Parents remain frustrated as teachers refuse to head back into
the classroom.
Over one year into the coronavirus pandemic that rocked the economy and shut down in-person teaching, many students across California are still unable to receive in-person teaching.
While schools in Long Beach and Orange County have reopened their schools to allow for some version of in-person instruction, many districts remain shut to students.
In Oakland, an agreement to reopen classrooms early between the district and teachers unions was rescinded after teachers refused to return before the mandatory start date of April 14, despite being offered priority vaccinations and cash incentives.
The refusal by Oakland teachers meant that high needs students, including homeless, foster and special needs students, were unable to get into a classroom this week.
In southern California Friday, Ed Source released a poll by San Diego Unified parents that showed nearly 73 percent of parents want their kids to receive in-person teaching, though just 64 percent of families responded to the poll.
A frustrated associate professor at UCSF directed her frustration at Gov. Newsom in a Friday tweet, saying California’s priorities were misaligned with the best interest of the state’s residents.
“There are no hidden complexities that could possibly explain this misalignment of social priorities,” Jeanne Noble said, before highlighting San Francisco’s permitted activities like amusement parks and movie theatres while classrooms remain shut.
San Francisco Unified School District and School Board were sued by the city of San Francisco earlier this year in an attempt to get the board moving on reopening classrooms.
The board garnered nationwide attention after they prioritized renaming schools they felt were racist or represented colonial oppression, instead of creating a plan on how to get children back to in-person instruction.
California has allowed each district to take on re-opening plans in order to address the needs of students dependent on the severity of the coronavirus in their district.
But many have been frustrated by the state’s refusal to step in and push schools to reopen in a more cohesive manner.
While teachers in northern California have been inflexible on in-person teaching, teachers in San Diego are now allowed to choose between teaching their students or swapping shifts to teach migrant children in-person.
Students under the San Diego County Office Of Education are currently learning in an online-format only at this time.
But more than 700 unaccompanied children staying at the the San Diego Convention Center are receiving in-person teaching by volunteer instructors, Fox News learned this week.
“We have 130,000 kids who haven’t been allowed in a classroom for over a year in the San Diego Unified School District. It’s great that there’s in-person learning for those unaccompanied minors from Central America, but I wish every child in San Diego County was allowed the same opportunity for in-person teaching,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News.
Several schools in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco will begin reopening schools in mid-April, though it is unclear if students will be able to return for full time in-person teaching this year.
(Fox News).