Newsom’s battle to end remote learning

From: POLITICO California Playbook - Thursday Jan 06,2022 02:21 pm

Jan 06, 2022

By Jeremy B. White, Chris Ramirez and Graph Massara

Presented by California Environmental Justice Alliance

THE BUZZ — HANGING ON FOR OMICRON: Are California students returning from winter break about to turn around and go home?

Not if the Newsom administration can help it. That has been the clear signal for weeks now, punctuated by a press conference on Wednesday, in which state Health and Human Services chief Mark Ghaly repeatedly vowed the state would marshal its resources to keep kids safely in classrooms. He noted California has now distributed some 6.2 million Covid tests to county education agencies, smoothing what had been an uneven rollout.

“We are doing all that we can to make sure we provide the tools and the path to having schools return, stay in school and keep kids in school,” Ghaly said. And though California is extending its indoor mask mandate another month — as the state’s positivity rate soars to an unprecedented 21.3 percent — Ghaly emphasized the administration is not discussing “further limitations” on schools or businesses.

Education politics in California have shifted since the pandemic’s 2020 nadir, when prolonged school closures fueled an effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom and ratcheted up tensions between the governor and powerful teachers unions. Newsom subsequently put teachers at the front of the line for vaccinations and channeled a budget surplus into safety measures, like protective equipment, that these unions had long sought.

By last month, when the Omicron variant was beginning to rapidly spread in California, the governor was able to project a united front by persuading unions, administrators and other key players to sign onto a joint statement committing to keep classrooms open. No one is interested in returning to the remote learning experience that has scarred both teachers and students, and Newsom and the Legislature last year tightened rules to effectively take mass distance learning off the table.

But a statement from the California Teachers Association doesn’t bind individual teachers’ unions. Parents are casting an anxious eye to the effective shuttering of Chicago schools amid a labor standoff . San Francisco’s teachers union excoriated district leadership on Wednesday for failing to adequately distribute Covid tests, noting that some 600 educators were absent on Tuesday. “It’s not logistically possible to close schools in a responsible manner without taking weeks of disrupting the whole system,” union official Frank Lara told us, but he still lamented the staffing shortfalls. One East Bay school district is closing for a couple days. We’ll see if it’s an outlier or augurs a trend.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Thursday morning. Will this be the year California gets single-payer health care? Assemblymember Ash Kalra and the California Nurses Association officials are providing an update this morning about the funding mechanism for Kalra’s health care legislation — and we have the details.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit jwhite@politico.com or follow me on Twitter @jeremybwhite.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The Super Bowl is coming to L.A. I think Californians are excited to see that event occur, and the work is to be sure that, as it is moving forward as planned, the mitigation strategies that create safety around that event are in place.” Ghaly projects confidence that L.A. will still host pro football’s marquee event next month.

TWEET OF THE DAY: Assemblymember @LorenaSGonzalez offers some advice on her last day: “Unsolicited advice to my colleagues: Every legislator has been told ‘Don’t fall in love with your bills.’ It’s decades-old advice attributed to a former Speaker & it’s terrible. Please fall in love with some of your bills. Not all of your bills, but the ones that matter.”

WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

A message from California Environmental Justice Alliance:

Governor Newsom: Commit to California’s 2022 Clean Energy Resolutions - Let’s ring in the New Year with healthier, more resilient communities and clean, affordable energy for all. Read the full list of Clean Energy Resolutions for 2022 from a dozen environmental justice, equity, clean energy and climate organizations.

TOP TALKERS

FERMATA — “Grammy Awards postponed because of Omicron variant,” by the LA Times’ Mikael Wood: “The postponement marks the second year in a row that the Grammys have been delayed because of COVID-19.”

WHAT’S NEXT — Jan. 6 protesters find a new cause: Running for office, by POLITICO’s Brittany Gibson: At least 57 individuals who were at former President Donald Trump’s Save America Rally or the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are now running for elected office. These candidates follow 11 fellow protesters who were elected to public office last year.

