By Sydney Williams
With vaccines rolling out and COVID numbers trending down, California schools are returning to in-person instruction. With each of the state’s 1,000 school districts opening at varying pace and method, parents are asking similar questions throughout social digital platforms: Is it safe? How prepared is the education system? And more importantly - what support will be available for our children as they endure a COVID-19 pandemic and a pandemic of violence and racism in America?
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. Photo courtesy of CDE Communications.
We had the opportunity to interview State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, getting firsthand information on the work that the California Department of Education has been focused on and initiatives they are gearing up to roll out. His team has been in the trenches and hard at work, identifying and addressing opportunity gaps, battling with access and equality disparities, and rushing to find solutions to what many have long called a failing system. In this one-on-one conversation, Superintendent Thurmond is determined and ready to lead a pivot in one of the largest education systems that serves the Generation Z population that has been deeply impacted by some of the most horrifying and unprecedented moments of our time.
“Our parents and their families have had to be co-teachers for our kids in ways that we were not prepared for. Let’s face it. Our education system was not built to be delivered in the way that we have had to do it during this pandemic,” shares Superintendent Tony Thurmond. “We literally moved students to distanced and remote learning overnight to keep everyone safe.”
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond at Milor High School speaking with students. Photo courtesy of CDE Communications.
The depth and expansiveness of the impact of the pandemic on K-12 students is assumed, but still greatly unknown. What the last year has clearly done was exacerbate existing gaps in the public education system. While the state legislature sets forth regulations, each school district ultimately decides how to address the unique needs of its school-age population. At the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown, the main concern of the Superintendent’s office was that over 1 million students in California did not have access to a computer and high-speed internet, both of which are necessary to participate in classes on an online platform. Low income students and students of color bore the greatest burden in the education system, especially during the learn-at-home period. In response, Thurmond created the Superintendent’s Task Force to Close the Digital Divide just one month after the start of the pandemic. This task force has delivered hundreds of thousands of devices and Wi-Fi hotspots to students across the state, making their at-home education possible.
Over the last year, legislation has been written and introduced to bring more funding to California schools so they can provide resources necessary to address disparities in education and access to learning-related devices. Thurmond and his office are sponsoring Assembly Bill 34 in the upcoming legislative session. If passed, this bill will bring 10 billion dollars to California to create the infrastructure for broadband high-speed networks in parts of the state that don't currently have it. Slowly returning to in-person instruction, many schools across the state are exploring a hybrid system where kids spend a few hours for a few days a week in a classroom with instructors and continue their learning online. Providing space in the classrooms and on campus for social distancing are still top priorities for safety.
The Superintendent and his team have also led over a dozen school districts towards new equity grants that have come available. These equity grants are designed to directly fund resources to close the opportunity gaps plaguing the state’s schools. Thurmond has now turned back to the state to say: California schools need more funding. Approved by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 5th of this year, Assembly Bill 86 has come through with funds that are available right now for schools to use. The purpose of AB-86 is to bring COVID-19 relief and school reopening, reporting, and public health requirements to California schools. This is a 6.6 billion dollar legislation that has already made available 4.5 billion dollars to help districts close learning gaps. The return to in-person instruction is not being taken lightly. Legislators and voters know that students will need tutoring, educators will need professional development, and that the mental health and well-being of kids and their families are of the utmost importance.
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond participating in STEM education with California students (pre-COVID). Photo courtesy of CDE Communications.
“No one had a playbook on how to deal with this. My heart goes out to parents and students. I know how hard this is for them. We have seen an increase in depression for our young people, for our adults. This has been hard on everyone,” shares Thurmond. “I count the start of the pandemic as March 13, 2020. Since that day, we have literally tried to lean in on every single issue that has come up. Even when it is out of our direct control, we’ve had to say - let’s find a resource to help.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, violence and racism spiked across the country, creating an unimaginable strain on students. “We personally raised 5 million dollars from foundations to help with equity grants and grants for education to end social hate. We have watched a spike in hate since the killing of George Floyd, seeing the surge in hate against the AAPI community. We have gone out to foundations and said: schools need resources to have professional development that is anti-racism centered, focused on addressing implicit bias, and we have been able to secure resources to help our districts.” The healing and course-correcting has to begin at schools and students are clamoring for it.
