To open schools back up, we need to apply maximum pressure on the people who can change the rules - the Governor and State Legislature.  If you are fed up with malls and other non-essential businesses being open while public schools remain shuttered and kids suffer the consequences, you need to let our leaders know.

Assembly Bill 10 provides a much-needed universal playbook to school districts that have been making decisions independently during the pandemic, leading to outcomes that have been confusing and frustrating for parents and inequitable for kids. It provides a potential lifeline to California’s approximately six million public school students and their families.

The legislation, authored by San Francisco Assemblymember and father of school-aged kids, Phil Ting, would require most schools reopen within two weeks of their county falling out of the worst purple COVID tier, starting March 1. (There are accommodations for vulnerable students and staff.) It basically mandates that schools have a plan to reopen as soon as it’s safe.

While this may not be perfect (LA County has never been out of Purple, so the entire tier system is weighted against opening schools) it is a bare minimum step to get schools back open.