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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom has spoken often of his desire to reopen schools. It wasn’t until the dying days of last year, however, that he came up with a plan to speed up his return to class.
With the very real possibility of a fall recall election, getting kids back to class – and stemming growing parental frustration – has become a top priority for Newsom.
“Parents want to know when their children can safely return to school,” said Robin Swanson, a Democratic political consultant, who added that safeguards such as vaccines for teachers and personal protective equipment are important for many parents. “If you lose your parents, you lose California.”
Newsom categorically dismisses the suggestion that politics played a role in its pandemic decisions and failed to publicly acknowledge the recall effort even as it moves on to campaign-style events in major media markets of the state. But his collaborators acknowledged the obvious: Newsom’s chances of delaying the effort would be higher if schools were open and Californians were widely vaccinated before a possible election, allowing tired voters to resume their daily lives.
The timing of Newsom’s Dec. 30 announcement of a $ 2 billion school reopening incentive package – after weeks of insisting it had provided enough guidance on the issue last summer – has been widely interpreted by political observers in Sacramento as a reaction to the recall. effort, a possible attempt to woo parents as the winter vacation ended without the distance learning ending.
The governor unveiled his proposal just a day after news broke that a $ 500,000 donation had been made to the GOP campaign working towards a recall election this year. Newsom’s public image had been degraded for weeks after attending a lobbyist’s birthday party at upscale French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, as he advised Californians to avoid gatherings similar.
With its plan bogged down in the Legislature, Newsom announced last week that California would set aside part of its weekly vaccine supply for teachers and school staff in an effort to send educators back to campus. Even so, political pressures continued to escalate.
With former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and 2018 GOP nominee John Cox announcing they would run for governor if the recall qualifies and polls showing a sharp drop in approval ratings for Newsom, the governor launched a tour touting his vaccine work across the state and invited local reporters to follow – a marked shift in media awareness from his many internet-only appearances since the start of the pandemic.
The events, in which fellow Democrats joined the governor and praised his handling of the pandemic, allowed Newsom to campaign against the recall without having to voice opposition.
“No governor has faced a crisis like this – unexpected, statewide, affecting all Californians, putting unprecedented strain on our health care system and which has now lasted for over a year.” , assembled Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said at Newsom’s press conference in Fresno on Friday. “In other states you have governors who have not recognized the science of COVID-19, who have walked away from the hard work of leadership. Ours did not.
“And Governor Newsom has led with a constant focus on the groups most affected by this virus, and time and time again he has stood up for the most vulnerable here in California.
But not everyone in the Central Valley was impressed with the governor. Fresno County Supervisor Ernest “Buddy” Mendes called Newsom’s more frequent appearances in his area over the past month as politically motivated and motivated by the recall effort.
“He never came to Fresno, and now all of a sudden they’re having photo ops in Fresno,” he said.
Meanwhile, as Newsom navigates the complex web of pandemic and political recall, the governor finds himself caught between the unions that have helped him gain power and the public pressure he must respond to to keep it.
The new urgency to reopen more schools has created a sticky situation with some of Newsom’s most loyal supporters: unions representing teachers and other school employees who want to prioritize and enforce the safety of their members. rather than a quick return.
This week, Faulconer clung to Newsom’s earlier slowness in reopening schools as evidence of his acquiescence to teachers at the expense of children and families.
“Gavin Newsom has waited too long to clean up this mess and our children will live with his mistakes as adults,” he said. “He left the union with all the cards and he was unwilling to hold them accountable.
The California Teachers Assn. and other school groups pushed back the governor’s plan to reopen schools as early as February 15 – a date that came and went without any action. The proposal did not fit with union calls to vaccinate school staff before they returned to work in person, and teachers wanted additional safety measures.
As the Legislature negotiated with the governor on the availability of vaccines for educators and whether to encourage reopening in areas hardest hit by the virus, CTA launched a $ 1 million TV ad buy. dollars on February 13, claiming that opening schools without prioritizing safety including vaccines for educators – does worsen the spread of the coronavirus.
The union says the ads, which were careful not to mention the governor, were in line with previous digital ads that tried to get its message across and fight growing resentment towards educators.
At a press conference last week, Newsom said he had an excellent relationship with the teachers’ union, “but people may not agree.”
Although he publicly disagrees with the union’s position that school workers should have access to the vaccine before they go home in person, Newsom said on February 19 that the state would offer up to 75,000 vaccines each week. to staff returning to class, an announcement seen as an attempt to help appease teachers and staff and facilitate a deal with the Legislature on the reopening of schools amid growing pressure from parents.
The battle with the teachers’ union is just the latest installment in Newsom’s intermittent relationship with the unions.
His surprise announcement on Jan. 13 that the state’s vaccine distribution rules were being changed to prioritize those 65 and over dealt a blow to unions representing janitors, security guards and other workers. essentials that have lost their place in the queue. At the start of the pandemic, unions repeatedly called on the state to meet basic needs, such as inadequate supply of personal protective equipment in the workplace. Requests to extend paid sick leave for COVID-19 have also gone unanswered.
At its executive board meeting last week, the California Federation of Labor, a coordinating group of 1,200 unions in the state, filed a motion to publicly oppose the recall effort. Leaders of many of the state’s largest unions weren’t expecting to vote on the issue when someone made an impromptu motion to take it back.
Labor sources cited various reasons the board hesitated, with some questioning whether a stand would validate the recall campaign against the governor before she was qualified. Some have said that the lack of action has highlighted tensions between the governor’s office and the unions and a reluctance to publicly support it at a time when so many grassroots members are frustrated.
There is no doubt that the federation and individual unions will eventually oppose the recall, but many weigh how much support to be given to Newsom.
The National Union of Health Workers, which has 20,000 members, is already mobilizing to support the governor. The union launched a $ 100,000 ad buy to try to convince left-wing voters that the state’s progressive agenda would go with Newsom if he was recalled.
Jim Araby, who previously headed the UFCW Western States Council and now leads strategic campaigns for UFCW Local 5, said the unions needed the governor as much as they needed him.
“I think the governor needs manpower to win,” Araby said. “There is a natural tension there, but ultimately for us, for our union, we know that we have a person in the governor’s office who will listen to our concerns and discuss and negotiate with us to come to an agreement. who we can always continue to build. If he is called back, it will not happen.
With unions unlikely to back Newsom’s Republican opponents, some political consultants say it’s unclear why Newsom isn’t making more efforts to immediately reopen schools. Parents are among the most important court populations in California politics due to their tendency to be high turnout voters. While not all parents think schools should open immediately, some of them are making their voices heard.
Open Schools California, an advocacy group for parents of Californian schoolchildren, is calling on the governor and lawmakers to open schools now.
“Parents are incredibly frustrated,” said Megan Bacigalupi, a group advocate and parent of two in the Oakland Unified School District. “We are approaching the one-year threshold for out-of-school children. We rely on our leaders in Sacramento for their leadership, but also to act quickly when it becomes clear that the right thing to do is to do, and the right thing to do now is to reopen the schools as quickly as possible.
Times editors Melody Gutierrez and Phil Willon contributed to this report.
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