A groundswell of frustration over the lack of progress in bringing students back into California classrooms has led parents around the state to coalesce into a single statewide group to push for campuses to reopen.
The newly formed Open Schools California, uniting parent groups from San Diego to Davis, is accusing Gov. Gavin Newsom of not having the political will to reopen school campuses after nearly a year of school districts holding classes mostly through distance learning. The group says it has support from parent affiliate groups representing up to 10,000 families.
“We are seeing governors across the country begin to take decisive action to reopen their schools,” said Megan Bacigalupi, an organizer with the group who has two children attending Oakland’s Crocker Highlands Elementary School. “And the pressure to do so came in part from parents advocating for it.”
Bacigalupi says the group is especially concerned about children from underfunded districts who are falling behind. The Public Policy Institute of California released an analysis this week showing 55% of students in households surveyed between October and March reported spending less time on learning activities on their own than they did before the pandemic. The report also found that students in low-income families or without college-educated parents spent nearly two fewer hours studying on their own than those in families making over $100,000 a year.
Bacigalupi also cited data presented by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the journal JAMA this week, which shows schools can reopen safely with proper protocols in place.
Pressure has been building on teacher unions still in negotiations with their districts to come to an agreement that would allow students to return to in-person learning on campuses. But union officials have pushed back. Susan Solomon, executive vice president of the United Teachers of San Francisco, said on KQED’s Forum this week that the newly formed parent group does not speak for all parents. She pointed to a survey of San Francisco Unified School District families that found relatively more Black and brown parents reporting they do not feel safe sending their children back into classrooms.