Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez is one step closer to becoming the top education official in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted during a public meeting on Tuesday to recommend Martinez to be the next commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Nine of 11 members of the Massachusetts board voted for Martinez. The other two abstained. Both said earlier in the meeting that they supported candidate Lily Laux, the former deputy commissioner of school programs at the Texas Education Agency.

The board will now send its recommendation to the Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, who must give final approval and is also currently serving as the department鈥檚 interim commissioner. However, Tutwiler, who also sits on the board, said he supports Martinez and voted yes for him.

Martinez, without cause in December, was for the Massachusetts job and one of 42 people who had applied. If he takes the job, he will be responsible for overseeing and providing state support for Massachusetts鈥� roughly 400 school districts. He would also become the first Latino to have the job, according to a press release from Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

鈥淭his is someone who has had progressive experience in increasingly larger and more complex organizations with significantly increased, let鈥檚 say, political situations that they have to balance,鈥� said Matt Hills, the board鈥檚 vice chair, during the meeting. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day, this is someone who has been able to lead large organizations to get pretty significantly positive results in key education priorities that we have.鈥�

Several board members said they were impressed by Martinez鈥檚 leadership experience 鈥� with some generally noting controversy he鈥檚 faced 鈥� as well as his interest in students from low-income households and those learning English as a new language. Another noted she was impressed that he was able to raise teacher salaries in Chicago, which most recently came after with the Chicago Teachers Union.

Martinez鈥檚 firing was fueled in part by a tense disagreement with Mayor Brandon Johnson and

Board member Martin West said he was concerned about Martinez鈥檚 lack of state experience relative to Laux, but he found through Martinez鈥檚 interview that district leadership is 鈥渋n some ways more similar to the state role in terms of the levers available for driving change.鈥�

Board member Ericka Fisher said she felt Martinez was the sort of candidate who 鈥渃an stay standing and continue fighting the good fight鈥� in the face of the education climate both in Massachusetts and under the Trump administration.

The board鈥檚 decision comes after it interviewed Martinez and two other finalists at an hourslong public meeting last week. Martinez attended that meeting in person and spoke about a variety of topics, including serving English learners, students with disabilities and efforts to expose students to early college programs.

In a statement, Martinez said he is 鈥渉onored鈥� to be selected for the job and that Chicago and CPS will 鈥渁lways hold a special place in my heart.鈥�

鈥淚 am committed to finishing the school year strong here and will leave CPS in mid-June with a deep sense of pride and optimism for its future, knowing the district is in strong hands and moving in the right direction,鈥� Martinez said.

Once the education secretary finalizes the board鈥檚 recommendation, Martinez plans to accept the job after negotiating terms of his contract, according to a source close to the CEO.

The Massachusetts board chair previously said she hoped to have a commissioner in place by July 1, according to Jackie Reis, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Per his CPS contract, a firing without cause allows Martinez to stay at the district through June.

Before CPS, Martinez was the superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District and held various education roles in Nevada.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat.听Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at .

A Cook County Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday that the Chicago Board of Education may not block schools chief Pedro Martinez from doing his job and may not attend teachers contract negotiations without his approval.

Judge Joel Chupack granted Martinez鈥檚 request for a temporary restraining order in a Christmas Eve ruling from the bench, marking another dramatic turn in the power struggle between the CEO and Mayor Brandon Johnson鈥檚 hand-picked board members.

The board on Friday, meaning he will stay on the job for another six months and collect more than $130,000 in severance pay. As part of that vote, the board said it would modify Martinez鈥檚 powers without specifying how.

But on Tuesday, the judge ruled that the Board of Education members are barred from 鈥渙bstructing鈥� Martinez鈥檚 鈥減erformance of his job duties.鈥� They also cannot attend the district鈥檚 high-stakes contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union 鈥� as three did on Monday 鈥� without first getting permission from Martinez, the ruling said.

Board members also cannot attempt to manage any of Martinez鈥檚 staffers, the ruling said.

Another court date has been set for Jan. 9.

鈥淧edro Martinez is still the CEO, and there鈥檚 no question about that,鈥� said Bill Quinlan, Martinez鈥檚 attorney. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have the right to restrict his duties and limit his statutory obligations.鈥�

Jeremy Glenn, an outside attorney representing the Chicago Board of Education, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday鈥檚 ruling.

At least three school board members took the unusual step of without an invitation from the CEO or the mayor. Martinez鈥檚 lawyer demanding board members cease and desist from attending, describing it as 鈥渦nlawful interference鈥� with Martinez鈥檚 authority.

After Tuesday鈥檚 ruling, Martinez told reporters that the current board 鈥� picked by a mayor who is a close ally of the teachers union 鈥� could 鈥渇orce a contract down our throats,鈥� and that CPS鈥檚 negotiating team considered resigning en masse when board members showed up to Monday鈥檚 negotiations and attempted to interfere, For his part, board President Sean Harden said he and others attended simply to support CPS鈥檚 team.

During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates acknowledged that no one but Martinez is in charge 鈥� and that he should be ready to take the blame if the recent progress stalls in .

鈥淧eople get to say that this contract is being bargained with the Chicago Teachers Union and Pedro Martinez, so we look forward to finally seeing him on Thursday,鈥� Davis Gates said.

Martinez has not attended negotiations. Typically, school district CEOs and superintendents leave contracting negotiations for district bargaining team members with rare exceptions, such as when a deal is nearly at hand.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.  Sign up for their newsletters at . 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson鈥檚 hand-picked school board voted Friday to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, taking a step their predecessors had resisted and capping a months-long campaign by the mayor and teachers union to oust the schools chief.

The board voted unanimously to fire Martinez without cause, which under the terms of his contract means he will stay on the job for six more months 鈥� through the end of the current school year 鈥� and then receive severance pay of about $130,000.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not right,鈥� an angry and emotional Martinez told reporters after the vote.

鈥淥bviously I鈥檓 disappointed by the board鈥檚 decision tonight,鈥� he said, adding that he would ensure a smooth transition for the next CEO. 鈥淟eading the system that shaped me has been an opportunity of a lifetime.鈥�

The firing was a dramatic culmination to months of turmoil that pitted the mayor and the teachers union 鈥� a close ally that catapulted him into office 鈥� against Martinez. The unprecedented development comes weeks before begins work. It also comes as the district enters a decisive phase in its high-stakes over a new contract.

Martinez made Friday to save his job before the vote. His attorneys filed motions seeking to block his potential firing, alleging board members were appointed 鈥渢o do the bidding鈥� of a mayor and teachers union that have 鈥渟capegoated鈥� Martinez.

According to a source close to the CEO, Martinez earlier turned down a settlement offer of more than $500,000 to depart, which would have amounted to salary and benefits owed to him for the remainder of his contract.

CTU issued a statement after the vote saying Martinez was stalling by not agreeing to a new union contract that 鈥済uarantees every CPS student a quality school day, protects recent academic gains, and provides classrooms with the resources our students and families deserve.鈥�

鈥淲e look forward to the road ahead for CPS, and we urge the board and the mayor to step into the leadership gap that the CEO has created and choose a future candidate who understands the assignment,鈥� the statement read.

Ahead of the vote, incoming elected school board members, education organizations, and former CPS CEOs Arne Duncan and Janice Jackson in support of letting the new board decide Martinez鈥檚 fate. That list grew Friday to include U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia and Yesenia Lopez, an incoming elected school board member who was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union 鈥� which cast a vote of no-confidence in Martinez in the fall.

At the meeting, a group of principals expressed support for Martinez and raised concerns about CTU proposals that they feel will take away instructional time from children. The principals union has expressed similar concerns over the past several weeks. Meanwhile, Jackson Potter, vice president of the CTU, said the union has made more progress in negotiations this week and wants a swift deal.

More than a dozen elected officials also spoke 鈥� both in support of and against Martinez.

Tara Stamps, a Cook County commissioner, former teacher, and CTU staffer, blamed Martinez for schools on her home turf of the West Side that still have 鈥渃hronic underfunding鈥� and 鈥渃rumbling infrastructure.鈥�

鈥淧edro Martinez鈥檚 leadership have left these schools in a drought and our teachers and our students are paying the price for that,鈥� Stamps said.

Others called for the board to wait. Jennifer Custer, an incoming elected school board member who was backed by the CTU, asked the board to hold off on a decision. She also criticized the union鈥檚 contract proposal.

鈥淎re you going to condemn the first elected board to serve in a capacity where our sole job for the next two years is not to address student outcomes and making CPS a better place, but to figure out how to steady the ship in the wake of the chaos that is created by the decision to fire a CEO mid year and inevitably agree to a contract that we can鈥檛 afford, and while the district suffers financially already?鈥� Custer said.

After the public comment period, the board met in closed session. After 90 minutes, members emerged and voted Martinez out without comment. The board then left without taking any questions from reporters.

Tensions stem from district鈥檚 money woes

The conflict between Martinez and the mayor鈥檚 office reflects a fundamental rift over how the district should navigate a time when and major .

The union and Johnson have argued that the district should add more staff, reduce class size, and agree to a litany of other proposals. The mayor鈥檚 team suggested over the summer that 鈥� and then redouble its push to line up new revenue from the state or other sources. The Martinez administration countered that any prospects for new funding are uncertain, and the district should avoid adding to its significant debt burden.

The previous appointed board 鈥� under pressure to oust the CEO and take on the loan 鈥� in October. While that board with Martinez, it wasn鈥檛 prepared to fire him, sources previously told Chalkbeat.

Johnson . He four of them would continue to serve, while three will step down because they are not eligible based on where they live. The mayor announced six other appointments to the new board and has yet to name one more.

More recently, the fate of schools in one of the city鈥檚 largest charter networks has proven divisive.

The board and the mayor鈥檚 office criticized Martinez for not acting aggressively enough to find alternatives to planned school closings at Acero charter school network. On Friday, the Board of Education approved a resolution to cover Acero鈥檚 budget deficit to keep all seven schools open next school year. The board also directed CPS leadership to create a plan to transition five of the campuses into CPS schools for the 2026-27 school year.

Martinez oversaw pandemic rebound, new strategic plan

Martinez by Johnson鈥檚 predecessor, Mayor Lori Lightfoot. He arrived at a turbulent time 鈥� as school buildings reopened for full-time in-person instruction after being shuttered during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak 鈥� and began the work of addressing the pandemic鈥檚 academic and social-emotional damage.

By some accounts, Martinez鈥檚 tenure has brought a measure of stability after COVID鈥檚 massive disruption. His administration has touted data showing the district鈥檚 students have than most other districts across the country.

During his roughly three years at the helm, Martinez presided over a significant expansion of the district鈥檚 workforce, using and support staff.

He also oversaw the adoption of a controversial plan to and an this spring that ; instead, the district now provides base staffing positions to all schools and factors in a school鈥檚 level of student needs in budgeting for additional positions and support.

Martinez was also at the helm when thousands of migrant children from Central and South American countries enrolled in the district鈥檚 schools, leading to for students at many schools, particularly those in low-income, Black communities.

On the day the previous school board passed a new 鈥� which focuses on Johnson鈥檚 priority of boosting resources for neighborhood schools 鈥� the mayor asked Martinez to resign.

When Lightfoot appointed Martinez, a Chicago native and former CPS chief financial officer, he was the superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District. Johnson chose to keep Martinez in the role after defeating Lightfoot in the 2023 mayoral election 鈥� which teachers union president Stacy Davis Gates said at the start of this school year she requested of the mayor. The union said at the time that the CEO appeared to be ushering in a new era of more collaboration and better rapport between the CTU and district officials.

But things changed this summer amid over an extensive, Martinez, along with the Johnson-appointed school board, balked at taking on the Johnson had urged the district to take out the loan to pay for the contract鈥檚 costs and cover a $175 million payment to a city pension fund that covers non-teaching staff.

The CTU had lambasted and argued the city should continue to cover it as it had in the past. The Johnson administration has in part blamed the city鈥檚 budget woes on that pension payment. On Monday, the Chicago City Council narrowly passed Johnson鈥檚 $17.1 billion budget plan after a bruising two month budget process during which even his progressive allies criticized his leadership.

Martinez said in September that , citing a need for stability in a district roiled by frequent leadership turnover in recent years.

In recent weeks, the teachers union intensified its criticism of Martinez, even as his administration in the coming years and benefit increases at no cost to teachers, among other concessions. Union leaders have said Martinez is resisting union staffing, class size, and other proposals that would transform a district historically plagued by inequities in the student experiences among campuses and neighborhoods. They also claimed Martinez didn鈥檛 lobby for more state funding aggressively enough or make a plan for the expiration of federal COVID relief money.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at . 

showed that candidates backed by the powerful Chicago Teachers Union won four seats, one of them unopposed. Meanwhile, pro-school choice candidates backed by wealthy donors won three seats, with three seats won by independent candidates.

The independents include a rapper who beat three opponents on the city鈥檚 South Side. said he ran to ensure that every school gets a registered nurse, a librarian, counselors, tutors, support staff and quality arts instruction.

The 10 new board members will join 11 others who will be appointed in coming weeks by Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer.

鈥淭here’s a lot going on here,鈥� said Hugo Jacobo of , a nonprofit that supports independent school board candidates.

Groups that advocate for charter schools spent about $3 million on the race, The Chicago Sun-Times , with the union spending about $1.6 million on its endorsed candidates through its own political action committees and at least eight other PACs. Other estimates show the union spending more than on the races.

The union鈥檚 preferred candidate came up empty in District 3, one of Chicago鈥檚 most politically progressive areas. A reform-oriented candidate, , beat union-endorsed candidate by 12 percentage points, despite a reported $300,000 in donations. The union painted a more positive picture Tuesday night, with President Stacy Davis Gates , 鈥淏illionaires spent a lot of money to get three out of 21,鈥� referring to the larger board that will eventually be seated. 鈥淚 keep telling you, it鈥檚 cumulative. It keeps getting bigger and it keeps growing. And we want more people for this group project.鈥�

Tuesday鈥檚 results push Chicago Public Schools, the fourth-largest school system in the United States, into a new phase, with observers saying a fully elected board could improve schools and make them more responsive to parents and taxpayers. 

But whether the shift will curb the system鈥檚 recent chaos is another matter. 

Last month, the entire seven-member board resigned after Mayor Brandon Johnson threatened to oust schools CEO Pedro Martinez. Johnson had appointed six of the seven members . 

