Councilmember and LAUSD Dad Joe Buscaino Wants the City to Sue the District to Reopen Schools
/
Los Angeles City Councilmember Joe Buscaino, a father of two LAUSD kids who is married to a veteran Los Angeles Unified teacher, wants the city to follow in San Francisco’s footsteps by suing Los Angeles Unified to reopen schools.
San Francisco took the unprecedented step of suing its own school district this week to try to force a reopening. Buscaino plans to bring a motion to the city council to have Los Angeles do exactly what San Francisco did — “initiate legal action against the LAUSD for their failure to reopen schools.”
“I stand with the 1500 pediatricians in Southern California as well as the Director of the CDC who are calling for the reopening of schools,” he said in a statement released Thursday. “It has been nearly a year since our students attended classes in person…I feel obligated to take a stand.”
Buscaino’s two kids – a son who is a senior at San Pedro High and daughter in 8th grade at Dana Middle school – are “thirsting to get back,” he told Speak UP in a Zoom interview Thursday.
“I’m concerned for the mental health of our students,” Buscaino said. “My daughter broke down the other day and said, ‘I just miss seeing my teachers and my friends.’ And my son, he’s had a shitty senior year. He’s worked so hard to get to this point.”
With United Teachers Los Angeles refusing to make a deal to have teachers return to campus even when the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health allows it, Los Angeles Unified has closed its doors entirely to students, failing to even offer federally mandated services to students with disabilities.
Despite the fact that COVID case numbers have plummeted in the past two weeks, UTLA and LAUSD say it’s unsafe to have any kids served on campus, even the 25% of the highest-needs kids the Health Department is currently allowing on campus to receive services and instruction.
Nevertheless, LAUSD opened its doors Thursday to a group of child actors filming a show for Apple TV at Kester Ave. Elementary in Sherman Oaks, which Buscaino described as “outrageous, irresponsible and unfair.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director on Thursday said that schools can reopen safely with the mitigation measures that LA Unified has in place ready to go. LAUSD has a universal COVID testing program, PPE and upgraded ventilation systems, among other measures. The Southern California chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics on Wednesday also called for schools to reopen immediately.
“Let’s trust the data and the science coming straight from our new president’s [administration],” Buscaino said. “If the data and science indicate it’s safe to open our schools, then open our schools.”
Buscaino’s wife, Jay, who taught in the classroom at LAUSD for 20 years and recently became an administrator for the district, said that most teachers want to return, and the union is not accurately representing the wishes of its members.
“We just did a survey, and two-thirds of the employees are ready and willing to come back to work, and the ones who aren’t, they can stay home and do online teaching,” she said.
Even though teachers have been prioritized to receive the vaccine, Gov. Gavin Newsom echoed the CDC Wednesday in saying that teacher vaccination should not be a prerequisite to return to the classroom. UTLA’s president, however, says that getting teachers vaccinated is not even enough to make them return to the classroom.
Buscaino said he’s frustrated by the inaction. “The governor is saying one thing. The county is saying another thing. And who is suffering the most? Our kids,” he said.
When Buscaino saw the San Francisco lawsuit, he decided he wanted to act and received support. “I’m coming at this as a father,” he said, but “my sister [also an LAUSD teacher] said, ‘Good for them. Good for San Francisco. Why not us?’”
