Open Letter to Councilmember Buscaino

Delivered on Feb. 8

We are deeply concerned by yesterday’s news that you intend to take steps to sue our local school district to reopen school campuses. As educators, parents, and community members, we want to express our disappointment that you would disregard the health and safety of your constituents and our children at this time.

Los Angeles Unified School District is one of the poorest in the nation, with over 80% of our students receiving free or reduced lunch — a measurement of poverty that doesn’t even take the economic impact of COVID-19 into account. Over 70% of our LAUSD students come from Latinx backgrounds. Due to a variety of systemic factors, these families and communities have experienced a 1000% increase in deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our state consistently ranks in the bottom for per pupil spending, which voters chose not to rectify with the defeat of Prop 15 this past November. Our superintendent, our parents, and our union all agree that reopening LAUSD campuses is not safe.

We want you to know we are working longer hours and harder than ever before. We pivoted in a matter of days to completely adapt an entire institution to a new situation. Tens of thousands of educators and hundreds of thousands of students log on to platforms daily — despite systemic gaps in funding for devices, internet access, and even electricity. We have provided meals, instruction, extracurricular activities, parent and family workshops, and grief counseling to those who have lost loved ones to the virus — while struggling to bring our own families through this crisis. Suggesting that we return to campuses in the current circumstances demonstrates a lack of empathy, compassion, and understanding for your constituents.

The hybrid plans to return to campus are insufficient to guarantee health and safety. We can see examples of this in surrounding school districts and other cities and states — which have opened and closed without consistent messaging or support — leaving students, teachers, and families scrambling to plan and find consistent routines during an already stressful time.

Calling for a safe reopening of schools should include a comprehensive plan to vaccinate educators and the families of our most vulnerable students. A safe reopening should include discussions with our labor unions, district leaders, and low-income Black and brown families whose children attend our schools. A safe reopening should include advocating for more funding and resources for your community, not shifting our already-limited resources to a legal battle over our health and safety.

Editor’s note: More than 800 teachers from schools through the 15th Council District signed on to this letter.