He brought in a new board, but a week later the newly appointed president, the Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson, after news reports revealed he鈥檇 written antisemitic and sexist posts on social media and posted that he agreed with a theory that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were an 鈥渋nside job.鈥�

Tuesday鈥檚 split result, while offering what will likely be a variety of perspectives on finances, management and curriculum, is bound to be just the beginning of a new, and perhaps even more tumultuous era 鈥� for one thing, all 21 seats, including the 10 from Tuesday, will be on the ballot in 2026.

“This first cycle was really a warm-up for 2026, when all 21 seats are up for election and the stakes are real,鈥� said Peter Cunningham, a former head of communications for the district and founder of the nonprofit .

Cunningham, who also served as a spokesman for U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, said Tuesday鈥檚 election 鈥渂ecame a referendum on Mayor Johnson and the teacher’s union because of the chaos at the board over the last few months. They did not get a clear mandate to pursue their more controversial policy proposals, but they will likely do it anyway because this is their last chance to control the board.”

The range of ideologies among fully elected board members could fuel further drama, said Meredith Paige, a mother of two high schoolers and leader of , an advocacy group.

鈥淭he chaos is going to continue,鈥� she said.

From appointed to elected board  

For nearly 30 years, Chicago鈥檚 mayors have enjoyed the right to appoint and dismiss board members, with the city standing for decades as one of just a handful with mayoral control 鈥� New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Detroit are among others where mayors still wield considerable power over school policy. 

Until now, Chicago Public Schools was also the school district in Illinois that didn鈥檛 have an elected board. But the state legislature in 2021 ordered the city to transition to a fully elected, 21-seat board. 

It may take a while for the changes to sink in with voters, said Paige, who canvassed in neighborhoods last week and met 鈥渁 lot of people who had no idea that there was a school board election.鈥� Others believed Chicago already had an elected school board. 鈥淪o that’s been a problem the whole time,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ven now, parents don’t understand how this is going to work.鈥�

Among the first business items the hybrid board will face in coming months: whether to terminate the contract of Martinez, the schools CEO, who has served since 2021. They must also decide whether to approve Johnson鈥檚 push to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to defray short-term expenses, including a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching employees.

The district faces a projected deficit of $505 million next fall, due partly to rising healthcare costs and the expiration of federal ESSER pandemic funds. Johnson鈥檚 predecessor, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, also shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in pension costs from City Hall, which had historically underwritten them, to the district.

And the city is also hemorrhaging students: enrollment has dropped by 20%, or more than 80,000 students, since 2010.

In July, Martinez and the school board proposed a $9.9 billion budget that aimed to close the deficit through staff cuts and freezes affecting nearly 250 jobs. The board authorized the budget as written, but relations between the mayor and the district soured. 

Johnson has proposed taking out a $300 million loan to fund teacher pay increases and pension contributions, and he in October for comparing his critics to confederates who opposed freeing slaves 鈥渂ecause it would be too expensive.”

Even if both sides agree on a new source of spending, the district and the union are also engaged in a contentious negotiation over the terms of the next teacher contract. One estimate said paying out an expected series of teacher raises and taking on more pension debt from the city could increase its deficit to nearly $1 billion. 

Despite Johnson鈥檚 bid to fire Martinez, the CEO remains popular, said Jacobo of Chicago Democrats for Education. 鈥淗e’s the only one really concerned about the financial situation of our city and our school district system, so people want someone responsible like him to stay.鈥�

Paige, the parent advocate, agreed. 鈥淭he mayor and CTU want to fire the CEO, who has brought a lot of stability to the district. So there’s a lot of frustration over that.鈥�

She said the bitter, two-week in 2019 is also having lingering effects: 鈥淭here’s still a lot of toxicity in the system over that 鈥� and just a general鈥� she hesitated, 鈥溾�榝rustration鈥� is the nicest word I can think of right now 鈥� that the mayor seems so disconnected from reality of the financials that he wants to put the district in peril to pay the teacher’s contract.鈥�

The state legislature has given Chicago until 2027 to transition to a fully elected board, and despite the challenges, Jacobo said the change will be welcome.

鈥淚’m very glad that there will be a number of these new school board elected members who honestly are just not beholden to anyone but the parents, the voters in their district,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd when they talk, when they speak, it’ll be with a perspective of what is best for their community. I think it’s one step forward, but a lot of work to go.鈥� 

Good debt is an investment in something that will grow in value over time. For an individual, taking out a mortgage to buy a house might be a good type of debt.

But it鈥檚 risky to live beyond your means and take on debt if you don鈥檛 have a way to pay back what you borrowed.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is urging his city鈥檚 school district to take on some very bad debt. Rather than balancing this year鈥檚 budget through , Johnson is urging the district to take out . Worse, the loan would only delay those decisions until next year, when the city鈥檚 budget shortfall is projected to grow again, to .

Johnson is sticking with the idea, though, and the political fallout has come fast and furious. Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez balked, leading Johnson to call for Martinez to resign. Martinez refused, so Johnson then escalated the battle to the school board. Not only did his hand-picked board members refuse to fire Martinez, they resigned 鈥� sowing chaos just a month before the city’s .

It’s still unclear whether Johnson will get his way, but the loan is a bad idea. As district officials noted in leaked to the press, Chicago is already 鈥渢he largest junk bond issuer in the United States.鈥� Johnson鈥檚 plan would make that worse. It’s not exactly clear what terms Chicago would get on its proposed loan, but as of Oct. 14 were at 6.89%, and Johnson鈥檚 team has proposed the district take on a 20-year loan. At current rates, that works out to total payments of around $540 million. That鈥檚 before any fees, and it means Chicago would pay as much in interest over time as it would spend patching over this year鈥檚 budget deficit.

Moreover, a short-term loan would solve none of the district鈥檚 real budget problems. There are five big ones: high salaries and ongoing contract negotiations, overinflated staffing, declining enrollment, rising pension costs and the expiration of federal emergency COVID funding.

Let鈥檚 start with salaries. In 2019, the Chicago teachers union went out on an 11-day strike. Though its educators were already the , the district agreed to what then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot called a “” contract that raised teacher salaries 16% over five years and immediately raised the pay of teaching assistants, clerks and other workers by 40%. Amid the current budget fiasco, the union is now seeking for the next four years. The district won鈥檛 be able to afford those without substantial new investments from the state. 

The next factor is staffing levels. The 2019 union contract promised every school would have certain types of employees, regardless of the school鈥檚 size or enrollment. This has proven particularly costly. The district says it has 7,000 school-based staff members since 2019:  more teachers, special education classroom assistants, nurses, counselors and social workers. 

At the same time, the district has suffered large declines in student enrollments. Despite a small  uptick last year, the city has lost 38,000 public school students over the last five years, a decline of 10.5%. And yet, the political leaders in Chicago have stated they will not even consider closing underenrolled schools until .

Budgeting decisions like these would be anathema in any other industry, where leaders normally try to match up the number of employees with customer demand. When business at a restaurant is slow, it needs fewer workers; If a hospital has fewer patients, it needs fewer doctors and nurses.

Chicago Public Schools is doing the opposite. Its latest boasts that it will, 鈥渃omplete its transition away from a budget model that primarily relied on enrollment鈥� to prevent schools from going into death spirals, where fewer students leads to fewer staff which leads to further disenrollment. That may be admirable or even smart in some situations, but it鈥檚 also contributing to the current budget crisis.

Bubbling in the background is what in 2023 I dubbed “America鈥檚 Worst Teacher Pension Mess.” Chicago has two major pension problems. One is that it has to pay for its own pension costs, unlike other districts in Illinois, which are covered by the state. The district now pays more than $1 billion a year toward its teacher pension plan, and that鈥檚 still to meaningfully cover its unfunded liabilities.

But even more pressing is what to do about the pension costs for district employees who are not teachers and who are covered by a separate, municipal retirement plan. This issue has been a political football in Chicago for the last few years, with Lightfoot shifting the cost onto the district and the district now trying to shift it back. Those payments total $175 million this year.

And on top this all is the expiration of the federal ESSER funds. The district on directing 92% of the $2.8 billion it initially received toward schools and staffing. But another way to say that is that Chicago chose to invest 92% of its one-time relief funds in full-time school employees.

Now that the federal money is gone, Johnson is desperately trying to fill that gap. But taking on more loan debt won鈥檛 solve his city鈥檚 longer-term budget problems. For that, he鈥檒l need to come to terms with the pension challenges and address the staffing imbalance in Chicago schools. 

The entire seven-member Chicago Board of Education will resign in the coming weeks after months of tension between Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.

The resignations pave the way for Johnson to appoint new board members who could then carry out his wishes, including potentially firing Martinez. Johnson鈥檚 office said late Friday he will announce new appointments on Monday at 10:30 a.m.

Word of the resignations comes more than a week after the school board took no action to remove Martinez and about a month before the city鈥檚 first school board elections, which will create for the first time a hybrid board of 10 elected members and 11 appointed by the mayor. In three decades of mayoral control, no Chicago mayor has replaced all of their hand-picked members so quickly. Johnson last July.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter

The upheaval is also happening amid with Johnson鈥檚 former employer the Chicago Teachers Union.

In a joint statement Friday, Johnson and the current appointed school board announced all current members would 鈥渢ransition from service鈥� later this month.

鈥淣one of the members leaving the current Board planned to continue onto the hybrid Board, and none are running for election. With the unprecedented increase in Board membership, transitioning new members now will allow them time to orient and gain critical experience prior to welcoming additional elected and appointed members in 2025,鈥� the statement read.

Johnson said this week that he never discusses personnel issues in public. But he , 鈥淚 was elected to fight for the people of the city and whoever is in the way, get out of it.鈥�

In an interview with Chalkbeat, Jen Johnson, deputy mayor for education, youth, and human services, said the mayor鈥檚 office 鈥渄id not ask for resignations.鈥�

鈥淲e knew that none of these board members were running [for election] or going to stay, and so we collaborated to ensure that there was a shepherding, a passing of the torch, as we approach this new board,鈥� Johnson said, adding that all seven board members signed on to the statement the mayor鈥檚 office sent to the press.

Earlier this month, the mayor asked Martinez to step down 鈥� which he Nonetheless, Martinez and the has declined so far to fire him.

Board members have declined to comment publicly on Martinez鈥檚 clash with Brandon Johnson, but the board has in recent months backed Martinez in a couple of decisions that defied the mayor鈥檚 wishes. That includes adopting this year鈥檚 budget, as well as declining Johnson鈥檚 request for CPS to take out a short-term loan to cover some upcoming costs.

The board members stepping down are Board President Jianan Shi, Elizabeth Todd-Breland, who was appointed by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Mary Fahey Hughes, Tanya Woods, Mariela Estrada, Michelle Morales, and Rudy Lozano Jr.

Shi and Todd-Breland declined to comment further Friday. The other members have not returned emails or calls asking for comment on the resignation rumors this week.

The resignations will pave the way for Johnson to appoint new people to fill the vacancies on the board, who could then vote to approve a short-term loan and fire Martinez. The next school board meeting is Oct. 16, one of few remaining scheduled meetings before the is sworn in on Jan. 15, 2025.

鈥淭he board certainly will have the same authority, to evaluate the CEO against the objectives, and they will, you know, have to certainly tackle the incompleteness of the budget,鈥� Deputy Mayor Johnson said.

Johnson did not directly answer when asked if it is the mayor鈥檚 hope that the new board will fire Martinez and approve a loan.

The mayor 鈥渨ill work with this new board just as he did with the current board to ensure we are protecting investments in our schools and that we are not cutting and using the truly chaotic solutions of past administrations, which harmed students in communities for generations,鈥� she said.

In a statement, CPS CEO Martinez commended the board members 鈥渇or their steadfast dedication to ensuring greater equity in our system, emphasizing our collective responsibility to improve the quality of education for those who are furthest from opportunity.鈥�

If the mayor鈥檚 intention is to install a new board in order to fire Martinez, it would 鈥渂e a group that has never evaluated [Martinez], has never worked with him,鈥� according to a source familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak with the press. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know any of his work, they haven鈥檛 been part of any of these conversations.鈥�

That source also noted that new board members typically have an orientation, which could be difficult to wedge in before the board鈥檚 first meeting.

In order to conduct business, the school board must have a quorum, which define as 鈥渁 majority of the full membership of the Board of Education then serving.鈥�

Deputy Mayor Johnson declined to specify the exact date of departure for each current board member, calling the latter a 鈥減ersonal decision鈥� for each person.

A CPS central office staffer, who was not authorized to speak with the press, said the board 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 want to undermine the mayor publicly鈥� and feels board members were pressured to leave for not adhering to the mayor鈥檚 wishes. Another source familiar with the situation, also not authorized to speak with the media, questioned the official explanation.

鈥淭he mayor鈥檚 office will try to spin this as a transition,鈥� the source said. 鈥淭here is no credible explanation for why seven people would all leave a month or two ahead of time to facilitate a transition.鈥�

The mood in the CPS central office was 鈥渓ike a funeral home鈥� Friday as news of the resignations broke, according to the central office staffer, who said many people were sad to see the board departures.

鈥淵ou could tell they really care about what鈥檚 going on at the district,鈥� the staffer said, adding that they have worked with multiple CPS boards. 鈥淭hey have a sense of responsibility that I think I haven鈥檛 seen in the past.鈥�

Multiple board members had been in serious discussions to resign as of at least Sunday, three sources told Chalkbeat.

As rumors of resignations floated earlier this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said before new members are elected. Friday morning, former Chicago school board member and once interim-CPS CEO Jesse Ruiz thanking current board members and urging them to 鈥渟tay the course.鈥�

鈥淒espite all the pressures I know you all are under, I truly hope you continue to provide the steady leadership, governance and oversight that is critical for our public institutions to operate in the best interest of ALL its stakeholders,鈥� Ruiz , the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The school board shakeup likely won鈥檛 have an immediate effect on schools, students, and educators, said Jeffery Henig, professor emeritus of politics and education at Columbia University鈥檚 Teachers College, who has studied mayoral control of school boards.

The resignations 鈥渨ill create a potential embarrassment鈥� for the mayor, but also give Johnson a chance to 鈥渟tep in strongly鈥� and make swift decisions that he thinks are necessary, Henig said.

The turmoil could, however, create long-term problems for the new board, which may be tasked with replacing Martinez, hiring a permanent replacement, or addressing the issue of borrowing to cover costs, he said.

