News that a mother has accused Los Angeles Unified of vaccinating her 13-year-old son without her permission was the headline news this week. 

December 10rd, 2021
VIEW IN YOUR BROWSER ([link removed])
[link removed]

Dear John,

News that a mother has accused Los Angeles Unified of vaccinating her 13-year-old son without her permission ([link removed]) was the headline news this week. But behind the scenes is another vaccine challenge — how the district will handle students who don’t meet its self-imposed January 10 deadline for proof of vaccination. ([link removed])

Some 34,000 – about 12 percent ([link removed]) – of Los Angeles Unified School District’s 12 and older students have not met the deadline to submit proof of their first COVID-19 vaccine, according to a recent Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) report.

District officials say they’ll automatically register unvaccinated students in the City of Angels ([link removed]) school, LAUSD’s poor-performing independent study school. Until recently, the school hosted just 1,537 students looking for flexible schedules, such as child actors ([link removed]) . Typically, City of Angels students ([link removed]) in the in-person program were required to meet with a teacher for just one hour each week and to complete a weekly 30-hour homework packet. There is also an online academy as well ([link removed]) .

Given those modest demands, the school’s dismal performance data should surprise no one. In 2019, 61 percent of the school’s students were chronically absent – six times higher than the state average ([link removed]) . Students perform worse than their statewide peers in math, English and language arts, and worse even than the average LAUSD school ([link removed]) . They’re less likely to be prepared for college and less likely to graduate high school compared to the state average.

But this school year, City of Angels was rebooted to serve as an alternative for families uncomfortable with a return to in-person learning. Suddenly, the formerly small independent school is now hosting 16,000 students, a more than 10-fold increase. ([link removed])

You can guess what’s happening now.

A large number of these students faced teacher shortages, administrative, and enrollment problems, the LA Times ([link removed]) reported, Some students missed days or weeks of instruction, even after constant emails and phone calls. One parent’s kids had their teachers reassigned three times ([link removed]) . Many of the teachers are actually just substitutes. Some have “received ever-shifting instructions and no guidance from administrators by phone or email.” Scott Schmerelson, a board member for the Los Angeles Board of Education, called the situation “an emergency.”

It’s hard to imagine how adding another 34,000 students to City of Angels will make that emergency anything other than a catastrophe.

LA Unified is holding the line, hoping most parents will end up vaccinating their kids. But a nationwide survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation ([link removed]) said 22 percent of parents of 12-17 year olds said they definitely will not vaccinate their children.

Giving likeminded LAUSD parents an ultimatum – get the vaccine or attend one L.A.’s worst schools – may drive them out of the district altogether. Parents still have some alternatives to district schools, including homeschooling, learning pods, or private schools. A ballot initiative aimed at offering parents $13,000 annually ([link removed]) for private school tuition or other qualified education expenses is now in the signature-gathering stage, with the goal of appearing on the November 2022 ballot.
Support the California Policy Center. Donate Today. ([link removed])

Quote of the week

“Does the National School Board Association still have enough money left in its coffers to send Joe Biden and Merrick Garland nice fruit baskets?” - Ed Morrisey ([link removed])

More from CPC
* The union mandated school shutdowns are having major consequences ([link removed]) : Larry Sand explains how the teachers unions have milked COVID-related shutdowns while thousands of kids are leaving government schools.
* National Review’s Radio Free California Podcast: Boom Times for Stupid ([link removed]) : CPC President Will Swaim and board member David Bahnsen discuss Sacramento’s new way to transform corporations into carriers of lefty change, Santa Cruz requiring masks at home and LAUSD’s decision to send unvaccinated kids to one of its worst campuses.


CPC and allies in the news
* CATO ranks California 48th in Personal and Economic Freedoms in U.S. ([link removed])


Classroom headlines
* National School Boards Association fallout continues as half of US states push back against organization ([link removed])
* After calling parents domestic terrorists, NSBA discovers: Get woke, go broke -- literally ([link removed])
* Students with disabilities struggle in COVID remote programs ([link removed])
* The Supreme Court could extend a landmark school-choice case ([link removed])
* Nearly 500 Los Angeles school employees fired for not complying with state vaccine mandate ([link removed])


Union news
* State doctor files TRO against labor union over illegal dues deductions ([link removed])


Other things we’re reading
* Poll: 24% of renters ‘seriously consider’ leaving California ([link removed])
* Here are 22 new laws Californians must start following in 2022 ([link removed])
* $500 fines proposed for water wasters amid deepening drought ([link removed])


** ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER
------------------------------------------------------------

The California Policy Center promotes prosperity for all Californians through limited government and individual liberty.

Learn more at CaliforniaPolicyCenter.org.
Support the California Policy Center. Donate Today. ([link removed])
[link removed]
FACEBOOK ([link removed])
[link removed]
TWITTER ([link removed])
[link removed]
WEBSITE ([link removed])

============================================================

** MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO THE CALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER ([link removed])

The California Policy Center is a 501c3 non-profit
CA Corp. #3295222. Federal EIN 27-2870463.
Copyright © California Policy Center 2016.
All rights reserved.

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
California Policy Center . 18002 Irvine Blvd Ste 108 . Tustin, CA 92780-3321 . USA