Tuesday, March 9. Here’s what’s happening with the coronavirus in California and beyond.
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California and Florida, two of the most populous states in the nation, have often employed different strategies for countering the pandemic. California took an aggressive stance, requiring the use of face masks and shutting down much of the economy. Florida was content with a more laissez-faire approach.
Los Angeles students
are a critical step closer to a return to campus beginning in mid-April under a tentative agreement reached Tuesday between the teachers union and the L.A. Unified School District, signaling a new chapter in an unprecedented year of coronavirus-forced school closures.
The agreement, which must be ratified by members, establishes safety parameters for a return to campus and lays out a markedly different schedule that still relies heavily on online learning. The school day would unfold under a so-called hybrid format meaning that students would conduct their studies on campus during part of the week and continue with their schooling online at other times.
For the record:
9:13 PM, Mar. 10, 2021An item in this newsletter previously misspelled the last name of poet Audre Lorde as Lord.
Facing the growing threat of a recall election, Gov. Gavin Newsom fought to rekindle faith in his leadership during his third State of State address, delivered Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
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Standing in a glaringly empty ballpark whose tens of thousands of vacant seats nearly matched the number of lives lost to COVID-19 in California, the governor spoke plaintively of the pandemic’s toll and promised brighter days ahead. It was a speech notably free of the tech-tinged jargon that typically peppers his COVID briefings.
The basics
A tentative agreement reached Tuesday between the teachers union and the L.A. Unified School District offers the clearest framework yet for reopening campuses for students in elementary, middle and high schools.
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The agreement, which must be ratified by members, establishes safety parameters for a return to campus and lays out a markedly different schedule, which still relies heavily on online learning. The school day would unfold under a so-called hybrid format meaning students would conduct their studies on campus during part of the week and continue with their schooling online at other times.
Timing
Although the union has not yet signed off on the exact date of return, the school district is aiming to restart elementary schools on April 19.