Cloud of Lockdown Still Hovering Above California Schoolchildren

After a little more than a year, it looks like the dark cloud of COVID-19 might finally be lifting.

Even though there are still increases in cases and hospitalizations in many states, the winter surge seems to have subsided with the onset of warmer weather. Even though there are countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere still struggling with shutdowns, the rapidly spreading availability of vaccines has lifted a logistical and psychological burden from most of us. And even though the emergence of new coronavirus variants poses an ongoing threat, we seem to have turned an emotional corner, as levels of voter optimism have been rising across the country.

No politician’s fortunes have been buoyed more than those of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Vaccines will be available to all state residents over the age of 16 later this month. Sports fans are attending their favorite teams’ games, movie theaters and gyms have re-opened, and opportunities to travel are becoming available. It now looks likely that the state’s mask mandate will be lifted at some point over the summer. At that point, the dark cloud will have lifted — for most of us.

But for California’s schoolchildren, most of whom have suffered through a year of inadequate distance learning, that cloud is still hanging over their heads and does not appear to be going away anytime soon. Last summer, even as Newsom opened and closed the state’s economy, exerting strong pressure on local and county governments to follow his lead, he largely deferred to individual school districts to set their own policies for how to educate their students. With no coherent statewide plan in place, most public schools remained closed through the fall and relied on a hodgepodge of inadequate online learning techniques that fell far short of most students’ educational needs.

For California’s schoolchildren, most of whom have suffered through a year of inadequate distance learning, that cloud is still hanging over their heads and does not appear to be going away anytime soon.

It wasn’t until December that Newsom outlined his own plan for school re-openings, but the patched-together proposal was ignored by legislators and teachers’ unions. As the recall campaign against him moved toward qualification this spring, Newsom tried again. But as a result of more union foot-dragging, the pace of re-openings has been excruciatingly slow. Primary grades are just now taking their first tentative steps toward bringing students back, while middle schools and high schools are moving even more slowly.

The impact of a year of lost learning has been catastrophic. Studies show that students who have been out of the classroom since last March have regressed academically and that the social and psychological impacts will take years to unravel. The most devastating impact has been on low-income students and those from minority communities, with an even greater toll taken on the sizable percentage of California schoolchildren for whom English is a second language. Learning English even in a traditional in-person classroom is extremely difficult for these students: Relying on online classes has made it virtually impossible. Even as the state begins to open up, this fight is far from over. The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) union announced that their members should not be forced to return to their classrooms until they have been granted fully subsidized child care. Other unions around the state have made it clear that they will not return in full force until other demands are met.

Some of the necessary resources to get students back on track are included in the Biden administration’s stimulus package. It provides money for summer school, extended school hours and tutoring support. But while California sits on a budget surplus bonanza, there has been little talk about how to create the educational infrastructure necessary to help the state’s children make up for their lost classroom time.

For most of us, the dark cloud is rising. And once the kids are back in their classes, it will be easy to forget the residual damage they have suffered over the last year. But unless we commit the necessary resources and attention to help those children overcome their year of lost learning, that dark cloud will follow them around for the rest of their lives. The question for our elected leaders — from Newsom on down — is how they intend to handle the next COVID educational emergency any better than the first one.

Dan Schnur teaches political communications at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine. He hosts the weekly webinar “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus” for the Los Angeles World Affairs Council & Town Hall.