I was covering the White House when Covid hit America. It was a scary time. Sadly many elected officials overreacted to the pandemic after national move to slow the spread ended. They ordered school and business closures that weren’t based on CDC guidance – California children were particularly shortchanged.
Wednesday I wrote about the Bay Area’s Acalanes Union High School District, where the board implemented remote-learning for a year and a half. Parents should be furious. It should be no surprise that three candidates are challenging incumbents who shuttered district schools to the detriment of students.
As I wrote in the column, voters in the district have two choices.
They can vote to reelect board members who shuttered schools for 16 more months than recommended by the CDC. That sends the message that virtue-signaling is more important than educating.
Or they can support candidates who pledge to pay attention to the data and show leadership, not a stampede from the classroom.
I was especially incensed at a local man’s decision to dox the board candidates because they held a reasonable position – that district schools were shuttered for too long, students suffered as a result, and those who voted to extend remote learning should be held accountable for their poor decision.
Local parent Chad Curren chose intimidation tactics over civil debate — perhaps because he didn’t have faith in his ability to advocate for the excessive closures.
Or maybe he just thinks Sen. Joe McCarthy had the right approach, that guilt by association, however tenuous, is guilt.
After I filed the column, I saw this piece on sfgate.com, “Parents don't need to vote Republican to send a message to Gavin Newsom.”
Laura Fagan writes that voters should not vote for the California governor to protest the learning loss that occurred under his direction. Fagan wrote:
But before you reflexively check the box next to his name, take some time to remind yourself that under Newsom, California finished dead last, as in 50th out of 50, in average in-person school days for the 2020-2021 school year. And while many have mentally moved on from school closures, as a parent and concerned Californian, I cannot. The resulting damage to kids is not only still very much with us, we as a state will be feeling the repercussions for years to come. I cannot, in good conscience, cast a vote for Gavin Newsom.
And:
As a reminder, it was Newsom in March 2020 who was quick to say schools would remain closed for the remainder of that school year, even though the risks of learning loss and the necessity of things like school meal programs were already present. By July 2020, he was already prioritizing the wishes of one of his biggest donors, the California Teachers Association, over the needs of students, and announced that the vast majority of districts would not be allowed to reopen for the new school year.
If, as expected, Californians vote to re-elect Newsom in November, the Golden State has changed tremendously from the magic place that drew adventurers and risk takers. Apparently, they grew older, fearful and so stuck in a left-leaning anti-Trump identity that they welcomed their status as shut-ins while most of America went back to work and out for dinner.
And it’s children — low-income and minority children especially — who will have to hustle to overcome the fetid fruits of California’s timid streak.
Debra J. Saunders is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. Contact her at dsaunders@discovery.org.