Editorial: Newsom strengthens California schools

The education bills that Gavin Newsom passed and vetoed in the last two weeks have brought up concern for some students and schools, ranging from providing contraceptives to banning suspensions due to “willful defiance.” The Olympian approves of most of these decisions.

One of the bills Newsom passed requires public schools to provide gender inclusive bathrooms. Many California schools have already implemented gender neutral bathrooms, so the bill will provide financial support for schools that have not constructed these bathrooms.

“California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community,” Newsom stated.

We agree with this bill because everyone deserves to feel safe and comfortable, especially on a school campus. 

Continuing with the support of LGBTQ+ members, Newsom passed a bill that prohibits school boards from banning books that are inclusive or diverse. Some school districts disapprove of this bill, citing complaints from parents regarding the proliferation of these topics, especially relating to transgenderism and its accessibility to young audiences.

The Olympian staff sees this as a great improvement as everyone should feel included and represented in modern literature. From what students see, the literature that we read in class rarely represents other groups of people. While there are classes that focus on other groups like Afrocentric Literature, the normal English curriculum still lacks inclusivity towards others.

A bill that Newsom vetoed would have required schools to provide contraceptives such as condoms.

“This bill would create an unfunded mandate to public schools that should be considered in the annual budget process,” Newsom explained.

We disagree with this veto because condoms and various other contraceptives methods are crucial in preventing pregnancies and STDs. Newsom’s veto is an obstacle to schools which are trying to make their environment safer and more comfortable, especially for touchy topics like sex.

If public schools provided condoms for students, pregnancies would decrease in teens across America because students actually use these resources. Statistics show that when given access to condoms, 51.8 percent of high school students used one during their last sexual intercourse, according to Statista. 

The most controversial bill that Newsom passed was to ban school suspensions for “willful defiance,” which is the active defiance of a teacher or staff member while disrupting school activities.

The Olympian did not reach a consensus and opinions varied. Some say that the ability to suspend students was a positive thing because the teacher had more control over the classroom and could build a better learning environment for students.

Others claim that suspensions for willful defiance were abused to target minority groups. Petty and insignificant acts such as not putting a phone away were labeled as willful defiance and used as justification for suspension.

But at least we know that students cannot get suspended for complaining about the lack of condoms.