In 2020, the California Department of Education provided 45 million dollars to school districts through the Community School program, which gave schools the opportunity to use that money to bring in support and mental health services for students. With 9,000 of 10,000 California schools open or preparing to return to in-person instruction, these educational structures are continuing to be built, developed out of necessity. In addition to putting on webinars for the community and school districts to know which agencies have the ability to provide social emotional learning, Thurmond created a Coalition for Mental Health to figure out how to expand mental health services for students and families.
“We are sponsoring this piece of legislation that will help California access more federal dollars for mental health through its medical program. We have one of the biggest footprints in the Medicaid program, but when it comes to mental health, we have one of the smallest utilization rates for mental health,” Thurmond noted.
Over the past few years the Superintendent's office has put out over 90 million dollars in grants for restorative justice programs. Thurmond wants to help fund the development of alternatives, particularly to policing and suspensions. Even during the pandemic, we have seen a disproportionate rate of suspensions against African American and Latinx students.
Another priority is to bring more expansive ethnic studies programs to California schools. The Superintendent's Youth Advisory council has been effective in establishing an avenue in which students can communicate directly with state officials, bringing the most pressing of issues to the forefront of their attention. Through the Council, students expressed a desire to ‘see people that look like us on campus, in our history books, and in our classrooms.’ At that moment, Thurmond committed to creating a mini series on ethnic studies, reintroducing it to students through social media. They brought in speakers from the African American, Latinx, AAPI community, and Native American communities. The students called for change, and the State of California is taking action. Thurmond worked in partnership with the State Board of Education to create what they call a Model Ethnic Studies Curriculum Guide which will serve as an example of what the program that will be provided in every school district in the state will look like.
“Students should be able to see from their ancestors what their contributions have been instead of the stereotypes they see all around them. It helps build the self-esteem of our students, helps them to perform academically and successfully, so we are continuing to build on those efforts,” Thurmond shared. Through a partnership with the Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJA), they are introducing a new curriculum that will show positive contributions that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made to society as a way of countering the increase in acts of hate.
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond working in the classroom with students (pre-COVID). Photo courtesy of CDE Communications.
Three factors play the largest roles in California public schools’ return to full time in-person instruction.
People must continue to wear masks and to maintain social distance. This has been a huge challenge, but the state is providing resources to upgrade campuses with more ventilation. Even just piping in more outdoor air has a positive effect on mitigating COVID.
Vaccination, vaccination, vaccination. Although there is no legislation that has been introduced that will require COVID vaccination for children to attend public schools, the DOE has instituted their own educational campaign on the vaccine through zoom conversations on its importance, particularly within the Latinx and African American communities. Information travels by word of mouth, so trusted messengers and leaders from Dolores Huerta to Congresswoman Barbara Lee have been brought to the conversation to talk about their vaccine experience - that it’s safe, that it didn’t hurt, and that it’s effective.
Increasing supply, distribution, and access to rapid COVID testing. Providing this will determine if someone is sick within 15 minutes and make it easier to contain them and the spread in the event that a student tests positive.
As programs roll out, Thurmond emphasized, “I would say great thanks to mothers, parents, families, and teachers for leaning in during what I think has been the toughest moment that most of us will experience in our lifetime.” The struggle for students has been a struggle for parents and educators alike. Remarkably, students have shown incredible resilience and leadership in all aspects of the devastation of 2020. “Our young people are leading. They’re protesting, They’re making their voices heard for police reform, for fairness in voting, for addressing poverty and inequities that have existed for a long time. They bring a fresh perspective to it all. There are so many things about our education system that weren't working for kids anyway, particularly our low income kids and kids of color. I believe we must take this moment to get really clear on better ways to measure learning and promote instruction.”
Innovation Challenge: the race for broadband everywhere
Thurmond’s office invites innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and the California community to submit their ideas on how to close the broadband gap in California. Necessity is the mother of innovation, and California has always been innovation-focused. They are offering a $1 MILLION cash prize for a broadband solution that will help move California forward in equal opportunity for all. Participate in this challenge by sending the Superintendent's office a note at innovationchallenge@cde.ca.gov.