OOPS — “ Fake Tweet pits Adam Gray against Josh Harder, although it still could happen,” by The Modesto Bee’s Garth Stapley: All eyes were on Assemblymember Adam Gray (D-Merced) when he tweeted that he would be running against Assemblymember Josh Harder in the state’s new District 13. But Gray later dispelled that belief after tweeting from his real Twitter account. The post from the faux account has been deleted, and Gray has yet to announce if he will run or not.

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CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

MASK UP (STILL) — "California extends indoor mask mandate, hospital emergency order," by POLITICO’s Victoria Colliver: The current mask mandate, initially set to expire Jan. 15, is now extended until Feb. 15, and any potential for lifting the mask mandate is dependent on the severity of the coronavirus on hospitals. California hospitals will also be allowed to continue bringing in out-of-state support to brace for increased virus hospitalizations.

NO. 15 THIS SESSION — "O'Donnell will not seek re-election to California Assembly," by POLITICO’s Jeremy B. White: Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell is chair of the Assembly Education Committee and is a tight ally of the powerful California Teachers Association. His departure comes just a day after his Senate counterpart, Connie Leyva — who heads that house's education committee — announced she would not seek re-election.”

PROPOSALS — “California GOP lawmakers want spending on water, wildfires, homelessness,” by POLITICO’s Chris Ramirez: The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates a $31 billion budget surplus for the next fiscal year. Under the 1979 Gann Limit, which constitutionally limits how much tax money California can spend, the state must figure out how to spend a combined $26 billion — $14 billion retroactive 2021 and 2022 and $12 billion for next year.

SPREADING — Sen. Josh Becker announced on Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus, the second lawmaker to do so this week after Sen. Scott Wilk. In addition, two of Assemblyman Miguel Santiago’s children have tested positive.

REMOTE INSTRUCTION — “Classes switch online until beginning of February ,” by the Daily Aztec’s Catlan Nguyen: SDSU is the third California State University campus to do so in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, following Sacramento State and Cal State LA.

POSTPONED — “San Francisco delays 250-bed homeless shelter in Lower Nob Hill amid neighborhood backlash,” by the SF Chronicle’s J.D. Morris: “The Post Street site has become yet another flash point in San Francisco’s fraught debate over how to make meaningful improvements to its homeless crisis with more than 8,000 people lacking permanent housing.”

SPREAD THIN — “‘Unprecedented surge’ in COVID-19 cases among L.A. police, firefighters, paramedics,”by the LA Times’ Kevin Rector and Richard Winton: Over 1,000 police officers, firefighters and paramedics in Los Angeles were positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. As of Dec. 23, about 21 percent of the city’s police department and 16 percent of its fire department remained unvaccinated, according to city data.

FOOD FIGHT — “Cities Now Have to Collect Our Food Waste. The San Diego Region is Scrambling to Comply,” by the Voice of San Diego’s MacKenzie Elmer: “While the San Diego region is woefully behind on meeting the Jan. 1 deadline to provide organic waste collection to all homes and businesses, a handful of cities raised rates in anticipation of the new, costly waste stream.”

— “Congress Should Learn From the Golden State” by Sec. Shirley Weber for Democracy Docket: “While we always have room to improve — I authored legislation when I was a member of the State Assembly to extend the vote to individuals who were formerly incarcerated and now on parole, and continue that work today — California has laws on the books that provide equal access to the ballot and protects our most sacred American right.”

ANALYSIS — “Political History Haunts Mayor Breed as She Attempts (Another) Tenderloin Cleanup, ” by SF Standard’s Chris Roberts: “ Without suppressing causes or demand, anything that suppresses drug use and crime in the Tenderloin risks simply moving it to other parts of town.

— “Judge rejects L.A. County’s bid to dismiss Vanessa Bryant’s lawsuit over crash photos,” by the LA Times’ Richard Winton: “ U.S. District Judge John F. Walter denied the county lawyers’ motion for summary judgment, which would have dismissed the case, saying that ‘there are genuine issues of material facts for trial.’”

