My Amendment to Open Schools

Today the Assembly was supposed to vote on a fake school reopening bill, which would do little to get most kids back in the classroom. I was going to offer an amendment to make it real: 5-day per week in-person instruction available within two weeks for all California students in all grades.

But the Legislature postponed today’s vote to allow further “negotiations.” Apparently, the health and well-being of our kids can wait as California ranks 49th out of the 50 states in getting kids back to school.

Supposedly the bill will now come up next week, at which time I will introduce my amendment and every Legislator will have to vote on whether to actually open schools. You can read the text of the amendment here.

Meanwhile, the situation at some of our universities is even more disturbing. UC Berkeley imposed a “self-sequester” for weeks where students were forbidden from leaving their dorms for even “solo outdoor exercise.”

I’ve written a letter, joined by the Vice Chair of the Higher Education Committee, to every UC and CSU President. It states: “Imprisoning students in their dorm rooms is inhumane. Barring them from healthy outdoor activities that have no impact on viral transmission defies science and common science.” Our letter notes that “on Valentine’s Day, Gavin and Jennifer Siebel Newsom celebrated by kayaking.” (Full letter here)

Beyond education, California is now the only state in the country banning: indoor dining, gyms, museums, indoor youth sports, and public events like weddings, birthdays, and charity functions.

But there is some good news. We’re now at 1,825,000 signatures.

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