a pact to expedite the process<\/a> by offering money to school districts that begin to return students by the end of March, including in areas of the state with higher infection rates. Plummeting coronavirus rates and Newsom\u2019s decision to set aside vaccine doses for educators should put more schools in position to recommence in-person learning.<\/p>\n\u201cSo many of our kids and caregivers are celebrating this day because we all are united around coming back safely into the schools,\u201d Newsom said at a Monday press conference with legislative leaders.<\/p>\n
Even as Newsom touted the deal, it highlighted the limits of his authority over a decentralized archipelago of locally governed school districts. The agreement offers incentives for districts to reopen but does not require them to do so.<\/p>\n
Democratic strategist Katie Merrill noted that \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of carrot in this deal and not a lot of stick\u201d \u2014 and voters could hold Newsom accountable if the carrot isn\u2019t enough to entice school districts and unions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor doesn\u2019t have a lot of control over that,\u201d Merrill said, \u201cbut he\u2019ll pay the price if the local school districts and teachers unions don\u2019t reopen schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some parents immediately signaled that the plan will need to clear a high hurdle of skepticism. A statewide group advocating for schools to resume in-person instruction denounced the plan as a weak half-measure, noting it would allow some schools to remain closed and arguing for elected officials to take a more forceful approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t a breakthrough, it’s a failure,\u201d Berkeley parent and Open Schools California member Pat Reilly said in a statement. \u201cMake no mistake, there will still be closed schools and kids left behind a month from now and months afterwards until the Governor, legislature or the courts force them open.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deal is unlikely to affect the recall\u2019s chances of qualifying for the ballot. Proponents have been gathering signatures for months, capitalizing on widespread discontent that spiked during a second lockdown this winter. They claim they have already collected enough signatures to trigger an election, and the mid-March deadline to submit signatures will likely arrive before parents see much concrete reopening progress.<\/p>\n
Education officials were hopeful the legislation would build on existing progress. Association of California School Administrators lobbyist Edgar Zazueta noted that even before the deal, \u201cthere\u2019s more momentum to moving to in-person instruction than there has been in the past year\u201d as more districts implement reopening plans. Zazueta predicted that there will still be holdouts among large urban districts but suggested it will become more difficult for them to stay closed as they become outliers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat pressure, seeing neighboring districts around them opening up, I think parents are going to take notice and there\u2019s going to be acute pressure,\u201d Zazueta said. \u201cFor these handfuls of communities that don\u2019t see movement and don\u2019t hear their district announce a plan there is the risk of frustration \u2014 ‘what about us?'”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, teachers unions and reluctant families may resent the governor and lawmakers dangling money to reopen by April 1. While the deal preserves local control, school employee groups have been reluctant all year to return and have accused reopening proponents of minimizing their safety concerns.<\/p>\n
The California Teachers Association said Monday that the bill “gets us one step closer” but emphasized the role of local unions in reopening schools and even cited the 1976 state act that affords them negotiation rights. They lauded some additional safety protections in the plan, including dedicated vaccines for educators and funding for ventilation improvements.<\/p>\n
If a funding influx does accelerate the reopening process, it\u2019s not clear that would dispel the parental pique that has fueled an anti-Newsom backlash. The likeliest scenario is that some schools will welcome back students part-time during the waning months of the typical academic year. They also will focus on the youngest grades, leaving middle and high schoolers home to wait for several more weeks. District-by-district decisions mean that process will look different depending on where families live.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when the details come out, it\u2019s going to leave a lot of people frustrated,\u201d said Andrew Acosta, a Sacramento father and Democratic campaign consultant. \u201cI think that\u2019s where they are and where they\u2019re going to be for the rest of the school year.\u201d<\/p>\n
For parents who have been stewing in a mix of resentment and desperation for nearly a full year, those partial and uneven results may not be enough to allay a deeply ingrained sense of disappointment with public officials who couldn\u2019t get kids back to classrooms earlier or more fully. <\/b>Democratic consultant Robin Swanson noted that, with the largely reviled former President Donald Trump gone, voters “are looking to hold leaders accountable for their frustrations” \u2014 Newsom among them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a start. It looks like he\u2019s working to pull out of a political tailspin,\u201d Swanson said of the deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s at the table, he\u2019s showing he is trying to find a way out,\u201d Swanson added, \u201cand I really hope we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: Politics OAKLAND \u2014 A long-awaited deal to encourage California\u2019s schools to reopen may provide families hope, but it\u2019s unlikely to swiftly improve Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s political standing. It has… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}