News Update

Newsom signs $6.6 billion schools plan with $2 billion incentive to reopen

One day after the Legislature’s near-unanimous passage, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a $6.6 billion plan to help schools address Covid-19’s harm on students during a virtual ceremony with legislative leaders who negotiated the deal over two months.

The package includes $2 billion of incentive grants for districts that open up their schools to K-2 grades and to cohorts of underserved students in all grades by April, including homeless students and students without internet access, with additional grades in weeks to come. (Go here for Quick Guide: California’s plan for getting more kids back to school)

“This package of funding and supports for our schools recognizes that in-person education is essential to meet not only the learning needs, but the mental health and social-emotional needs of our kids — especially the youngest and the most vulnerable,” Newsom said.

Parent groups that wanted Newsom to order schools to reopen criticized the new law, as did many Republican legislators who ended up voting for it. “It just doesn’t go far enough. My fear is that we’re not going to see kids going back to any type of real, valuable in-person instruction until next year,” said Republican state Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore.

Democratic legislators acknowledged that the offer of extra funding — anywhere from $450 to about $750 per student — may not work to resolve protracted negotiations in districts, including Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where teachers are demanding conditions and safety protections beyond those required in the law.

But they also said that Newsom’s commitment to sharply increase vaccinations of teachers and to remove obstacles to reopening in previous versions of the plan, such as mandatory Covid testing of all returning students and staff, should help expedite reopening in many districts.

The bill’s purpose is “to spur districts to do more. This is a positive bill. This is going to help,” said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, who was involved in the negotiations.