The Los Angeles teachers’ union finally agreed to return teachers to the classroom, but not until mid-April.
The tentative agreement is not a full return to the classroom, but a “hybrid model” combining in-person and at-home Internet-based classes. Elementary students will return mid-April with older students coming back by late April.
“The agreement provides for the reopening of schools when Los Angeles County is in the red tier according to the state school guidelines, that all staff has access to the COVID vaccine and that schools are kept clean and safe,” said Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent Austin Beutner and United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz, according to Deadline.
In a joint statement, Beutner and Myart-Cruz said:
As we have both stated for some time, the right way to reopen schools must include the highest standard of COVID safety in schools, continued reduction of the virus in the communities we serve, and access to vaccinations for school staff. This agreement achieves that shared set of goals. It’s our shared commitment to the highest safety standards and spirit of trust and collaboration we will take with us back to schools.
The agreement includes requirements for full-time mask-wearing, a block on reassigning teachers, ongoing coronavirus testing of students and staff ahead of a return to school as well as weekly testing thereafter, and requirements for schools to install ventilation systems and sanitation regimes. The agreement also demands children who opt for online classes get free meals sent to their home by the school.
State policy maintains children through sixth grade may return to the classroom, but seventh through high school must wait until the governor announces a “red tier” of economic reopening.
But the teachers union is opposed returning to the classroom at any grade level until the “red tier” is declared. With the agreement to delay returning until mid-April, it is assumed Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will announce moving to the red tier by then.
Some reports claim Newsom intends to announce the red tier sometime in the next few days.
Frustrated parents organized to protest the strangled-hold the teachers union has on kids returning to the classroom. In February, parents of kids in LAUSD organized a strike to protest the teachers’ unions’ refusal to return to work.
Parents who organized the strike stopped allowing their children to participate in remote classes and also picketed in front of local schools.
The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) also sparked controversy last week by attempting to racially profile parents advocating a return to the classroom.
Maryam Qudrat, an L.A. citizen of Middle Eastern descent who has a child in the county school system, said the union conducted “racial opposition research” on her.
Qudrat revealed an email from the UTLA asking about her race. The union did not deny sending the email and insisted race was “a factor we could evaluate” in responding to criticism. The union added it had not specifically authorized the email.
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