The matter of reopening schools in the Los Angeles area has become suddenly and almost completely political, with the Los Angeles Teachers’ Union, one of the largest in the state, suddenly making a list of demands that are indistinguishable from those of leftist Democrats, KUSI News reports.
In Los Angeles, the decision has essentially taken on the character of a strike, but officials from the district say they simply don’t have the resources to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics cite data that show children are at very low risk of being harmed by the virus.
The San Diego Unified School District on July 14 issued a joint statement with the Los Angeles Unified School District saying they will start the school year with online courses only, and should not reopen unless their demands are met – that is, they are holding hostage children’s schooling and parents’ ability to plan their lives.
The teachers’ demands include imposing a moratorium on private schools, removing funding from the police, increasing taxes on the wealthy, implementing Medicare for all, and passing the HEROES Act, which allocated and additional $116 billion in federal education funding to the states. The unionized teachers also took aim at charter schools.
The United Teachers Los Angeles union says these policies must be implemented on both the state and national level before reopening schools.
Opponents, mainly Republicans, believe that the list of leftist demands prove that San Diego Unified and Los Angeles Unified School District’s decision to conduct classes online is a political one, not driven by the data.