鈥淭his dramatic gesture by the current board could set into motion enough turmoil and public positioning and open vying for leadership in one faction [of the school board] versus another, that it would make it harder for the new board to set an even course at the beginning,鈥� Henig said.

Some candidates running for school board in the November election began issuing statements.

Kate Doyle, a candidate in District 2, said she was 鈥渄isappointed to see leaders step away鈥� at a critical time and that if elected, she would 鈥渨ork to ensure that decisions are made transparently and with the long-term success of our students in mind.鈥�

Tensions between Martinez, Johnson building for months

In its year-plus tenure, the Johnson-appointed Board of Education has pursued and approved policies that line up ideologically with the mayor. That includes making a commitment to moving away from , and

Martinez and his administration worked in tandem with the board to develop and implement those changes. But the school board has had some with his performance, WBEZ . According to documents related to his annual evaluation, board members felt blindsided or unprepared in certain circumstances. Still, CPS told WBEZ that the board and Martinez 鈥渉ave worked collaboratively throughout our tenure to have open dialogue, fostering a respectful and professional relationship.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 true that the board has been frustrated with Pedro along the way,鈥� said the source familiar with the situation. 鈥淏ut I do think that, in my knowledge of the situation, there has been this relentless pressure to fire Pedro for cause and do it quickly, and the board is not comfortable doing that.鈥�

According to Martinez鈥檚 contract, the board would need to provide six months notice before firing him without cause. If the board fired him for just cause, such as criminal activity, he would have to leave immediately. Martinez could sue the district if he believes he was wrongfully terminated.

At the heart of the tension between Johnson, his school board, and Martinez is the district鈥檚 budget, which faced a half-billion-dollar deficit before CPS made cuts to close it. That deficit existed largely because that the district used to beef up staffing and invest in new programs, such as tutoring, expired this week.

The district鈥檚 $9.9 billion did not set aside dollars for the new teachers contract, which it is currently negotiating. It is not unusual for the school district to amend its budget once a contract deal has been reached. WBEZ recently reported that the district has outlined several options, of furloughs and layoffs.

Johnson which included the same amount of funding for schools but resulted in other cuts, including of support staff who CPS said will be reassigned or paid for the rest of the year.

The district also did not include a $175 million pension payment for non-teaching staff that . Johnson opposed that cost shift before he became mayor, but has now asked CPS to continue paying it as he works to close .

Johnson was expected to deliver his city budget proposal in a speech to City Council on Oct. 16, but earlier this week the mayor鈥檚 office announced Johnson would deliver his budget on Oct. 30, a week after the school board is scheduled to meet.

Over the summer, Johnson asked CPS to take out to help pay for the cost of the pension payment and the added expenses of contracts for the teachers and principals unions. Martinez and the board refused, in fear that taking on such a loan would saddle the district with high-interest rates and deepen its looming deficit for years to come.

The board鈥檚 departure so close to the election will likely turn up heat on school board candidates, said Henig, the Columbia professor who has studied mayoral control.

鈥淚f the candidates haven鈥檛 been forced to address this, there鈥檚 gonna be a lot of pressure on them to address this,鈥� Henig said.

Union negotiations turn up heat on Martinez

The conflict is compounded by between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union, where Johnson worked as an organizer before his foray into politics. The union鈥檚 wide-ranging proposal package asks for 9% raises, more staffing, and more support for students, but the district has said its financial challenges remain 鈥� and less than 10% of the CTU proposals could create .

The union further turned up the heat on school district officials after saying it obtained a list of potential co-locations between 140 schools. The district, Martinez, and the Board of Education have said they have no plans to close schools. In letters to staff and families earlier this month, Martinez said the list was created as part of its analysis for the five-year strategic plan, and that it led district leaders and the board to affirm that they did not want to close schools.

The union鈥檚 House of Delegates recently passed a vote of no-confidence in Martinez.

Under state law, no school closures can happen in Chicago until Jan. 15, 2025. After the union鈥檚 claims over the past couple of weeks, the now-outgoing board passed a resolution Thursday, which Martinez prompted, that calls for .

This was originally published by . Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Sign up for their newsletters at .听

Offered the job by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, Carvalho in private, then presided over a televised school board meeting that featured three hours of supporters all but begging him to stay. In the end, Carvalho remained.

greeted the move in Miami, but it didn鈥檛 go over so well in New York, home to the nation鈥檚 largest school district: Eric Phillips, de Blasio鈥檚 press secretary, , 鈥淲ho would ever hire this guy again?鈥�

Four years later, Phillips has his answer: Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation鈥檚 second-largest school system.

The drama of the hire was underscored by Pedro Noguera, dean of the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, who likened the move to 鈥�LeBron coming to the Lakers.鈥� But Los Angeles offers only the most recent example of an oversize personality with huge ambitions taking over a district鈥檚 top job. Right now, all three of the nation鈥檚 largest school systems are run by energetic reformers, a rarity even in big-city schools circles.

All of them greet Spring 2022 full of promise 鈥� and problems. Over the next few years, they鈥檒l enjoy unprecedented funding as taxpayers throw billions of dollars at schools to scrub away deficits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But all three districts are rapidly losing students. And unions, emboldened by 2021 victories around remote instruction and, in recent years, high-profile strikes, could be formidable obstacles to their priorities. In Chicago, new schools CEO has already faced down a citywide teacher walkout.

In addition to Carvalho and Martinez, who are both immigrants, New York City Mayor Eric Adams in December named , the founder of a small network of public boys鈥� schools, as the new school chancellor. Banks鈥檚 schools have stood out for, among other reasons, employing many male teachers of color.

All three 鈥渄efinitely seem reform minded, which I think is super exciting and a real breath of fresh air,鈥� said , superintendent of the Catholic independent Partnership Schools network. 

鈥淚 think it really speaks to the moment we’re at as we’re coming out of COVID,鈥� she said. The pandemic 鈥減rovided an uncomfortable reminder鈥� of the need for leaders who will put children鈥檚 needs first. 

Billions in new funding 鈥� until 2024

Martinez, Chicago鈥檚 new schools CEO, is of Chiefs for Change, a group that advocates for increased school choice, effective teacher preparation, and standards-aligned curricula. But it also rails against 鈥渙nerous bureaucracy鈥� in schools. That credo will certainly be challenged by the sheer scale of federal intervention: some in COVID-related relief since 2020.

In New York, state lawmakers in 2021 increased funding to New York City by nearly half a billion dollars. By next year, a lawsuit settled last year to equalize urban school funding could bring that to $1 billion, said president of Bank Street College and New York City鈥檚 former senior deputy chancellor. 鈥淪o there is a significant infusion of new dollars into the school system that can be used to dig into systemic issues. And that’s very rare.鈥�

As in districts large and small elsewhere, the three leaders are 鈥渁ll drinking from a firehose鈥� of funding, said of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. But that also places extra responsibility on them: 鈥淣o one can blame lack of funding as their excuse for not getting things done,鈥� she said.

But unless Congress acts, all that extra funding will run out in 2024. None of the three new leaders agreed to be interviewed for this piece.

, who leads the AASA, the nation鈥檚 school superintendent鈥檚 association, said many leaders are using the cash to upgrade facilities. But spending it on generous raises or new instructional positions could actually put them at odds with unions, since those jobs won鈥檛 be sustainable.

鈥淭he financial cliff is only two years away,鈥� he said.

A 鈥榝riend of charters back at the helm鈥�

A product of New York City鈥檚 public schools, Banks cut his teeth founding and the network of five unionized Eagle Academy public schools in New York City and Newark.

While the schools aren鈥檛 charters, Banks has said he supports charter schools. He told in December that families 鈥渁re desperate for quality seats, quality schools 鈥� And if the traditional public schools were offering that, you wouldn鈥檛 see such a mass rush to the charter schools.鈥�

Banks created the Eagle Academy schools to serve academically struggling boys of color in grades six through 12 who often face harsh discipline. As chancellor, he said, his first priorities are to expand early childhood education, improve career pathways for older students, and to combat students鈥� trauma.

, president of the United Federation of Teachers, the city鈥檚 union, has known Banks for years. 鈥淚’ve been at his schools and I found them to be quite well-run,鈥� he said. All the same, running the largest school district in the nation will force him to tame the city schools鈥� 鈥渕ammoth bureaucracy.鈥� 

The last two mayors have restructured the school system six times, Mulgrew said. 鈥淎nd every time, all they did was add another layer.鈥�

In his , Banks on March 2 acknowledged that many families have 鈥渄ecided to vote with their feet, and to say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to find other alternatives and other choices for our children.鈥欌�� 

He promised an overhaul of the bureaucracy, including requiring district superintendents to reapply for their jobs. And he took direct aim at the way many schools teach reading, criticizing a method developed by a Columbia University Teachers College professor that 鈥渉as not worked鈥� with many children. He promised to shift to a method that emphasizes explicit phonics instruction, among other changes.

Banks has also said he鈥檇 like to transform city schools from the bottom up by handing to 鈥減rincipals who know what they鈥檙e doing,鈥� according to the speech. He also wants to tweak how standardized tests are used, allowing students to show they鈥檝e mastered content in other ways.

His ascendance stands in contrast to previous leaders who have looked suspiciously on the charter sector. New York actually caps the number of charter schools statewide at 460, with just 290 allowed for nearly 1 million students in New York City. While it鈥檇 take a state-level change to allow more, choice advocates said Banks can eloquently make the case.

鈥淚t feels to me like this is the moment where we can really see that there is a friend of charters back at the helm of New York City schools, which I think is really great to see, and I know is probably sending some shockwaves,鈥� said Porter-Magee.

So far, at least, Banks hasn鈥檛 forcefully pushed to lift the cap, in December, 鈥淲e want to scale excellence. So if that means opening a few more charter schools, that’s what we’re going to do … if we can get the state to approve it.鈥� But he said he鈥檚 also encouraging the philanthropic community 鈥渢o lean in on the traditional public school system, because at the end of the day, most of our children will continue to go to our traditional public schools.鈥�

Enrollment downturns

Carvalho, who led Miami-Dade schools for 14 years, has been able to compete with charters by creating centralized data systems that allowed him to keep track of students鈥� academic progress better than most big-city leaders during the pandemic, Rees said. 

A Portuguese immigrant, Carvalho grew up in Miami and worked restaurant and construction jobs early on. He came up through the ranks in Miami-Dade, starting out as a high school science teacher and becoming a new breed of area leader: one who sticks around. Before he took the top job in 2008, Miami-Dade 鈥渨as a revolving door for superintendents coming and going,鈥� Domenech said.

Sticking around paid off. In 2012, the district won the coveted $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education, which recognizes school districts that have shown academic improvement while narrowing the achievement gap. More recent findings from the district鈥檚 Office of Academics and Transformation paint a : While Black students鈥� graduation rates rose from 62.4 percent in 2011 to 85.6 percent in 2020, just 40 percent of Black students in 2019 were proficient in reading; 44 percent were proficient in math. 

With parents clamoring to remediate lost instructional time during the pandemic, Domenech said Carvalho brought in 鈥渁 very creative鈥� program that contracted with camps to provide summer school.

Carvalho鈥檚 long tenure 鈥� the average big-city leader sticks around 鈥� is 鈥渁 testament to his savvy in terms of the politics, in dealing with the board, in dealing with the community, in dealing with employee groups,鈥� Domenech said.

He鈥檒l need that savvy in Los Angeles, which also has recently featured a revolving door of superintendents, a strong union and an outspoken, ever-shifting school board 鈥� it currently has three seats open in the next election. In Los Angeles, Carvalho will work at the pleasure of the school board. Meanwhile, Banks and Martinez will work for the mayors of their respective cities.

During his second week at LAUSD, Carvalho unveiled a that includes expanded preschool, year-round learning and a 鈥淧arent Academy鈥� offering coursework to help parents understand their children鈥檚 education. He鈥檇 also lengthen the school year and offer teachers more professional development. He acknowledged that he鈥檇 have to negotiate with the city鈥檚 teachers union about those last two ideas.

Carvalho last month told 蜜桃影视 the district must expand school choice if it wants to keep from 鈥渂leeding out students鈥� from a system that, while much bigger than Miami, has fewer than one-third as many school choice options.

Los Angeles students, he said, basically have two choices at the moment: magnet schools and charter schools. 鈥淲hoever decided to restrict choice on the basis of those parameters?鈥� he asked. 鈥淲here are the programs in L.A. where we see long waiting lists of parents? Why aren鈥檛 we expanding more of those programs to where the demand is?鈥�

He has the district consider an 鈥渆xplosion of offerings鈥� for students, including dual-enrollment programs, International Baccalaureate programs, fine and performing arts magnet schools, and single-gender schools, among others. 鈥淚鈥檓 less concerned about the dynamic of dialogue that usually separates people into two camps: charter versus non-charter. I鈥檓 more interested in programmatic offerings that benefit kids 鈥� period.鈥�

Carvalho suggested that the district analyze which programs motivate students to travel long distances from their neighborhoods and offer more of these. 鈥淚 can fill an entire wall with a repertoire of options for parents. Why aren鈥檛 we offering all of that?鈥�

Throughout the pandemic, all three cities have struggled to retain and, in some cases, even find their students. All have seen in .

of the California Charter Schools Association said a crashing birth rate across California is a cause for concern. And net migration has actually dipped 鈥渋nto the negatives鈥� as home due to anti-immigration policies and economic uncertainty.

鈥淭his is not about 鈥楾he affluent went to Tahoe during the pandemic to hunker down,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭his is real and it’s permanent and it’s creating challenges across the state.鈥�

An 鈥榠nnovative and data-informed鈥� school integration experiment

Born in Mexico, Martinez emigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 5. He is in a family of 12 children with deep ties to Chicago鈥檚 public school system 鈥� three of his sisters and some 28 nieces and nephews attend local public schools. 

Martinez was working in finance for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2003 when then-Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Arne Duncan hired him as chief financial officer. He remained there until 2009 鈥� Duncan moved on to serve as U.S. Education Secretary under President Obama. Martinez made a name for himself leading the San Antonio Independent School District through a redesign, beginning in 2015, that 蜜桃影视 dubbed 鈥渙ne of America鈥檚 most innovative and data-informed school integration experiments.鈥�

Using family income data, he mapped poverty levels for each city block. Then he integrated schools not by race but by income and, among other factors, by parents鈥� education levels. Three years later, San Antonio鈥檚 90 schools and 47,000 students were among the fastest-improving in Texas.

