If you think California politicians learned their lesson after shutting down California’s public schools for two years, think again. State Senator Richard Pan (D–Sacramento) has introduced legislation that threatens to kick hundreds of thousands of students back into remote learning if it becomes law.
If enacted, Pan’s bill (SB 871) would add the Covid-19 vaccine to the list of vaccines required for California’s K-12 students to attend public and private school, and eliminate any personal belief exemption for families.
If you wanted to push California’s already dysfunctional education system into total chaos, you’d design something like Pan’s bill. After a year of making vaccines widely available, the state’s data shows, 44 percent of all school-age kids – more than 3 million – are still unvaccinated. Vaccinating them now will be a massive undertaking in a state with a poor record of success where massive undertakings have lately ended in abysmal failure.
Schools would be emptied of children whose parents have decided not to vaccinate their child. The mandate would be devastating for Black and Latino communities where children’s vaccination rates are lower.
Pan’s bill makes little sense when children are the age group least vulnerable to Covid. The state Department of Public Health’s own data shows (as of March 23, 2022) that children under 18 account for 0.0% of California’s Covid deaths. It’s hard to see how Pan’s bill advances public health in any way when California’s children are already suffering from two years of learning loss and an unprecedented mental health crisis.
Pan attempts to bully rather than persuade parents, at a time when California’s leaders should be focused on keeping kids in school, not driving them out.
Through California Policy Center’s new Take Action Tool, you can sign the CPC petition opposing SB 871 and contact your legislator directly to let them know you oppose the bill.
It only takes a minute to act now and let your voice be heard!
