California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) claimed in a recent interview that he has “been living through Zoom school” and all its related challenges. The problem, though, is that his children have been in their private school classrooms since November of last year.
On Tuesday, the Democratic governor told CNN’s Jake Tapper he has “been a strong advocate for safely getting our kids back in person for instruction,” adding, “I have four kids myself. I’ve been living through Zoom school and all the challenges related to it.”
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Tapper, sympathizing with Newsom’s claim, described virtual education as “brutal.” The leftist politician agreed.
Newsom’s claim came after Tapper asked him about his goal to “reopen classrooms for young children” by April 1. The CNN host queried:
When do you expect most students — K through 12 — to return to in-person learning? And what do you see as the single most important hold-up to that happening, since we have seen so much science suggesting that, with masks and with ventilation, etcetera, there’s no reason for schools to be closed?
The problem with Newsom’s answer is that it’s just untrue.
He isn’t still struggling the way many parents in California are, because, as he revealed in late October of last year, his children, ages 4 and 11, returned to in-person learning in the late fall under a “phased-in approach,” while many other schools in the state remained shuttered.
An unnamed source told Politico at the time that the governor’s kids were attending a private school in Sacramento County offering a hybrid schedule that vacillated between remote and in-person instruction. Then, in November, the school resumed full-time, in-person education.
“They’re phasing back into school and we are phasing out of our very challenging distance learning that we’ve been doing, so many parents are doing up and down the state,” Newsom said in October.
Marcelino Valdez, founder of a Fresno-based organization pushing to get children back into their classrooms, told The Washington Free Beacon that it is “hard for [Newsom] to relate to parents like myself and the 500-plus members of our group who have kids in public school.”
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“He’s had his kids in private school,” she added. “It’s a real lack of understanding and a lack of leadership on his part.”
Reopen California Schools founder Jonathan Zachreson speculated Newsom’s push to get schools reopened is, in large part, due to the recall campaign against him — an effort that is expected to make its way onto the ballot.
“He’s not trying to help kids in the state,” he said. “He’s trying to pretend schools are open to campaign for his recall. That’s the incredible frustration parents are feeling.”
Organizers behind the recall effort had until Wednesday to secure the requisite 1.5 million valid signatures in order to get the issue onto the ballot. Those behind the movement sought 2 million signatures and are confident they have the necessary number. County officials have until April 29 to validate the names on the petition and notify the California secretary of state, Fox News reported.
Newsom, for his part, said earlier this week that he believes the recall will be on the ballot. He said he is “ready” to fight back against it and is confident he “will defeat it.”
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