In Chicago, he faces something entirely different: a 330,000-student system that鈥檚 as families leave the city. Recent enrollment data show that while 43,500 new students enrolled for the first time this year, 54,000 left between the last school year and this one.

On the job in Chicago for seven months, Martinez has already his first major crisis: the city鈥檚 teachers in early January voted to not show up for work until COVID-19 safety demands were met. 

Martinez proposed a host of measures, including building-level testing to determine when to close schools. But the union, with memories of an that ended with millions in extra spending, insisted on more strict measures, including negative PCR tests for all staff, students, and volunteers in order to keep schools open. 

The strike lasted just under a week after the district agreed to increase testing options, allow remote learning on a case-by-case basis, and secure more KN95 masks. Despite the agreement, union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates Mayor Lori Lightfoot as 鈥渦nfit to lead our city. She鈥檚 on a one-woman kamikaze mission to destroy our public schools.鈥�

鈥楾his is the moment that unions should be at their strongest鈥�

, a school consultant and occasional columnist for 蜜桃影视, said the political climate in all three cities reflects a desire by voters more broadly and parents specifically, to pull back from 鈥渟uper-progressive鈥� policies, such as the Defund the Police movement, to more centrist strategies that simply ensure a solid education for all. Parents 鈥渏ust want a school system they can count on, that’s reliable, that is just serving their kids.鈥�

, president of the education advocacy group 50CAN, said Adams, the New York mayor, campaigned on not just a return to moderation but normalcy: 鈥淭he schools are open, the subways are safe. The restaurants work. People are back in their offices. That’s almost nostalgia now, and people crave that. And I think these candidates got that. And their education choices reflect that too.鈥�

At the same time, unions are on the ascent. With their to in-person instruction amid COVID-19 spikes and a handful of recent in recent years, they鈥檝e seen their and influence grow after years of declining membership. 

鈥淭his is the moment that unions should be at their strongest,鈥� said , a resident senior fellow at the R Street Institute, a libertarian Washington, D.C., think tank. 鈥淭his is a health crisis, and unions are designed to make sure that they’re protecting the health and safety of their members.鈥�

But over the past few years, he said, unions in many places have 鈥渙verplayed their hands鈥� by demanding that instruction stay remote. The arrival of these new leaders may signal something different altogether: The new leaders are by no means union supporters, even if voters in each of their solidly blue cities are.

Rees, of the charter schools group, noted that Banks hired Dan Weisberg as first deputy chancellor. Since 2015, Weisberg has served as , a national nonprofit (formerly called The New Teacher Project) that has trained thousands of teachers outside of traditional teachers colleges. Since its founding in 1997, it has had a complicated relationship with unions. 

In 2018, after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt unions a blow by making a portion of members鈥� dues optional, Weisberg wrote that he disagreed with the decision, calling it 鈥渁 matter of basic fairness that teachers who reap the benefits of collective bargaining should also share in the costs.鈥�

But Weisberg also called the decision 鈥渁 blessing in disguise鈥� for unions, which he said 鈥渁re now forced to finally confront an existential threat that鈥檚 been brewing for years: They鈥檙e losing touch with more and more of their members.鈥�

Rees said Weisberg鈥檚 hiring 鈥済ives us confidence that there’s a new sheriff in town and that things are going to be a little bit different, or at least that the reform community and the charter school community will have a seat at the table.鈥�

That鈥檚 how long it鈥檚 been since more than half the nation鈥檚 schools crossed into the pandemic era.

On March 16, 2020, districts in 27 states, encompassing almost 80,000 schools, closed their doors for the first long educational lockdown. Within nine days, the nation鈥檚 remaining districts followed suit.

Since then, schools have reopened, closed and reopened again. The effects have been immediate 鈥� students lost parents; teachers mourned fallen colleagues 鈥� and hopelessly abstract, as educators weighed 鈥�pandemic learning loss,鈥� the sometimes crude measure of COVID鈥檚 impact on students鈥� academic performance.

To mark what will soon stretch into a third spring of educational disruption, 蜜桃影视 spoke with educators, parents, students and researchers about what Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University鈥檚 Edunomics Lab, called 鈥渁 seismic interruption to education unlike anything we鈥檝e ever seen.鈥� They talked movingly, often unsparingly, about their missteps and occasional triumphs, their moments of despair and fragile optimism for the future. [You can scan through our expanding archive of testimonials right here.]

As spring approaches, there are additional reasons to be hopeful. More children are being vaccinated. Mask mandates are lifting. But even if the pandemic recedes and a 鈥渘ew normal鈥� emerges, there are clear signs that the issues surfaced during this period will linger. COVID heightened inequities long baked into the American educational system. The social contract between parents and schools has frayed. Teachers are burning out.

鈥淭here are kind of two camps,鈥� said Beth Lehr, an assistant principal of Sahuarita High School, south of Tucson, Arizona. 鈥淭here’s the one camp of 鈥楾his too shall pass,鈥� and then there’s the other camp of 鈥榊eah, it’s going to pass, but I don’t know if I want to wait for it to.鈥欌��

But none of this was on anyone鈥檚 mind on March 16, 2020.

The World Health Organization had a pandemic only five days earlier. Two days after that, then-President Donald Trump called a . And in the Northshore School District, a system of 22,000 students northeast of Seattle, schools had already been closed for over a week. In late February, one of its schools shut for deep cleaning after an employee traveled out of the country with a family member who had become ill. The district鈥檚 closure offered a glimpse into what many thought would be a short-term disruption.

鈥業 realized it wasn鈥檛 science fiction鈥�

Susan Enfield, superintendent of Highline Public Schools in Washington: A very good friend of mine who works in the called me, end of February, and said, 鈥淚 think we’re going to close 鈥� and I think the rest of you won’t be far behind.鈥� I said, 鈥淣o way, there’s no way they’re going to close schools.鈥� I mean, I really was incredulous.

Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education: I was having brunch with my sister in Kirkland, Washington, when the news broke that there were multiple cases and deaths at the Life Care Center nursing home just a few miles away. My husband sent me a text telling me to get out of Kirkland right away, and everything felt ominous.

Marguerite Roza, Seattle-based director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University: My daughter and I were driving to go pick up some fish for dinner. In the car, they announced the governor’s order 鈥� it was with a bigger lockdown kind of order 鈥� and we walked into the fish market place, and the guy behind the counter goes, 鈥淗ave you heard anything yet?鈥� We were like, 鈥淵ep.鈥� And he goes, 鈥淲hat did he say?鈥� We said, 鈥淟ockdown.鈥� And he [grunts], 鈥淯hhhh.鈥� Already, the streets were pretty empty, and the first person we talked to was the guy packaging up our salmon.

Tony Sanders, superintendent, School District U-46, near Chicago: I was asked to serve on a statewide panel of superintendents 鈥� to provide guidance to school district leaders across the state. Our first meeting, held on Sunday, March 15, was attended by prominent legislators, state health officials, the deputy governor for education and state superintendent of schools. Hearing the projections of worst-case scenarios should we not 鈥渇latten the curve鈥� was surreal. At the conclusion of that meeting, where we worked to socially distance, but had no idea yet about the need to wear a mask, I made the four-hour journey home in complete silence and disbelief.

Michael Mulgrew, president, United Federation of Teachers, New York City: We started tracking this during the Christmas holiday. We had some teachers who were in China. We had them quarantine when they came back. I didn’t realize [things had changed] until March 16, the day after the New York City public schools closed. I was in my car driving around the city and I was shocked that the streets were empty. That’s when I realized it wasn’t science fiction. 

Bridgette Adu-Wadier: freshman, Northwestern University, graduate of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandra, Virginia: By the end of March, Gov. Ralph Northam basically announced that all the schools would be closed due to the pandemic for the rest of the school year. I watched the livestream, and I was texting my friends. One of them was actually really upset and crying about it, just because it was such a stressful situation to be in 鈥� like, things are never going to be the same again.

鈥榃e were completely unprepared鈥�

Parents, superintendents and others 鈥� many in a state of shock 鈥� had little time to plan as events unfolded at frightening speed.

Toni Rochelle Baker: family liaison for Oakland REACH, a parent advocacy organization, Walnut Creek, California: They gave us curfews in our city and then they told us to stock up for food. I don’t live my life like that. I’m a single mother. I go grocery shopping when I can. We get what we need, and now you’re telling me to stock up on food? That was scary. I didn’t have a deep freezer. I didn’t have extra money just laying around [to] go spend $300 on food. I didn’t have Wi-Fi at the time because I didn’t really need it. I have my phone, and now I need Wi-Fi for three people.

Maria Amado, family child care provider, Hartford, Connecticut, who opened her program for school-age children during remote learning: [Translated from Spanish] Educators, including myself, sewed masks for the children, and we looked for resources to support each other. Some gave fabric to make the masks, others the elastic. It may not have been in big ways, but they all contributed. And now I remember this and think, 鈥淲here did I find the time to make the masks?鈥� It was the adrenaline to survive, knowing this would protect me and I had to do it.

Tony Sanders: We needed to place emergency orders for Chromebooks and other devices. We had to completely transform our approach to food service so that by March 17 we were feeding our students and community at food pickup locations throughout the district. There were decisions that had to be made that I would never have thought of. We had to determine how we would ensure employees would continue to be paid. During the first days of the pandemic, I recall sitting alone in my office. The view from my window was a large parking lot with one vehicle.

Sherrice Dorsey-Smith, deputy director of programs, planning and grants, San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families: I had to figure out how we were going to open what we called emergency child and youth centers. These were spaces for essential workers to leave their children for the day while they were at work. Child care centers were closed, schools were closed, but some people needed or were required to continue working. They needed a safe place for their children during the day. I had to figure out how to get breakfast, lunch and snacks to all the sites. I remember working through the weekend nonstop, literally 48 hours.

Michael Mulgrew: It was a mad scramble to get everyone trained quickly how to get their classrooms up. How do we teach parents how to help their kids? It was non-stop. It was hundreds of decisions every day. Even though everything was closed, we were still moving stuff literally, like laptops and iPads and different things, trying to get them to our members鈥� houses so they had something to work off. [Former] Mayor [Bill de Blasio] had resolved never to close the schools, so he would not allow the Department of Ed to put any contingency plans in place. On the Friday before the schools closed, at 3 p.m., the mayor would be banging on the table saying he was going to keep the schools open. And that Sunday afternoon he closed the schools. So we were completely unprepared.

School, interrupted

As the deadline for lifting lockdown kept slipping away, some took longer to grasp the new reality: Life wouldn’t be returning to normal anytime soon.

Mariela Garcia: freshman at the University of Houston, graduate of Eastwood Academy High School in Houston: It was during spring break when we ended up having two weeks instead of one. And two weeks turned into three. This went on for a couple of weeks before we noticed that we weren鈥檛 going to go back to school. Stores started closing down, schools started closing, many things started closing because everyone was scared. That鈥檚 when I noticed that this was becoming very serious.

Dale Chu, senior visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute: I realized everything had changed 鈥� on May 10, 2020. How do I remember the date? My at-the-time 5-year-old daughter 鈥� after nearly two months on Zoom 鈥� drew a picture of her class for me. Seeing Kellan鈥檚 classmates through her eyes on a Zoom grid really hit things home for me.

Ricardo Miguel Martinez, president, Latino Parents for Public Schools, Atlanta: I had people worried about getting kicked out, evicted, lights being turned off, not having groceries. These are people who weren’t making excuses. The people who are fighting masks and stuff, they have a choice to either follow the data or not follow the data. God bless them in their fight. But these people didn’t have a choice. They got thrown into the chicken factories and died. They got thrown into manufacturing and died so that we could have chicken at the grocery store.

Mourning the lost

Some felt the pandemic鈥檚 effects up close: sick parents, dead teachers. This month, the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. , with an estimated 2,200 of them educators. Many of the effects have been harder to measure, but are certain to leave lasting damage. Recent four out of five secondary school principals experienced 鈥渇requent job-related stress鈥� last year, and educator surveys show over students鈥� mental health, including anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

Susan Enfield: We lost two middle school students to suicide early in the pandemic. We lost staff members.

Michael Mulgrew: I had to read the names of our members who passed away. I had to make the phone calls to those families. We lost a lot of members, and I always think that if we could have closed earlier, how many more would we not have lost.

Shawnie Bennett, a COVID-19 investigator, Oakland, California: I lost my brother [from COVID] in May of 2020. He was only 32. As a family, when we would gather to try and go see him or just sit outside the hospital window. We were afraid to touch each other, so it was hard to comfort each other. [My son] came home [from college] for Christmas, and he saw me so weak and broken. He had always seen a very strong Black woman as a mother. I was gone, emotionally wrecked, mentally, physically, and it broke him down to the point that he did not want to return to school. He’s in Atlanta now, got an apartment and he’s just trying to figure life out. He was very close to my brother. That loss, on top of what he physically saw me go through, was detrimental for him.

David Brown, principal, Hillcrest Heights Elementary, Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland: Family vacations, going out to eat, visiting family 鈥� I think all of those things disappearing created a milieu where it was tough to manage. And when you’re in charge of leading a large group of individuals, how do you help and support them? How do you keep your teachers upbeat? Because the mental health of every adult who receives a paycheck from our county impacts the mental health and the wellness of children who are just simply here to learn. I remember there was discussion that we’ll be able to eat and enjoy ourselves come the 4th of July, and then that didn’t happen. You’re holding out hope that it’s going away, but it’s not, and [you鈥檙e] trying to remain that positive, invigorating leader that the principal has to be.

Bridgette Adu-Wadier: Graduation was a really tough time. I don’t remember enjoying it, honestly. Just collectively, it was like a year or so of the pandemic, and then also, my family was impacted a lot financially, which was stressful. I was basically helping my two younger brothers through virtual school for the whole year. I had a lot more family responsibilities, and it took a toll on me mentally. I had trouble balancing things, especially with Zoom class sessions while my brothers needed help or were playing loudly in the other room. I relied on music and audiobooks as a form of escape.

Ashiley Lee, tech and operations coordinator, Para Los Ni帽os, a Los Angeles charter school, where last year she taught seventh-grade history: I remember being in a class full of blank screens, because we no longer required cameras on, and then after that, putting my grades in for the semester and realizing just how low they were. I was trying to brainstorm with my team: What is something, anything, we can do to encourage our students to at least get the one assignment we post a week in by the end of the semester? My kids, it was so funny, we started a joke where I would call on a student to answer a question and they wouldn’t be there 鈥� kind of a ghost in the call. And the kids would comment in the chat, 鈥淕hostbuster! Ms. Lee caught him.”

