California schools are hurtling toward crisis. But omicron surge isn’t the only problem

If California genuinely wants to keep schools open, state leaders need to appreciate the depth of the crisis unfolding in its communities. School districts are buckling under staffing shortages caused by the explosive omicron variant and the internal strife over fragmented public health policies, once again putting unions and districts at odds. Without further action, our children will suffer disproportionately, as they have throughout the pandemic.

COVID infection rates in California reached an all-time high this week. With vital public spaces such as schools open, hundreds of teachers and even more students are testing positive and being forced into quarantine in Sacramento alone, causing widespread absences among credentialed staff.

The failings of the latest coronavirus surge have familiar roots: toxic labor relations and an abdication of responsibility by state officials. Nowhere is that clearer than in the capital city.

Sacramento City Unified School District has been left to fend for itself in the absence of a more stringent state vaccine requirement from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature. The mighty California Teachers Association has made promises alongside Newsom to keep schools open, but the union has failed to compel local labor leaders to cooperate to ensure that.

Unlike Newsom’s school vaccine mandate, which is riddled with loopholes and carries no weight until the next school year, Sacramento schools adopted one of the strongest policies in the state, joining districts in Oakland, San Diego and elsewhere by taking steps to make classrooms safe right now. Any of the more than 19,000 eligible Sacramento students who do not get vaccinated or submit a personal exemption to get biweekly testing instead will be returned to distance learning in February. Sacramento would not even have to offer exemptions if the Legislature passed a commonsense law requiring most students to be vaccinated.

As of Thursday, nearly half of eligible students age 12 and older have not complied, according to district figures. The numbers slowly improve each day, but if Superintendent Jorge Aguilar remains firm on the policy — as he should for the health and safety of the district — thousands of Sacramento students could be forced into independent, remote study.

To make matters worse, perpetual animosity between the Sacramento City Teachers Association and district leaders may spell greater disaster. Both sides have failed to agree on critical deals that would attract more substitutes with higher wages, pay nurses overtime to expand COVID operations and, most importantly, assemble the necessary staff for independent study. On the latter issue, the district and the union reached an impasse with mediation scheduled for later this month, setting up another ugly battle and more anxiety for Sacramento’s families.

Seemingly lost in the labor politics of California education is the untold harm to students. The severity of learning losses amounts to a national crisis, especially at younger grade levels and among Black and Latino students, who account for 55% of the 48,000 enrolled in Sacramento Unified.

The disruption and trauma of the pandemic have also harmed students’ mental health. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health, citing “dramatic increases in emergency department visits for all mental health emergencies.” Suicide attempts have risen sharply among adolescent girls, increasing 51% from early 2019 to early 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wrongheaded but vocal minorities throughout California have raged over vaccines, mask-wearing and critical race theory, launching a culture war in our children’s classrooms. Many school leaders have succumbed to political pressure and bent to their will. These people hijacked a conversation that should have focused on overcoming losses in learning and social and emotional development, and the creation of uniform standards to sustain the nurturing power of in-person education for every child in California.

If staffing shortages and stubborn labor politics ultimately trigger school closures, there will be plenty of blame to go around. Sadly, California’s 6 million schoolchildren will be the victims.