master's degree in journalism from Boulder University in Colorado and a bachelor's degree from Santa Barbara. During this period, she spent two years teaching English in West Africa as a volunteer in the Peace Corps.

Dustin Gardiner is a State Capitol reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. After working in the Arizona Republic for nearly ten years, he joined the Chronicle in 2019 and is responsible for state and city political affairs. Dustin has won multiple awards for his reporting in Arizona, including the 2019 John Corbe Award for Political Reporting and the 2017 Arizona Newspaper Association's Story of the Year Award. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, camping, reading novels and playing Catan settlers. He is a member of the LGBTQ Journalists Association NLGJA.