On Tuesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted his state’s last remaining business restrictions and mask mandates, joining Mississippi, Louisiana, and Michigan by easing many burdens on their states’ economies and educational opportunities for their children.
Over in California, Governor Gavin Newsom, who currently faces an existential threat to his political future with a grassroots-led recall effort, described Abbott’s proclamation as “Absolutely reckless.”
“Reckless,” Gov. Newsom? Really?
Let’s talk about recklessness for a moment, shall we?
First off, let’s examine what Abbott’s decision really involves. When making his announcement, Abbott said, “Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility or the importance of caring for your family members. Personal vigilance to follow the safe standards is still needed to contain [COVID-19]. It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed.”
Newsom touts plan to reopen California public schools ktvu.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ktvu.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Follow the science: Schools can reopen safely
Dennis J. Ventry Jr., Monica Gandhi and Deborah Simon-Weisberg
March 3, 2021
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Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders have unveiled another plan to prod public schools across California to reopen. It provides $2 billion to districts that resume in-person instruction by March 31, another $4.6 billion to address learning loss, and punishes districts that fail to reopen by the deadline.
The plan is bound to fail.
It will fail for the same reason other plans, perks, and persuasion have misfired over the last 12 months: It provides no money and no strategy to overcome the kind of false and unscientific thinking that closed schools a year ago. And because the plan avoids mandating the number of days and hours a school must open to receive new funds, it permits the forces peddling pseudoscience to scare administrators, teachers, and parents into embracing a hybrid model (part in-person, part remote) that would be even
L A Teachers Union: California s School Reopening Plan Structural Racism breitbart.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from breitbart.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom set an April 1 reopening deadline for schools if they want to get their share of $6.6 billion in state reopening funding incentives.
Those incentives could entice local districts that have yet to set a reopening date and others that already have committed to opening in April or later.
For the record:
2:04 PM, Mar. 03, 2021This story was changed to reflect that a county needs to hold a case rate of 7 or below for two weeks to qualify for the red tier.
Of the $6.6 billion, $2 billion is for school safety measures, such as routine COVID testing or ventilation upgrades. The other $4.6 billion is for schools to address learning loss and other pandemic impacts on students. For example, schools could use the money to pay for summer school, an extended school year, tutoring or mental health counseling.