A message from California Environmental Justice Alliance:

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

TALE OF TWO PARTIES — “Pelosi and McCarthy’s words show how two different Americas see the Jan. 6 insurrection,” by the LA Times’ Arit John: “As the congressional investigation searches for answers about why the Jan. 6 attack happened, most Republican lawmakers dismiss it as a partisan effort to reopen political wounds and smear their party.”

CAMPAIGN MODE

KILEY NEXT? — “Rep. McClintock Will Run in New Congressional District Eyed by Borgeas, Others,” by GVWire’s David Taub: “A source close to his campaign told GV Wire that McClintock, R-Elk Grove, will run for an eighth term in Congressional District 5. The newly drawn district includes all or parts of El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Stanislaus, Madera and Fresno counties.”

TOSS-UP — “California’s new election maps favor Democrats, but these 3 House races could go either way,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Gillian Brassil: Though the state currently has 11 House Republicans in its delegation, and California’s new map largely favors Democrats, a few nonpartisan organizations said it’s possible for Republicans to maintain its seats. In the House, Republicans need to win five seats to regain control.

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— “Elizabeth Holmes learned all the wrong lessons from Silicon Valley,” by Washington Post’s Nitasha Tiku and Rachel Lerman: “Theranos has become an instructive 'anti-pattern' — a popular term among technologists — of what not to do.”

COUNTERPOINT — “The Pointless Parable of Elizabeth Holmes,” by Bloomberg’s Ashlee Vance: “Because venture capitalists see no connection between Holmes and other problematic companies they’ve backed, they intend to go right on being infallible geniuses and leave the rubes to continue being rubes.”

DAZED AND CONFUSED — “ NFTs move to influence Congress, even if lawmakers have no clue what they are,” by POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

MIXTAPE

— “California man says run-in with police left him paralyzed,” by Associated Press’ Don Thompson.

GAME TIME — “ Play when you can: State governing body says high schools can play games on Sundays,” by the Sac Bee’s Cameron Salerno.

REMEMBRANCE — “Al Sharpton will deliver eulogy for 14-year-old girl killed by LAPD in store shooting,” by LA Times’ Richard Winton.

— “Sheriff’s recruit shot, killed while driving home on Oakland freeway,” by LA Times’ Lila Seidman.

ICYMI — “Sacramento’s historically Black Oak Park neighborhood is losing Black residents — and fast,” by CapRadio’s Kris Hooks.

FISH STORY — “The oldest aquarium fish in the world lives in San Francisco. She likes belly rubs,” by the SF Chronicle’s Peter Hartlaub.

TRANSITIONS

— Dylan Hoffman is joining TechNet, where he’ll oversee California policy. Hoffman comes over from the Internet Association and is an alum of Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel’s office.

IN MEMORIAM

— “Suzanne Peabody Ashworth, ‘Willy Wonka’ of Sacramento farm-to-table dining, dies at 70,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Benjy Egel.

BIRTHDAYS

Bernie Susskind, cofounder of Regrello

A message from California Environmental Justice Alliance:

As we enter 2022, California is at a crossroads.

Our communities are reeling from COVID-19, and the climate crisis continues to shape our lives in new and frightening ways. High fossil fuel prices are adding to this pressure for many families, while air quality remains dangerous to breathe in many communities. Urgent action is needed.

Fortunately, creating healthier, more resilient communities and building an economy rooted in prosperity for all are inextricably linked by clean, affordable energy that is available to everyone.

That’s why a dozen environmental justice, equity, and climate organizations are asking Gov. Newsom to adopt these Clean Energy Resolutions:

Eliminate utility debt
Increase access to affordable, truly clean electricity
Invest in transmission
Install solar + storage on 1 million homes & community buildings
Reject fossil fuels
Retire California’s dirtiest fossil fuel power plants
Invest in increased climate resilience infrastructure

Read the full list here.

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