News Update

Governor reiterates education support, previews new equity testing protocol

Gov. Newsom on Wednesday reiterated the state’s support for schools that are dealing with the challenges of distance learning, saying it is providing $5.3 billion to help mitigate learning loss that can be used in a variety of ways, including for devices and internet access, mental health and academic support. As the father of four children who are learning from home, Newsom said his youngest children are finding it tougher to remain online for long periods of time than are his older kids. He added that the state wants to ensure students can go back to campuses as soon as possible, but that it must be safe to do so.

Newsom also said that he supports the affirmative action initiative on the November ballot, Proposition 16, which he believes will restore opportunities to Black students and others who have been denied access to University of California and California State University campuses since affirmative action was abolished in 1995. “The drawback of the status quo is self evident,” he said, citing data that shows dwindling minority enrollment in state universities.

And in response to a question about a new “equity” Covid-19 testing protocol that is expected to be released later this week, Newsom said some counties are not testing diverse populations as much as they should, noting that Covid-19 disproportionately impacts Black and Latino communities. On the other hand, he said, other counties are doing a good job of testing diverse communities, which could impact their case numbers and positivity rates, and that all counties should be making robust testing efforts.