Marguerite Roza: The hardest part was when it looked like there was no reopening school. This was November of 2020. The governor had established these metrics by which you could open schools, and as far out as the modelers had modeled, it was never going to reopen. My then-high school daughter [a cross-country runner] was getting more and more discouraged. You could just see it was really not healthy for her, just to be home all alone every day. And you, as a parent, start to feel desperate. I used to listen to press conferences constantly. You could see that there wasn’t going to be any movement. I was very worried about her. The sports season had come and gone. School was online. I think that was probably the darkest time, which coincides in Seattle with it being really dark, [at] like 3:45. 

Mariela Garcia: Hundreds and thousands of people were dying because of COVID, and I was scared. I remember I had no interactions with the outside world for 鈥� I kid you not 鈥� at least three months straight. My family just did not want to leave our home. At the time, we had to adjust to online school. I had no Wi-Fi or laptop at the time, so it was hard to be in class and even submit assignments from my phone. It was definitely a very hard time, especially when family members started to get COVID.

Toni Baker: I had two kids at the table with computers doing virtual learning and I had no idea what that meant. They told us to sign on to some Zoom that I’ve never heard of before. I’m in love with my kids, but my kids were on my last nerves during the pandemic. Those four walls just weren’t enough.

Couch sitting, watching 鈥楩riends鈥�

The monotony of being stuck at home sparked new coping strategies: Cooking, at-home workouts, walking the dog 鈥� and of course . Some took long couch breaks. Others became entrepreneurs. Mariela Garcia started baking and ran a business from a local farmer鈥檚 market.

Mariela Garcia: My family actually bought the DVD set of 鈥淔riends鈥� and we just watched 鈥淔riends鈥� over and over and over. We’ve already seen each episode at least 10 times. We just keep it playing throughout the whole day because we don’t have any Wi-Fi or anything at home. I would not have started my business if it wasn’t for being in quarantine. I had so much more free time. I hate being that person, but the first time I ever tried my empanadas, they came out great, and I have not changed anything. 

Susan Enfield: A group of female superintendents from around the country 鈥� we refer to ourselves as 鈥渟ister supes鈥� 鈥� had a standing Sunday afternoon Zoom where we would just check in and get together. In the early months, that proved to be incredibly helpful, just remembering that we weren’t alone. Going for walks with my husband and also, frankly, allowing myself to feel pain and to grieve. I think as leaders we do need to inspire hope and let people know it’s going to be OK and be strong, but we also have to balance that strength and courage with vulnerability. There were weekends where I didn’t get off the couch. I’ve been pretty honest about that in conversations with others. I said to someone once, 鈥淚f one more person says, 鈥榊ou got this,鈥� I’m gonna smack 鈥榚m.鈥� A year and a half ago, I didn’t 鈥済ot this,鈥� and people were just lying. I’m sorry, they were just lying. I don’t think we do ourselves or our colleagues or anyone any service by faking it.

Beth Lehr, assistant principal, Sahuarita High School, Sahuarita, Arizona: I do not check my email at all on the weekends.

Toni Baker: I had a support system. They gave us vouchers for food. They gave my kids free computers. They gave us Wi-Fi. They had these teachers 鈥� I don’t even know where they found these beautiful teachers with these loving hearts for these kids. There was a teacher who had a grandma鈥檚 touch and a mom’s heart, and she was just so warm. This is through a computer. I’ve never met this woman to this day in real life. I had the community of Oakland REACH behind me. I wouldn’t have made it without them.

David Brown: When we were in person, I had 鈥渓unch bunches鈥� where I would eat lunch with the kids. So I went back to eating lunch virtually with the kids, and I found that really gave me a lot of positive energy. You find that you are equally, if not more, excited to see them in this virtual world than they are to see you. So it’s the, 鈥淗ey, Mr. Brown.鈥� It’s the big smile. It’s the camera coming on. It’s the home environment. It’s the parents waving in the background. I think all of that does a good amount to lift your spirits.

鈥楾he system itself is not changing鈥�

Confusing guidance and vitriolic debate left many parents feeling lost. They watched helplessly as their children disengaged from learning, but also worried that their kids would get sick if they returned to school. School leaders were caught in what felt like a non-stop, high-volume war of words with unions, parents and state officials. 

Pedro Martinez, CEO, Chicago Public Schools; former superintendent, San Antonio Independent School District: Texas did not prioritize teachers [for vaccines] in the first round, but they were pushing hard and threatening districts about keeping schools open. Meanwhile, the positivity rate, I remember in San Antonio, was over 21 percent. The death rate was five times higher in my district than it was in the more affluent parts of the county. I just remember the frustration. You want these things, but yet you’re not providing vaccines to my staff, who actually want to keep the schools open. 

Michael Mulgrew: The city doctors are telling us it’s going to be nothing but a cold and the schools could remain open. The kids are going to be fine. They’re not going to get it, and we’ll create herd immunity, and we’ll be safer faster than everybody else. Literally, that’s the conversation I was having with the mayor and his doctors. Our doctors are telling us the absolute opposite. They鈥檙e saying, 鈥淟isten, children might not be getting this at this point in time, but this is a serious virus and people are going to die.鈥� The big conflict was that first one. 

Marguerite Roza: I’m a data person. I really study the numbers, and I didn’t understand how a lot of people were driven by fear and couldn’t recognize what I was seeing. [They鈥檙e saying], 鈥淵our child could die,鈥� and I was like, 鈥淲ell, not really. The numbers here say, really, your child isn鈥檛 going to die. I promise you, driving to Grandma鈥檚 is more dangerous for your kid than this thing.鈥� You’re having two different conversations if you’re talking about numbers and you’re talking about fear. The fear was so dominant that the numbers people probably felt, out of respect, we should step back and be quiet. I don’t want to tell somebody who’s having a panic attack, 鈥淵ou’re overreacting.鈥� Looking back on it, I think that I probably kept my real views about the data quieter than I should have. I thought people were going to bounce out of it.

Mariela Garcia: We were able to pick whether to go back in person or stay online. I definitely wanted to go back. I missed my friends. I missed having class with a teacher right in front of me. My parents thought it was not a good idea. I was conflicted in making a decision, but for the good of my family, I decided to stay online for my whole senior year. That also meant no sports. I was so heartbroken because sports meant everything to me. I was unable to play my senior year. I had already claimed the captain position in my previous year playing, and I was looking forward to a great season. 

Parent power

The pandemic has dramatically changed parents鈥� relationships with their public schools, prompting some to seek new options and others to demand more from the schools their children attend. 鈥淚 think the pandemic has created some sort of awakening in parents that we’ve not seen before,鈥� Roza said. 鈥淚 don’t think there’s any putting that genie back in the bottle.鈥� 

Wendy Neal, executive director of My Child My Voice, a Houston-based advocacy group: I’m not saying the teachers are bad, I’m just saying that the parents were finding creative ways of being more of a teacher to their own child. Some parents were like, 鈥淲ell, if you’re not going to help my child, I’m pulling my kid out of your school. Either I’m going to homeschool, go to an education pod or go to a private school.鈥� Some of these parents really didn’t believe in charter schools either, and then all of a sudden, they’re putting their kid in a virtual charter school.

Marguerite Roza: In March of 2021, [my daughter’s school] finally got around to having their cross-country season outside, and they banned all parents from coming. They run three miles. They’re outside. It just got to the point where it was eye roll upon eye roll. A lot of parents showed up anyway, ’cause how are you going to keep parents off of a three-mile course, right? And we’re popping out of the bushes waving at each other. [It had been] a year, and we knew better. I should have marched out and said, “The evidence suggests we’re fine here,” but they were going to ban you and ban your team if you weren’t cooperating.

Sonya Thomas, executive director, Nashville PROPEL, a parent advocacy group: You would think that a pandemic would bring about a sense of urgency. We鈥檙e talking about decades of educational inequities, and what I’m seeing is that the system itself is not changing. It has actually grown richer in money. It has grown more savvy in messaging. And it’s hurtful. I鈥檝e got tears coming down my face now. I just had a friend who died this weekend. He couldn’t read. And I have to ask myself, 鈥淲hat has changed?鈥� 

Toni Baker: When this school year came around, the COVID was just everywhere. The previous year, they did the COVID tests, they did the sanitizer, they did the masks, they did all these precautions. And when school started back the next semester, all of that went out the window. I let it slide the first two days of school, but by the third day, I’m like, 鈥淲hat’s going on? Where are the masks? Where is this? Where is that? We’re still in this stuff, and it’s worse now.鈥� I had to make an executive decision as a parent. My kid鈥檚 class got exposed and I didn’t like the safety of it. I was worrying, like I had knots in my stomach. I had to remove my children from there. [My son鈥檚] class went on quarantine for a week and then I just never took them back.

Beth Lehr: I have one teacher. This is her ninth year. She has already resigned for next year. She said, 鈥淚 can’t do this anymore. I dread coming to work every day.鈥� She goes, 鈥淵ou know, I love the day-to-day of being in front of our kids. The second I have to open my email or grade their assignments is when I realize why I resigned.鈥� The emails. The constant onslaught of the very vocal unhappy parents. We have some amazing families, but we don’t hear the 鈥淭hank yous鈥� as often as we hear the 鈥淵ou sucks.鈥�

Lost learning

Educators love jargon. It鈥檚 not surprising, then, that lockdown introduced new terms like “COVID slide鈥� and 鈥減andemic learning loss鈥� to describe the academic fallout students experienced from months of remote learning. In June 2020, researchers at nonprofit assessment group NWEA were among the first to predict the extent of the chaos. The return to in-person learning helped. But as recently as December, from McKinsey & Co. showed that academic recovery has been uneven and gaps between Black and white students have widened. Educators also report challenges with student behavior, which many to the lack of socialization during remote learning.

Beth Lehr: The learning loss is going to be there. There’s going to be a new norm, but trying to jam more and more and more down their throats is not helping. Continuing to create these high-stakes environments and making kids feel less than because of something that was totally out of their control is not helping. Meeting kids where they are is. Why do they have to learn all these things, right? They have to learn it to be successful in the future. Great, what does that success look like? How are we redefining success, because honestly, right now, for some of these kids, success is getting out of bed and showing up.

Mariela Garcia: I’ve always struggled in math, and since it was online I feel like I wasn’t really learning as much as I could. When I got to college, I took trigonometry, and it was difficult. I had to get a tutor or stay after school. I had to study more on my own time. I had to take a test in person for the first time in two years. I struggled the first couple weeks, but once I got help and once I started studying, it’s just like riding a bike.

Ricardo Martinez: Seems like we’ve already stopped talking about it. A lot of people refuse to acknowledge it. They’re trying to change the conversation to CRT [critical race theory], anti-CRT. Let’s not worry about what’s not really happening and worry about what’s actually happening. Kids are getting more aggressive. They’ve lost social skills. We’ve lost a lot of learning, and I don’t think that the parents have been able to help because we barely know how to do what they’re asking us to do. I hope that we’re talking about learning loss until we catch back up, which should be in a few years.

Beth Lehr: [Students are experiencing an] emotional stuntedness, for lack of a better term. Freshmen are notoriously immature, but what we’re used to seeing as freshman behavior isn鈥檛 even freshman behavior. The 鈥�devious licks鈥� stuff [a TikTok challenge that included school property damage] 鈥� that was 100 percent only freshman. Oh my God, the soap dispensers were destroyed over and over and over again. We had to replace sinks. We had to replace toilets 鈥� not because they were stolen, but because they were destroyed. The older students were super-annoyed by the freshman because then we ended up having to lock our bathrooms during lunch. We’ve also had an increase in sexual infractions 鈥� not necessarily assaults. It’s consensual, but it鈥檚 much more frequent on our campus this year. This is my seventh year as assistant principal, and this year, hands down, we have had more issues with kids getting caught in positions that high schoolers should not be in.

Hosea Born, art and robotics teacher at Hope Academy of Public Service, Hope, Arkansas: We will be talking about it as long as there is the overwhelming reliance on standardized testing. The pandemic has shown us that adaptability is key, yet we are still measuring our students on how well they can take a test. Teaching a non-tested subject has allowed me to see the flexibility and amazing ways that students learn when there isn鈥檛 a looming requirement hanging over their heads. Some of my students haven鈥檛 had an art class since the start of the pandemic, but it is key for students to be able to create, and when given the opportunity, they have jumped right back in, and to me, are exceeding all expectations. 

Pedro Martinez: Last year, our district had 100,000 students who were disengaged, including seniors who would have dropped out. We got the majority of seniors to graduate. Same thing happened in San Antonio. What I heard from teachers directly was, 鈥淭hese kids are coming every day. These are the same students who we couldn’t get to engage in remote. They’re coming every single day.鈥� I saw the first-quarter grades. There are still gaps, but significant improvements over the remote year, and specifically with our kids of poverty and kids of color. That gives me a lot of hope. When we have the children in our schools, they actually do perform better.

Robin Lake: I think we will grapple with [learning loss] for as long as the COVID generation is alive. We鈥檒l be looking at the immediate impacts for probably a decade, but there are sure to be lasting effects on individuals and on the economy for many decades unless we can change the trajectory of our response. The question is how we鈥檒l be talking about it. Will the story be that we failed this generation of children, or will it be that we pulled together and found solutions for this generation, and designed a better education system for future generations?

A 鈥榝ive-alarm crisis鈥� for teachers

As they looked back, some recalled moments of doubt about perservering. According to from the National Education Association, the nation鈥檚 largest teachers union, more than half of teachers intend to leave the profession sooner than they originally planned. While some are dubious about 鈥�the Big Quit,鈥� NEA President Becky Pringle called teacher burnout and staff shortages a 鈥渇ive-alarm crisis.鈥�

Michael Mulgrew: I think most people in this profession thought of quitting throughout this thing. There were some really really tough times. The only way out of this is to go through it.

Susan Enfield: I don’t think I ever thought of quitting. There were moments where I thought I don’t know if I can do this, but that’s different than quitting. I never just was like, 鈥淚’m out of here,鈥� and my was not a response to the pandemic. I’m ready for a fresh challenge and Highline is ready for a fresh leader.

Beth Lehr: I’m so torn. I’ve applied for a principal position within the district, but at the same time I’m like, 鈥淲hy? Why did I just do that? What am I thinking?鈥� I haven’t yet gotten to the point where the stuff that I dislike about my job has outweighed the stuff that I like about it, but it鈥檚 hit or miss on a daily basis. 

