Gov. Newsom brings big changes to public schools

I think the California Governor Gavin Newsom has a good plan for how the school year will work in these crazy times. His plans make me feel much safer about school knowing that not getting myself or others sick is a priority.

Newsom’s plan for schools can be separated into five parts. The first few parts are that in person schools are based off of local health data and that masks will be required for everyone participating in on campus learning. Students are also going to be required to stay six feet apart from one another and get health screeners before. If any outbreaks occur students will be switched to online schooling.

I like that Newsom put more funding into the school system, giving students access to the technology they need to learn. According to the ca.gov website, Newson has added around $5.3 million to the distance learning budget. 

Newsom has been talking about adding more funding to California schools since early January. “Seven years ago, we invested $47.3 billion in our schools. Next year, with your support, we’ll invest more than $80 billion — that includes $576 million for special education but it’s not enough. We’re still 41st in the nation in per pupil funding. Something needs to change,” said Newsom.

Though that quote was from January, Newsom has added big changes especially to distance learning, adding funding and requiring that all students have access to the technology needed for class. These new rules keep the curriculum equivalent to how it would be in person and also offers support to special education and English learning students.

These are only a few of the new rules Newsom has put into place to help better our communities. I’m very grateful to live in a place where I can feel like the governor cares about the people. 

I’m very supportive of the mask and six feet apart rules because I think that other than staying inside all day, that is the best way to protect others. It’s been proven that masks and distance help slow the spread of COVID-19 and even other diseases. Hopefully when COVID-19 dies down we can continue to wear masks when we are sick and not invade each other’s personal space. 

We all are living in very scary times and having rules to ensure everyone’s safety is incredibly important. Putting new measures in place to protect the people is incredibly important to keep happy and healthy communities.