Monday, March 8. Here’s what’s happening with the coronavirus in California and beyond.
Jesuit High School has been teaching its students on campus for months, and screening them daily since October. That first day of screening was so chaotic that the principal called it “Black Monday.” About 40 active infections have turned up since then, though cases have dropped to zero in more recent weeks. Now things at the all-boys Catholic school in Sacramento have gotten considerably brighter.
For the record:
1:39 PM, Mar. 09, 2021A previous version of this newsletter reported that students, faculty and staff at Jesuit High School in Sacramento are tested for the coronavirus every day; they are tested twice a week. The newsletter also reported that school officials had identified 40 active infections in their first day of testing; they have identified a total of 40 infections since testing began in October.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File
United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) has always been one of the more radical teachers unions in the country, and during the coronavirus lockdowns they’ve taken their agenda to new extremes. In the summer of 2020 they presented the school board with a list of demands that seemed more like a ransom note instead of a good-faith effort at finding a way back to the classroom. They’ve partnered with Black Lives Matter-LA and turned students into BLM activists in an effort to defund both the LAPD and LAUSD school police. On March 1 UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s school reopening plan, claiming it was “propagating structural racism” after accusing white and Middle Eastern wealthy parents of “driving the push behind a rushed return,” and the union was accused of racially targeting a LAUSD mom of Afghan descent because she had been an outspoken advocate for getting kids back in the classroom.
Los Angeles's largest teachers' union told its members not to post spring break photos on social media because it would make it harder to fight against reopening schools.
Note appeared on private Facebook group called UTLA FB Group - Members Only, which has 5,700 members
Screenshot of the warning was leaked three days after most United Teachers Los Angeles members voted against resuming in-person instruction
Union is demanding that LA County be removed from so-called purple tier, which is the state s most restrictive set of COVID rules
Returning staff must be fully vaccinated or have access to vaccine doses and coronavirus safety measures must be in place in the classrooms
UTLA stated it is not responsible for and does not monitor content in Facebook group
L.A. Teachers Union Facebook Group Warns Educators Not to Post Vacations Online Due to Bad Optics
On 3/9/21 at 11:35 AM EST
A private Facebook group from a teachers union in Los Angeles warned members not to post images of Spring break vacations online after the union voted to remain closed for in-person instruction.
Members of the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union were told to avoid sharing images of vacations in a leaked private Facebook group to avoid controversy with parents, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported Monday. Friendly reminder: If you are planning any trips for Spring Break, please keep that off of Social Media. It is hard to argue that it is unsafe for in-person instruction, if parents and the public see vacation photos and international travel, the post said.