鈥業 don鈥檛 use the term normal anymore鈥�

Like a sequel to a bad horror movie, the Omicron variant arrived just as educators and families thought they鈥檇 made it through the worst of the crisis. The sparked a spike in cases, resulting in further school closures and quarantines. But now, with increasing vaccination rates and a recent decline in positive cases, some states are lifting mask mandates. The nation鈥檚 three largest districts aren鈥檛 ready to let masks go, but some are starting to use a word they haven鈥檛 uttered in a while: hope.

Pedro Martinez: We’re now at a point where cases have been very steadily declining. Our city is now close to an over-70 percent vaccination rate. There are still gaps within my district, but I’m seeing good momentum, especially with 5- to 11-year-olds. We’re close to maybe half of our district that should be fully vaccinated within the next couple weeks. Over 90 percent of my staff are fully vaccinated. So it really gives me hope that we’re on the other side of this. There’s a chance that by springtime we could be talking about not wearing masks.

Susan Enfield: I am hopeful that in the coming weeks and months we are going to collectively adapt to a way of living, a way of working, that will feel more familiar to what we knew prior to the pandemic. I don’t use the term 鈥渘ormal鈥� anymore. I think entering that phase gives me hope.

Michael Mulgrew: The buildings built after the last pandemic have these really big windows. They actually were built that way so that you could open them to keep ventilation in case there was another pandemic. That literally became part of the code for schools after the pandemic of 1918. For a period of time last year, the teachers kept opening up the windows the whole way, and it’s like 7 degrees out. So, we had to produce this video for all the teachers about how you only have to open like half the windows about 3 inches each and you’ll be fine. One of the first cold days when we got back last month, I was in a school, and one of the teachers had windows open all the way. And I’m looking at the windows, and she touched my arm and she goes, 鈥淚 know I don’t have to open it that much, but my team teacher for 20 years died of COVID a year ago.鈥� I said, 鈥淵ou keep that window open any way you want.鈥�

Shawnie Bennett: I don’t think I will ever take off my mask.

Mariela Garcia: I’ve always been the type of person to talk to anybody, but it was different seeing people that I’ve never met before [at the University of Houston]. People have been socially awkward, and it’s hard to start a conversation. With my personality, I’m a happy person and I talk to anyone. So I鈥檓 going up to someone [last fall] like, 鈥淗i, nice to meet you,鈥� and they’re just like, 鈥淲hoa, 6 feet apart.鈥�

Beth Lehr: It’s so hard to see the end, and it鈥檚 so overwhelming. What I’ve heard more this year from my teachers than anything is, 鈥淲e thought that last year was hard. This year is 10 times harder.鈥� We鈥檝e had very, very low turnover. I do not foresee that being the case next year. There are kind of two camps. There’s the one camp of 鈥淭his too shall pass,鈥� and then there’s the other camp of 鈥淵eah, it’s going to pass, but I don’t know if I want to wait for it to.鈥�

鈥楢 true hunger for doing things differently鈥�

Two years of scrambling and false starts has offered ample opportunity to think about what has 鈥� and perhaps more to the point, what hasn鈥檛 鈥� worked for schools. If there鈥檚 another pandemic 鈥� and scientists say there undoubtedly , and soon 鈥� will anything change?

Christopher Nellum, executive director, Education Trust West: I think we now appreciate mental health in a different way. The past two years have been traumatic. We have been scared, sick, overworked, unemployed. We have missed vital human connection and even lost loved ones. We have witnessed a surge in racially motivated hate crimes and a national reckoning over police brutality toward Black and brown Americans. It鈥檚 OK to be struggling to feel OK in the face of all of that. It鈥檚 OK to talk about it. And we all deserve access to the resources we need to address it. 

Sonya Thomas: Parent engagement is not what we want. When you engage us, what you’re doing is bringing your own agenda and you’re saying, 鈥淭his is what we’re going to do, so get with the program.鈥� That’s what engagement means, right? 鈥淚’m bringing something to you, this is what you’re gonna get and you gotta just walk in line with it.鈥� I think what they’re learning is that we’re not going anywhere and we want parent partnership. We don’t want to be engaged. Throw that in the trash. That has never gotten anything for our children. What we want is true partnership. We want school districts to partner with us, intentionally take our feedback and use it. That builds trust. It鈥檚 not a talking point or a PR move. 

Dale Chu: If anything, we鈥檝e learned what doesn鈥檛 work. For example, asynchronous learning [without live teaching ] 鈥� homework, study hall 鈥� stunk. We also learned that huge doses of it left millions of students isolated from their peers, the toll from which we鈥檙e just starting to come to grips with.

Robin Lake: I hear a true hunger for doing things differently. People are saying, 鈥淵ou know, the way we ask teachers to teach alone in a classroom, trying to be expert in all things and serve vastly different needs, is crazy.鈥� I believe there is a powerful confluence of parents, educators and civic leaders who know things have to change and are determined to make that happen.

Michael Mulgrew: We never said [remote learning] was going to be the be-all-and-end-all. It was always a way for us to keep in contact, to keep our students engaged. Through the end of that [2019-20] school year, it really was more of a lifeline between teachers and students and their families. We thought it should have been more of a centralized process, but [the department] figured it’s better off to just let every teacher do their own thing. The majority of students really do regress in a remote setting. There was a small percentage of students who actually thrived in remote, so that says there’s something there we have to look at. If there’s a subset of children who were not doing well when they were going to school 鈥� and there’s all sorts of different reasons for that 鈥� who all of a sudden did really well in a remote setting, we have to look at this going into the future.

Marguerite Roza: We have seen districts jump in and be nimble in a way that we never thought districts could be nimble before. People always say, 鈥淵ou know, turning a district around is like turning an aircraft carrier.鈥� I’m like, an aircraft carrier turns around in a day. Why is everybody using that as something that’s slow? I was in the military. [From 1988 to 1992, Roza served at the Navy Nuclear Power School in Orlando.] Aircraft carriers are pretty maneuverable. There are thousands and thousands of people on an aircraft carrier, and that thing could spin around and change direction with the wind. I do think that we had thought districts couldn’t adjust, and many of them did.

Beth Lehr: I’ve had a lot of teachers really rethink their philosophies 鈥� some of my most dyed-in-the-wool [teachers]. This has truly opened their eyes when they’ve seen the disparities. Not everybody’s home looks the same. When we first started doing all of the remote, we had a lot of really serious conversations about requiring cameras to be on or not. A lot of our teachers were like, well, 鈥淲hy wouldn’t the camera be on?鈥� They never took into account that there might be 10 people in a two-bedroom house. There might be somebody being slapped, hit, cut, whatever while they’re there. They might be embarrassed because they’re doing your class from their car in the McDonald’s parking lot.

鈥楽o long and so short鈥�

Seven hundred days have flown by for some and painfully dragged on for others. For many, it鈥檚 been a bit of both. 

Michael Mulgrew: It feels like 7,000 days.

Laurie Corizzo, counselor, Ridge Ranch School, Paramus, New Jersey: This whole pandemic, the virus, the water cooler conversations are never-ending. If someone isn’t discussing a vaccine, a booster, the virus, who has it, who had it, who passed, it seems that conversations are stagnant. My point is, it encompasses every single aspect of our lives. It is as if there were some sort of imaginary force field that prevents any semblance of any other conversation to happen anywhere on the planet. In a word, it is quite exhausting.

Christopher Nellum: I hope that 700 days in, we are seeing our education systems for what they are and what they have been for a long, long time: profoundly inequitable.

Susan Enfield: I didn’t know that 700 days could both seem so long and so short simultaneously. I think the last couple of years have felt like a lifetime in and of themselves, and yet, at the same time, it feels like it’s gone by in a flash.

Marguerite Roza: I mean, wow 鈥� what a seismic interruption to education unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Normally, we would say a 1 percent change in enrollment from one year to the next is earth-shattering to finance. We鈥檙e seeing 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 percent enrollment shifts in some districts. And some of those are large districts. Those kinds of things are going to change the structure of education forever.

Lead Image: Rippowam Middle School principal Matthew Laskowski looks on from a socially distanced cafeteria in September 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. (John Moore / Getty Images)

Staff members will return to schools in Chicago Tuesday and classes will resume for all students Wednesday under an agreement between the city and the teachers union announced Monday night.听听

The Chicago Teachers Union’s delegates voted 63 to 37 to approve the agreement, which still has to go to the full membership for a vote. It’s not “a perfect agreement,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said in a press conference. “We felt like we were asking for reasonable things.”

Meanwhile, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said in a separate press conference that 16 percent of the staff turned up at schools Monday and three schools were able to provide full instruction. He said one lesson from the work stoppage is the importance of listening to parents.

“Families have to be at the table,” he said. “Families have to have a voice especially as we move forward.”

If Chicago schools had been open Friday, Claiborne Wade鈥檚 children would have been there.

A father of four and a parent liaison at DePriest Elementary, Wade serves on the school鈥檚 safety committee and feels the staff is doing all it can to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks. Even so, he and his wife faced the same predicament as the rest of the district鈥檚 families last week, forced to work from home while their children continue to miss out on learning.

鈥淲e鈥檙e the fortunate ones, but the parents I serve at DePriest have to go to work,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is no bringing work home, and child care is expensive.鈥�

What the Chicago Public Schools calls an illegal strike and the Chicago Teachers Union labels a mere 鈥渨ork action鈥� entered its fourth day Monday, leaving families wondering how long their children would be left without instruction. On Saturday, the union made its latest offer, refusing to back down from its insistence that learning stay remote until the 18th, but offering to have staff members at schools on Monday to distribute internet devices and register students for COVID-19 testing. The district promptly turned that down, saying that the district is 鈥渇irm that both staff and students should return for in-person teaching and learning as soon as possible.鈥�

Addressing reporters Saturday, union president Jesse Sharkey said his team was 鈥渟uggesting a way out of the impasse鈥� and accused Mayor Lori Lightfoot of 鈥渂ullying.鈥� 

Omicron has made an already tense relationship between Lightfoot and the union even worse. A over pay, class sizes and staffing demands lasted more than two weeks. By posting the numbers of teachers who reported to schools last week, the city has also drawn attention to division within the union. 

On Sunday, a Twitter account posted from Adriana Cervantes, a union field representative at Hubbard High School, who warned that the union had not yet determined 鈥渨hat action will be taken against those who are not participating in the work action.鈥�

The letter warned members not to go into the building Monday.

鈥淚f you continue to allow the mayor to divide our membership, soon we won鈥檛 have a union to fight for anything,鈥� she wrote.

While some parents have become used to quickly rearranging work schedules and caregiving duties after almost two years of last-minute closures, the standoff is adding to resentment some families already feel toward the mayor and union leaders.

鈥淭here鈥檚 going to have to be some repairing after this,鈥� said Maureen Hehir, who has three children in the district and teaches special education in neighboring Community Consolidated School District 59. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to lose people, and it鈥檚 so unfortunate.鈥�

Vanessa Chavez, who has a sixth- and seventh-grader in the district, said parents who supported the union during the last strike now feel betrayed.

鈥淚 almost feel like we鈥檙e caught in the middle of a custody war,鈥� she said, adding that those who advocate for their children鈥檚 needs feel they鈥檙e being branded as 鈥渁nti-teacher.鈥� 

And Dr. Beth Van Opstal, a parent and physician who treats COVID-19 patients at Chicago鈥檚 Rush University Medical Center, said all she hears are extremes.

鈥淪ometimes, I think it’s like all daisies and roses when you hear from the mayor and CPS,鈥� she said, worlds away from the perspective of the union, which she described as relatively unchanged from a year ago before more than 90 percent of teachers were vaccinated. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know a single pediatrician [who is as] in favor of remote learning as CTU.鈥�

Chavez and Van Opstal were among a small group of parents who met over Zoom Sunday night with Dr. Allison Arwady, who leads the Chicago Department of Public Health and participated in press conferences last week with Lightfoot and district CEO Pedro Martinez. Natasha Dunn, another parent on the call, said she wants to make sure the district鈥檚 COVID data is 鈥減alatable for parents in the community.”

Arwady presented data on outbreaks across the city in both schools and child care centers and reiterated the city鈥檚 position that schools are not driving the increase in cases. An outbreak, she said, is usually limited to two or three students. While their classmates or other close contacts are also quarantined, less than 5 percent end up testing positive, she said.

She noted the importance of keeping community institutions like schools open. 

鈥淲e don鈥檛 close hospitals because one wing is understaffed,鈥� she said.

Testing opt-out debate 

Parents also asked Arwady about COVID testing protocols, a major area of disagreement in the negotiations. The union wants a screening program in which all schools test 10 percent of students and staff every week, unless parents opt out, as well as a supply of rapid tests to send home if students are showing symptoms. The district said it would work with the union to increase testing options, but that it鈥檚 important to get 鈥渆xplicit parental consent for any medical test.鈥�

Lightfoot, meanwhile, on Saturday that the city would buy 350,000 rapid tests from the state, after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker offered help. 

Cristina Hernandez, whose 4-year-old son Nolen is in pre-K at Darwin Elementary School, doesn鈥檛 think the union鈥檚 demands are unreasonable. With a child too young to be vaccinated, she thinks testing should be mandatory. 

Her family tested over the holidays and her son鈥檚 results were positive. 

鈥淚f we wouldn鈥檛 have gotten tested, we would have sent him to school,鈥�  Hernandez said. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 have any symptoms. He鈥檚 just had this cough off and on since October.鈥�

She admits, however, that she鈥檚 not sure how Nolen would respond to virtual learning. He took a remote music class when he was 3, 鈥渁nd it was just the worst,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not like CTU is saying we鈥檙e going to go remote for the rest of the year.鈥�

Pamela Caskey said her two children treated last week 鈥渓ike extra vacation time.鈥� If the district does switch to remote learning, she鈥檚 hoping they鈥檒l consider reopening classrooms for students with special needs. Her fourth grader has autism and ADHD and normally has a one-on-one aide in the classroom. During virtual learning, the 鈥渁ides are on there with the teacher, but they are not able to provide a student individual attention.鈥�

She said she supports 鈥渢eachers鈥� rights鈥� and that remote learning makes sense 鈥渋f they are constantly having to send classes into quarantine.鈥� At her fourth-grader鈥檚 school, Hanson Park Elementary, 53 students are currently quarantined, while 21 students are out at Goethe Elementary, the school her second-grader attends. At both schools, the rates are lower than they were in the fall.

