Newsom, Legislative Leaders Reach Deal to Push Schools to Reopen

Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders have agreed on a deal to resume in-person education for some California public school students, providing incentives — but not a mandate — for thousands of schools to open their doors by the end of March. 

The legislation, announced Monday, comes after weeks of high-stakes negotiations between Newsom and top Democrats in the Senate and Assembly. The two sides were tasked with balancing the demands of parents eager for their children to return to class and the hesitancy of powerful teachers unions who are demanding heightened COVID-19 protection measures for their members.

Newsom has faced daily questions about the progress of reopening talks, as his political opponents have made the school debate a centerpiece of their effort to recall him from office.

Under the agreement, the state is dangling $2 billion in incentives for school districts to open classrooms — without many of the hurdles contained in previous proposals.

For one, children in kindergarten through second grade will be able to return to class if they are in a county in the purple, most restrictive, reopening tier (at least seven new daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 8%), which the vast majority of the state currently falls under.

An earlier proposal by legislative leaders would have delayed reopening until counties fell into the state’s red tier — of four to seven new daily cases per 100,000 residents — a position aligned with the demands of the California Teachers Association. Now, districts in the red tier — including those in Marin and San Mateo counties — must bring back all elementary students, and at least one grade of middle or high school if they opt into the plan.

Likewise, only districts falling in the purple tier will have to conduct asymptomatic testing of students and teachers — a requirement many smaller districts have criticized as too logistically challenging.

Gone, too, are previous proposed requirements for districts to send the state a ratified collective bargaining plan with local teachers unions before reopening — though teachers unions will still have a powerful voice in local decision making.

And in an effort to placate labor unions, the legislation addresses their most controversial demand — that teachers receive vaccines before returning to class — with language that guarantees Newsom’s promise to reserve 10% of the state’s doses for education workers.

The deal also comes with a stricter timeline than those floated since December, when Newsom first unveiled a framework to resume in-person instruction.

If the plan is enacted, districts have three weeks to post a reopening plan. Then, starting on April 1st, each district’s portion of the $2 billion will drop by 1% for each day that in-person instruction is not offered.

If classrooms still remain closed by May 15, the district forfeits its share of the $2 billion.

It remains to be seen if the incentives will move the needle for districts that have so far eschewed a return to classroom instruction, as the plan places no direct requirement on districts to reopen their classroom doors.

And the legislation also provides a windfall of cash — more than $4.5 billion — to districts across the state, independent of the reopening grants. That money will be apportioned based on enrollment and the state’s local control funding formula, but 85% must be spent on in-person learning, potentially on initiatives like summer school to make up for learning loss.

Other districts may choose to move ahead of the Legislature and avoid some of the requirements put forth by the plan. For example, districts that come up with a reopening roadmap of their own by the end of March will not have to conduct surveillance testing of students and teachers.

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