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The New York Times has endorsed reopening schools. Gavin Newsom is now torn between his two main constituencies: California special interests and the national news media.

What’s not part of the calculus is the needs of parents and kids. The Governor’s school closure edict is throwing our population into an abyss for no good reason.

Consider the reasons given for keeping all schools closed indefinitely, then consider the evidence:

*Safety of Kids – The risk of COVID-19 to children is not zero, but it is several times less than influenza.

*Safety of Parents – “We have not found a single instance of a child infecting parents” (Icelandic study in the New England Journal of Medicine)

*Safety of Teachers – “It is extremely difficult to find any instance anywhere in the world of a child transmitting to a teacher in school” (Mark Woolhouse, epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh)

*Spike in cases: “France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium all have mortality rates from COVID-19 that are similar to or worse than the U.S. And each of these countries has successfully reopened schools.” (Avik Roy, Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity).

Of course, these risks will never be zero, but they’re far lower than the well-documented harms of school closures. And those who are vulnerable or uncomfortable with returning to classrooms can opt for distance learning without forcing everyone to stay home.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo just cleared all 749 New York school districts to open. Meanwhile, California schools are being forced to stay closed even in areas that meet Gov. Newsom’s criteria.

With the Governor’s Office firmly under its control, CTA is sending state-level negotiators to even the smallest districts, lest they dare open a single school.

Local school board members are being vilified for trying to offer a classroom-based option, even though they’re doing what all evidence says is healthiest for kids.

Reopening our schools isn’t a political slogan. It’s literally the most important thing in the lives of millions of California families right now. 6,028 people in my district responded to my survey, and 80 percent want an in-person learning option to start the school year.

Kids with special needs are being hit hardest of all. Lacking a politically powerful lobbyist or PAC, the truth is they’ve long been neglected at our Capitol.

As Vice Chair of the Education Committee, I’ve formally proposed an oversight hearing for Gov. Newsom to justify his school closure order and for districts to present their plans for safe classroom-based instruction.

Yet the Legislature wants to adjourn for the year at the end of August. That cannot happen until California kids are back in school.

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