The union argues the district鈥檚 data is not up to date and points to showing that schools account for almost 43 percent of potential exposure. When parents asked Arwady about that, she noted parents of school-age children are more likely to answer calls from contact tracers than an adult who might have been exposed at a store or restaurant.

Going forward, Caskey said she鈥檇 like more comprehensive data on a school-by-school basis. The district鈥檚 website includes numbers of positive cases and students in quarantine, but she鈥檇 also like to see student vaccination, and even hospitalization rates. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if we鈥檙e at the point where we can adjust how we handle when people are getting sick,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if everybody keeps getting it, hopefully it will be mild enough to treat it like a cold.”

鈥楢 product of the pandemic鈥� 

As a teacher in District 59, northwest of Chicago, Hehir sees a sharp contrast between the issues on the table for Chicago and the way her district handles positive cases. District 59 doesn鈥檛 flip entire classrooms to remote learning if there are positive cases. 

鈥淎ll of our buildings are open,鈥� Hehir said.

CTU wants triggers for district-wide remote instruction as well as guidelines for closing individual schools based on staff and student COVID-related absences. The city rejected the district-wide approach, but said the triggers for school closures require more negotiation.

Hehir added that in her district there has been a scramble to keep classes covered when teachers are out sick, but she thinks reducing quarantines to five days will help. Last week, she and her husband took turns staying home with their children. On Monday, the grandparents were taking over. 

She鈥檚 most concerned about her first-grader Emmet, a 鈥減roduct of the pandemic,鈥� who gives her a hard time about going to school and tells her he has no idea what he鈥檚 supposed to be doing in class. 

鈥淢y kids are still mad at me because I did print things out for them to work on,鈥� she said.

Dunn, following the conversation with Arwady, noted that remote learning and work stoppages have been a 鈥渃atastrophic failure鈥� for Black students, contributing to an increase in crime and mental health problems. She pointed to news reports of children accused of . And according to the , 44 percent of young children have experienced an increase in mental health or behavior problems during the pandemic.

Whether leaning more toward reopening schools as soon as possible or pausing in-person learning, Chicago parents said they want more representation at the city level. 

鈥淲e should have a Chicago parents union,鈥� said Wade, the parent liaison. 鈥淲e should be as strong as the mayor鈥檚 office and as strong as the Chicago Teachers Union.鈥�

The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education听听to delay its vaccine mandate for students 12 and up until next fall. The district was facing the possibility of transferring 34,000 unvaccinated students into an already understaffed remote learning program called City of Angels.听

Leaders of the district鈥檚 administrators union were concerned about the potential loss of staff if schools lost more students.

Los Angeles Unified students 12 and over may have until next fall to comply with the district鈥檚 vaccine mandate 鈥� roughly nine months after the original Jan. 10 deadline, officials announced Friday.

The first large school system in the nation to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for students, the district is facing roughly 34,000 students who will not be fully vaccinated by the original deadline as well as concerns from parents and administrators over the surge in enrollment in the district鈥檚 remote learning program.

The plan would push thousands more unvaccinated students into an independent study program, which is already struggling to meet at a time when the district, like many others, has major . Under the contract with the union, teachers only provide remote instruction when students are in quarantine. But teachers still have flexibility in how much they interact with students learning at home.

Board members will discuss delaying the deadline at their meeting on Tuesday, when they also plan to ratify the contract of Miami-Dade superintendent Alberto Carvalho to lead the district鈥檚 schools.

Pushing back the deadline will 鈥渉opefully lessen the stress on administrators in terms of the possible number of students they may lose,鈥� said Nery Paiz, president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles. 

When the nation鈥檚 second-largest school district announced its mandate three months ago, jumping out in front of vaccine requirement, some predicted it would spark a ripple effect in other districts across the country.  

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowering the age for booster shots to 16, the Biden administration and state leaders continue to strongly encourage families to get their children vaccinated. are now considering whether to add COVID-19 vaccines to the list of immunizations needed for school, and many parents and educators say more mandates are inevitable. But at the local level, officials are still up against vaccine resistance 鈥� and sometimes refusal 鈥� among parents.

On Friday morning, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Los Angeles Unified should 鈥渇ine tune鈥� its policy to keep students in the classroom. Unvaccinated students in are facing a similar deadline.

Parent advocates suggest the Los Angeles district might have moved too quickly without a back-up plan.

鈥淲e hope the district anticipated a level of vaccine hesitancy and has drafted plans to protect every child’s right to receive a high-quality education,鈥� Katie Braude, CEO of Los Angeles parent advocacy group Speak UP, said in a statement. She added that the organization is concerned about the virtual program鈥檚 鈥渁bility to expand this quickly to meet the needs of 34,000 more students and the domino effect of teacher displacement on kids remaining in the classroom.”

October from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that vaccination rates among 12- to 17-year-olds have slowed down, with half of parents saying their child is vaccinated or will be soon. The survey was conducted before the vaccine for 5- to 11-year olds became available , but at the time, less than a third planned to jump at the chance and another third said they would wait to see how it was working. The remaining parents said they definitely would not be getting their children vaccinated.

鈥極utside the scope鈥�

Interim Superintendent Megan Reilly said the district 鈥渁pplauds鈥� the more than 85 percent of students who are in compliance with the mandate. 鈥淭his is a major milestone, and there鈥檚 still more time to get vaccinated,鈥� she said in . 

The L.A. board鈥檚 decision could set up a confrontation with the district鈥檚 powerful teachers union. United Teachers Los Angeles 鈥渕ade the demand [for the mandate] at the bargaining table,鈥� according to its statement in support. 

But the district didn鈥檛 meet their demand. The contract ratified in early October only requires the district to 鈥渕ake every effort鈥� to test unvaccinated students and staff weekly for COVID-19. According to the district鈥檚 statement only unvaccinated students would have to continue weekly testing after January.

Student vaccine mandates are 鈥渙utside the scope of bargaining negotiations and teachers unions know this,鈥� said Bradley Marianno, an assistant education professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. But with 500 Los Angeles Unified for not complying with the employee vaccine mandate, UTLA would likely want the district to 鈥渉old firm鈥� on its deadline for students, he said.

A union spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Leslie Finger, an assistant professor of political science at the University of North Texas, said unions have had to perform a delicate balancing act to satisfy their large and diverse memberships.

When it comes to adults, 鈥渢he unions have had to appease both the pro- and anti-vaccine membership, which I think has led the national unions to come out with somewhat tepid endorsements of vaccine mandates,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or students, however, I think unions can be more firmly pro-vaccine mandate because the policy doesn’t require anything of members who oppose getting vaccines themselves.鈥�

Some opponents of student vaccine mandates have launched legal challenges, that shots for younger students still don鈥檛 have full U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for ages 16 and up received full authorization in August. 

But on Wednesday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge said he is leaning toward denying from parent groups to halt the district鈥檚 mandate. And in against San Diego Unified, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals last week allowed the requirement to stand. The plaintiffs are asking for religious exemptions. 

Let Them Choose, an initiative of anti-mask mandate group Let Them Breathe, has also filed against San Diego. A hearing is set Dec. 20 in San Diego Superior Court. And the organization plans to file a lawsuit against a Los Angeles that issued its own vaccine mandate, said Sharon McKeeman, the organization鈥檚 founder. 

鈥淣o family should be coerced into making personal medical decisions, and no student should feel enticed or pressured into getting vaccinated without parental consent,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he district has created a huge logistical and legal issue for itself by unnecessarily trampling on students鈥� rights.鈥�

鈥楻elentless family engagement鈥�

Mike Magee, CEO of Chiefs for Change, said he didn鈥檛 think the challenges Los Angeles is facing would discourage other superintendents in the network from 鈥減ursuing every possible avenue to full community vaccination.鈥�

鈥淲hether districts require the vaccine or not, high vaccination rates will depend on a relentless family engagement effort along with simplicity of access to the shot,鈥� he said.

Alma Farias of Los Angeles, who has custody of her niece Cindy, an 11th grader, said she is among those who had initial reservations about the vaccine. But her concerns were outweighed by the prospect of Cindy getting sick after returning to in-person learning last spring.

She said she can sympathize with parents who are holding out. 

鈥淭here are a lot of things probably going through their minds right now,鈥� she said in Spanish through an interpreter. 鈥淧arents are still processing all the information that is out there, and they鈥檙e still processing everything that is going on with this pandemic.鈥� 

Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez is among those who would like to see vaccine mandates for students and said he鈥檚 talked to the Chicago Teachers Union about it. But he said he鈥檚 not quite ready to issue a mandate for students because Chicago health officials advise waiting. 

Once the FDA grants full approval of the vaccine for younger students, that will 鈥渉elp our medical professionals feel more comfortable,鈥� he said.

But he also thinks the federal government should take the lead on student vaccination mandates. Leaving it up to states, he said, means variants like Omicron are likely to spread, as long as families travel to places where a smaller percentage of the population is vaccinated.

The district has been under pressure from its teachers union  to implement 鈥� across our schools鈥� and to meet vaccination targets for students. But Martinez said access to the vaccine is not the problem: Regional clinics across the city offer the vaccine and 23 schools have on-site vaccination centers. 

鈥淲e鈥檝e never had a day where we didn鈥檛 have enough supply,鈥� he said.

According to city data, two thirds of children 5 and up are vaccinated, but among 5- to 11-year-olds, less than 10 percent of Black children and about 12 percent of Latino children are vaccinated. 

鈥淧arents are either hesitant or there鈥檚 no urgency,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e still have to figure out what information our parents need.鈥�

The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a听听with Alberto Carvalho as the district鈥檚 new superintendent. Carvalho, who has long served as chief of the Miami-Dade schools, will start March 1 or earlier. He鈥檒l earn an annual salary of $440,000, plus other benefits.

鈥淚 cannot promise you the world. What I can promise you is this 鈥� tireless dedication to this community, much like I demonstrated tireless dedication to the community of Miami-Dade for 14 years,鈥� he said during the board meeting. 鈥淭his shall not be a flash in the pan. I am here to stay.鈥�

Carvalho promised to focus on longstanding achievement gaps, empower parents to navigate school bureaucracy and offer more choice within the district to reverse declining enrollment. 

The Los Angeles Unified school board on Thursday unanimously Alberto Carvalho, one of the nation鈥檚 most respected 鈥� and buzzed about 鈥� school leaders, as the district鈥檚 next superintendent.

鈥淭his is like LeBron coming to the Lakers,鈥� said Pedro Noguera, dean of the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. 鈥淗e is by far the most effective and innovative urban superintendent in the country. This is huge for L.A.鈥�

The move to hire Carvalho, 57, who has led the Miami-Dade Public Schools since 2008 and famously courted, then rejected, the top job in New York City, means the nation鈥檚 three largest districts will be led by energetic reformers at a time when the pandemic has severely tested the public school system. 

Pedro Martinez recently became CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, and just Thursday, New York Mayor-elect Eric Adams announced , who founded a network of all-boys schools, would be the next schools chancellor. 

Los Angeles officials are in final negotiations with Carvalho and plan to vote on his contract Tuesday, according to a district statement.

Buoyed by a generally supportive teachers union, Carvalho racked up a string of awards and accomplishments in Miami, and the district saw steady improvement in student performance before the pandemic.

In the increasingly demanding world of district chiefs, Carvalho is something of an outlier. In a , Travis Pillow, editorial director at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, noted that eight of the 10 largest urban districts have seen leadership turnover since the beginning of the pandemic. Los Angeles Unified has had eight superintendents since 2006. Carvalho, by contrast, has held the same job since 2008, having spent his entire career in Miami, working first as a teacher, then assistant principal, communications officer and lobbyist before ascending to his role as superintendent.

鈥淔or the last three decades, I have selflessly dedicated my professional career to the children of Miami鈥檚 diverse community, and I am hoping to bring that same passion, compassion and commitment to the students and families in L.A. Unified,鈥� Carvalho said in a statement.

He faces a very different context in the nation鈥檚 second-largest district, where enrollment has declined and the vocal United Teachers Los Angeles tends to have the upper hand in negotiations.

Education activist Ben Austin, who is currently pushing for a statewide ballot initiative giving students a constitutional right to a high-quality education, acknowledged Carvalho鈥檚 impressive national reputation.

But he cautioned that 鈥淟AUSD is a political black hole that has a long history of ending the careers of talented leaders.鈥�

Noting that the “prolonged pandemic has underscored the critical importance of public schools for our communities,鈥� UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cru said in a statement that the union was 鈥渞eady to work鈥� with Carvalho 鈥渢o uplift public education in LA and build racially just, fully resourced schools that serve as community anchors, where educators are valued, families are supported, and students have the resources they need to thrive.鈥�

Prior to the pandemic, the district saw notable on state tests, graduation rates and the percentage of English learners becoming proficient in English. But an analysis of data released in March showed that 40,000 high school students were off track for graduation and that reading skills among the district鈥檚 youngest students had sharply declined. 

鈥淗e鈥檚 had a really good run in Miami,鈥� said Martinez. 鈥淚 think L.A. needs a lot of work. It鈥檚 a great community, but they are behind most of the other large districts in improving student achievement.鈥�

Politics in Florida may have pushed Carvalho toward a Democrat-led state that supports mask and vaccine mandates. In Florida, Carvalho was among several superintendents who defied Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥檚 ban on districts mandating that students wear masks. Martinez, who left San Antonio for Chicago, said the two leaders gave each other 鈥渆motional support while we were fighting our governors and attorney generals.鈥�

He added if anyone had asked him who he would recommend to lead Los Angeles, he would have said Carvalho.

During former Superintendent Austin Beutner鈥檚 tenure, UTLA leaders complained about him being a non-educator. With Carvalho, they鈥檒l have a chief who knows well the inner-workings of a large school system. When he started as superintendent, the district was in financial turmoil and dozens of schools had D鈥檚 or F鈥檚 from the state. In 2018 and 2019, Miami-Dade received an A rating and had no failing schools. In 2012, the district received the , which recognized large systems showing progress, and Carvalho was named in 2014.

Arriving as an undocumented immigrant from Portugal as a teen, he worked in construction and restaurant jobs before entering college and changing career paths from pre-med to education.

The district, drawing on Carvalho鈥檚 dramatic background, noted that he 鈥渉as a story not unlike many of the students in L.A. Unified.鈥�

Katie Braude, CEO of parent advocacy group Speak UP, praised his fluency in Spanish and 鈥渆xperience in a district with a similar student population.”

