Community Organizations Join Los Angeles Unified’s Efforts To Request Vaccinations
Be Made Available Immediately For Teachers and School Staff
LOS ANGELES – Feb. 11, 2021 – Nearly 60 community organizations today sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis to request vaccinations be made available immediately for teachers and school staff so that students can return to school classrooms as soon as possible, in the safest way possible.
The organizations, ranging from the Alliance for Children’s Rights and Communities in Schools of Los Angeles to United Way and the YMCA, and elected officials from cities across the Los Angeles area, serve the needs of hundreds of thousands of businesses and individuals.
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner, who is leading state advocacy efforts on school reopening with the superintendents of six other large school districts in California, as well as with all of the labor organizations which represent the more than 75,000 employees who work in Los Angeles Unified, commented, “Community leaders agree, we need to vaccinate school principals and bus drivers, teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians and librarians so we can reopen schools.”
LETTER:
February 11, 2021
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Governor of California
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Hilda L. Solis
Chair, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
First District
856 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA, 90012
Dear Governor Newsom and Chair Solis—
Every day, our organizations serve children and families in communities throughout the Los Angeles area. We have seen the devastating impacts of this pandemic on the health and education of students and their families. We request your leadership in immediately making vaccinations available for teachers and school staff so that students can return to school classrooms as soon as possible, in the safest way possible.
A critical part of reopening school classrooms will be creating a safe school environment, and that includes providing vaccinations to all who work in schools. This not only will protect the health and safety of the essential employees in schools, but will provide enormous benefit to children and their families, leading to a faster reopening of schools and of the economy more broadly by enabling working families to go back to work.
Prioritizing vaccines for those who work in schools is a matter of equity for public school students in the communities we serve. More than 80% of families served by LA Unified live in poverty; 83% are Black and Latino residents. The virus is having a disproportionate impact on low-income communities of color. Age-adjusted deaths due to COVID-19 in the lowest-income areas are nearly three and a half times that of more affluent areas. School-based testing of children in December by LA Unified showed that one in three children in lowest-income areas tested positive, compared to one in 25 in more affluent areas.
Schools provide a safe haven for so many students and families. It is time to help school staff get safely back to serving students and mitigate the mental health and learning challenges caused by this crisis.
California can regain a national leadership role in the fight against COVID-19. New York has begun providing vaccinations to those who work in schools and Kansas City has committed to provide vaccinations to all school district staff this month. Locally, vaccinations are available in Riverside for residents who work in education and childcare. Long Beach began providing vaccinations to school employees in late January. A clearly articulated plan to provide vaccinations to school staff in the nation’s second largest school district can be a model for other school districts around the country.
We urge you to take action to ensure school employees receive immediate access to the vaccine. Students and families cannot wait, and our communities cannot continue to suffer such immense loss of life, health, and financial security. Please help us restore the promise of a brighter future for children.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,