When a right-leaning school board in Southern California refused to provide state-approved social studies textbooks mentioning Harvey Milk, Governor Gavin Newsom took immediate action. He criticized the board, calling them “radicalized zealots” and warned that if they didn’t supply the necessary materials by the next board meeting, the state would step in and provide the books to the children and their parents, with the district being billed and fined for violating state law.
This forceful response in the case of the Temecula school board stands in stark contrast to what occurred three years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, Newsom had extensive emergency powers and made the decision to close schools serving nearly 6 million students. Despite evidence indicating that schools were not significant sources of transmission, federal health officials, parents, and advocates for children urged for the reopening of schools to avoid educational setbacks.
While other states and many California private schools resumed in-person classes, California’s teacher unions resisted, causing local school officials to keep schools closed and rely on online classes. Newsom expressed his support for reopening schools, even offering billions of dollars to school districts, but the opposition from the unions persisted. Surprisingly, Newsom, who had previously acted swiftly on pandemic-related issues and later intervened with the Temecula board, chose not to forcefully intervene in the school reopening debate, possibly to avoid confrontation with the powerful unions.
Eventually, schools did reopen, but the damage had already been done. Follow-up studies showed that the closures had significantly impacted educational achievement in California, with a decline in proficiency rates in English language arts and mathematics compared to pre-pandemic levels. The decline was even more pronounced among low-income students of color.
A civil rights lawsuit was filed against the state during the school closures, alleging that low-income children of color were disproportionately affected. Independent researchers confirmed these findings, but the state is attempting to dismiss the lawsuit, denying the harmful effects of the closures. The state Department of Education is even restricting educational researchers from providing expert testimony supportive of the lawsuit, claiming that their research agreements prohibit participation in any suits against the state.
This behavior by the state shows an authoritarian arrogance that suppresses voices and evidence highlighting the educational disaster caused by the failure to reopen schools.
Dan Walters is a CalMatters columnist.