鈥淐arvalho鈥檚 length of tenure in Miami-Dade is a positive contrast to LAUSD鈥檚 frequent leadership turnover in the last two decades,鈥� she said in a statement. 鈥淲e鈥檙e encouraged by his track record of strong education leadership, accountability and school turnaround.鈥�

Carvalho faces an uncertain environment on school choice in Los Angeles, where the charter school community has hit roadblocks to expansion. But in Miami, he for adapting to a growing school choice movement by offering a thriving array of magnet schools.

With Los Angeles authorizing 225 charter schools, the California Charter School Association is hoping his support of innovative school models 鈥� he founded a magnet school and named himself its principal 鈥� will translate to Los Angeles.

鈥淭here is no room for error in getting our current generation of students the educational supports and opportunities they need,鈥� CEO Myrna Castrej贸n said in a statement. 鈥淲e cannot be in denial that learning loss is real and that our kids are hurting.鈥�

Carvalho鈥檚 personal life has been more rocky than his professional one. In 2007, he received from a reporter, which likely cost him his first opportunity to be superintendent in Florida鈥檚 Pinellas County. Earlier this year, he was of infidelity on a now-deleted Instagram account.

But it was his public flirtation with the New York City job 鈥� and subsequent rejection of it on live T.V. 鈥� that brought Carvalho in for his greatest public scrutiny.

In what has been jokingly called 鈥淭he Carvalho Show,鈥� he turned down Mayor Bill de Blasio鈥檚 offer during a press conference, apparently swayed by adulation from a devoted Miami community that didn鈥檛 want him to leave.

But Noguera suggested that Carvalho likely rejected the New York job because he was also concerned about 鈥渕icromanaging from de Blasio.鈥� 

Unlike New York City, the Los Angeles district is not under mayoral control; rather, it has a paid, full-time school board and elections that draw millions in campaign donations. 

Some education advocates questioned whether a leader from outside the district has the deep connections and understanding of the community that Los Angeles needs. 

“There were several highly qualified candidates who have deep experience in the Los Angeles education system, strong relationships with the families, educators and community, and who share the lived experience of many Los Angeles students and families,鈥� said Ana Ponce, executive director of Great Public Schools Now, an advocacy group. 鈥淎 candidate without these qualities will need to quickly demonstrate a commitment to establishing authentic two-way relationships with all of us vested in the futures of Los Angeles students.”

Noguera agreed.

鈥淗e is going to need people around him who know L.A.,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥淲hat Carvalho showed in Miami is he can bring about steady improvement in a large, urban system.鈥�

鈥淥ne of the things I鈥檓 the most proud of here鈥擨 can see both in direct conversations as well as the data鈥攊s that the culture has shifted from when I started,鈥� Martinez told 蜜桃影视 after announcing his departure to become CEO of Chicago public schools. 鈥淣ow that people see what is possible, there鈥檚 no going back.鈥�

Mohammed Choudhury, Martinez鈥檚 deputy and the architect of many of his reforms told the 74鈥檚 Beth Hawkins in 2018 he wanted to create a system that would outlive them.

鈥淚 have told my team and I continue to tell them, 鈥楧esign as if you won鈥檛 be here one day,鈥欌�� said Choudhury, who left San Antonio in June when he was hired as the Maryland superintendent of schools.  

That day has come. The durability of those designs is already being tested. 

Most of Choudhury鈥檚 successors are gone, as are other district leaders, with both men recruiting key staff to take with them to their new jobs. 

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 蜜桃影视 Newsletter

The scale and sustainability of the district鈥檚 eye-catching progress, based mostly on a series of high profile innovations and school-by-school success stories, are less certain, especially with the gains lost to COVID-19 and current teacher shortages. The district is also searching for a听new superintendent, who will likely bring their own vision to the role.

鈥淪AISD is at a critical point with a lot of unfinished business for the next leader to address,鈥� said former school board member Steve Lecholop, who was on the board for all but the final months of Martinez鈥檚 tenure. The work was dramatic and changes were fundamental, Lecholop said, 鈥淏ut the foundation we poured hasn鈥檛 yet set.鈥� 

Hired in 2015, Martinez oversaw dramatic reforms鈥攕uch as open-enrollment schools, expanded dual language, and a teacher evaluation system with higher pay. 

Over the first four years of his tenure, the district went from failing to a B rating, a fast turnaround for a district where 87.6% of the 45,800 students qualify for the federal free and reduced lunch program. In 2020 Martinez set more goals for the district. 

While the results came fast, they were driven by a few key successes at individual campuses, as well as grants with a limited lifespan. The systems that would spread change to the entire district and sustain them over time are not fully operational. The new superintendent will need to take those blueprints and put them into practice, Lecholop said. 鈥淥therwise, six years of hard work and dramatic improvements will have been for naught.鈥� 

Not everyone would be sad to see Martinez鈥檚 reforms fade. Partnerships with charter networks and changes to teacher contracts , while some felt the district over existing neighborhood schools. Others criticized a lack of meaningful as the administration rolled out reforms. 

Those critics have a voice on the school board now, as Lecholop, a stalwart supporter of Martinez, lost his seat to union-backed Sarah Sorensen, an outspoken critic. But the reform-minded majority remains in place. 

鈥淲e have every intention of ensuring that all of the innovation that has occurred in SAISD over the last 5 years, stays,鈥� said San Antonio ISD Board President Christina Martinez (no relation). She would not comment on whether specific initiatives and structures from the Pedro Martinez era would continue as is, calling the conversation premature. 

鈥淐OVID has brought immense challenges, and it is crucial for the district to be flexible and nimble as we continue to put kids first and strive to be a national model urban district,鈥� she said.  

One of Martinez鈥檚 key achievements had been reversing decades of falling enrollment numbers, gains nearly erased by disenrollment during COVID-19. 

The board will need to address the teacher shortage and ongoing pandemic-related issues like mask mandates and quarantine protocols, while conducting a nationwide search for a new superintendent, but Christina Martinez said the board feels a sense of 鈥渦rgency鈥� to maintain as their top priority鈥攐ne of the key cultural reforms of the past six years鈥攈olding the administration accountable for improving student outcomes. 

Parent advocates hope a new superintendent will include more students in those improved outcomes. While the district saw significant gains for English language learners following a massive expansion of dual language programs, special education services remain a point of contention.

鈥淔or years we have asked for an internal review of poor performing, toxic, abusive campuses and staff,鈥� said San Antonio ISD parent Denise Ojeda, who served on a parent advisory council. 鈥淔or years we have championed creating campuses that are purposely inclusive, safe, and welcome for our children.鈥�

Those requests went unmet under Pedro Martinez鈥檚 administration, she said, and now parents have to wait for the new superintendent 鈥渢o assess if our children are worth educating or protecting.鈥� 

She hopes the new leadership will take the advisory council and special education students more seriously, and the board will hold them to it.

鈥淥ur board is deeply committed to the families and staff of SAISD,鈥� president Christina Martinez said, 鈥淲e live in the district, our children attend school in the district, and we are intent on getting it right.鈥�

Another challenge, however, is that several district leaders who would have been key to that continuity and accountability are, according to news reports, being by Martinez to go with him to Chicago. The district did not return a request for comment on the recruitment. 

Choudhury鈥檚 Office of Innovation, which oversaw enrollment in school choice programs, talent management, and nonprofit partnerships, has been essentially dismantled. 

As he left, Choudhury expressed confidence in the staff who would be carrying on the work, but by October three of his former deputies had left the district and another one followed him to Maryland.  

Some changes made by the Office of Innovation must continue as designed鈥攍ike the master teacher initiative and nonprofit partnerships鈥攂ecause the designs are tied to state funds. 

The master teacher program and evaluation system qualified the district for the statewide Teacher Incentive Allotment, boosting salaries to over $100,000 for the most effective teachers in the highest-need schools. District officials confirmed that the Master Teacher initiative will continue. 

Nonprofit partnerships under the 鈥�1882鈥� program bring in state money as well. Those partnerships, coupled with increased autonomy for principals鈥攁nother recent reform鈥攁re helping some principals feel better about changes at the top.

Usually when a new superintendent comes in, changes they make at the district level can cause disruption at individual schools. But some principals in SAISD have control over budgets, staffing, and curriculum, independent of the central office. 

Where changes and improvements made it to the campus level, they seem secure. 

Gates Elementary was one of the schools that improved most dramatically during the Martinez era, so much so that the district gave Principal Sonya Mora an additional campus to oversee in an attempt to replicate her success at Gates, as well as a formal nonprofit partner to help garner additional resources. 

Autonomy will allow her to keep doing what works, whatever changes happen in the superintendent’s office, she said. Starting from scratch under some new curriculum or initiative would be a setback.

鈥淪ustainability is everything because it takes forever to get out of these holes,鈥� Mora said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what makes me feel good about this, and why we鈥檙e not as stressed.鈥�

鈥淗appy, excited,鈥� she said, throwing her arms up to celebrate.

Her 5-year old sister, Mayari, who also got the shot, jumped in a circle to show off her 鈥渉appy vaccine dance鈥� outside the Brooklyn Children鈥檚 Museum, where both siblings got immunized.

Then the sisters, hand in hand with their father, skipped down the street back to their car.

Days after Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gave the final sign-off late Tuesday night to Pfizer-BioNTech鈥檚 pediatric coronavirus vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11, shots are now rolling out and kids are 鈥� gleefully 鈥� pushing up their sleeves.

The Brooklyn Children鈥檚 Museum, located in the borough鈥檚 Crown Heights neighborhood, is one of to offer pediatric shots. Before the site鈥檚 9 a.m opening, a modest line of roughly a dozen parents and children gathered by the front doors. A larger crowd came for shots afterschool on Thursday, when the museum first had doses available for the age group.

鈥淚t鈥檚 emotional,鈥� said Kira Halevy, who was bringing her 6- and 8-year-old boys to get immunized. The pandemic has taken up about a quarter of her younger son鈥檚 lifetime, and the family jumped at the first opportunity to vaccinate their kids. 

鈥淲e鈥檝e been waiting for this,鈥� she said.

Leading up to the shots, her family used the event as a real-world lesson in biology and medicine, explaining the mechanics of the doses.

鈥淭he first shot tells your body what corona is,鈥� recited Zeke, Halevy鈥檚 older son. 鈥淭he second shot is telling your body how to fight it.鈥� 

In New York City, nearly ages 12 to 17 have been vaccinated, well above the national rate reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics for that group. 

Now with shots available for the younger age group, a speedy and thorough rollout could significantly lower COVID鈥檚 hospitalization and death toll in the U.S. over the coming months and dull the impact of future variants, according to recent . Polling indicates, however, that nationwide will 鈥渄efinitely not鈥� vaccinate their kids and others will 鈥渨ait and see.鈥� 

But the early-bird crowd on Friday was gung-ho.

鈥淚 was literally jumping up and down,鈥� said Jenna Sternbach, describing the feeling when she received the email telling her she could sign her 11-year-old daughter Adlai up for a vaccine appointment. Now, having received the first dose and with a second soon to come, Adlai will soon be able to play soccer without a mask, which she looks forward to. 

The elder Halevy son, Zeke, can see himself very soon back at his friends鈥� houses, trading  Pokemon cards, he said.

And Wesley Francois, 15, who has been eligible for vaccines since the spring but was finally persuaded to receive the shot by a requirement for his basketball team, was excited to soon be able to ease up on masking.

鈥淚鈥檒l be a little more free,鈥� he told 蜜桃影视.

Plus, the pain was only a 1 on a scale of 1 to 5, Mateo Vasquez, 7, estimated after his shot.

The nation鈥檚 largest school district is doing its part to encourage the vaccination effort. On Monday, New York City officials are setting up pop-up vaccine clinics at across the five boroughs.

Efforts to boost accessibility to the shots is key, said pediatrician Maria Molina, who practices in Manhattan and the Bronx.

鈥淣ow that we have a vaccine,鈥� she told 蜜桃影视, 鈥渨e have to make sure that every child has the same opportunity to get it.鈥�

That extends to cultural factors as well, she noted. 鈥淚 not only share the language of my patients, but I share the culture,鈥� said Molina, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and is now a member of SOMOS Community Care, a network of city health providers from diverse linguistic backgrounds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 coming from someone who looks similar to them.鈥�

The city has extended its for new vaccine recipients to youngsters as well, including those who receive shots at school. After first doses, families will receive an email explaining how to select between a prepaid $100 debit card, tickets to sporting events  or other perks.

鈥淲e really want kids to take advantage, families to take advantage of that,鈥� said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Young folks told 蜜桃影视 that they had wide-ranging plans for their newfound cash: some planning to save or donate it to school fundraisers sending holiday gifts abroad, others are planning to splurge on the aforementioned Pokemon cards or Heelys sneakers, which come with wheels in the sole.

The mayor has not stipulated whether there is a student vaccination threshold at which schools would drop universal masking rules for the classroom 鈥� a move made by at least a dozen major districts across the country in recent weeks, with mixed opinions from health experts.

Parents at the Brooklyn Children鈥檚 Museum vaccination site on Friday said that they would prefer schools wait to scrap mask mandates until vaccination rates reach as many as 90 percent of students. 

鈥淲e鈥檇 rather have any form of protection,鈥� said Kira Halevy.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Chicago Public Schools announced Thursday that it will cancel school Friday, Nov. 12 for the nation鈥檚 first 鈥溾�� in an effort to boost immunization rates.

It鈥檚 an 鈥渙pportunity for parents and guardians to take their children five years of age and older to get vaccinated at their pediatrician鈥檚 office, at a healthcare provider, or at a CPS school-based site or community vaccination event,鈥� schools CEO Pedro Martinez wrote to parents.

For those wary of vaccination, other effective safety measures against the virus may soon be on the way. Pfizer announced Friday that their new antiviral pill cuts the risk of COVID hospitalization or death by in vulnerable adults. That development, alongside President Joe Biden鈥檚 recently announced vaccine mandate deadlines for large workplaces, led Pfizer board member Scott Gottlieb to tell CNBC on Friday that the pandemic 鈥溾�� by early January. Other health experts have their doubts, citing the possibility of new mutations of the virus.

Back in Brooklyn, Winona Winkel, 9, got her first vaccine dose Friday and is already counting the days to her second. 

鈥淭hen I can hug my friends,鈥� she said. 

Los Angeles students must get their second dose of the shot by Dec. 19 and those involved in sports and other extracurricular activities will need to have their second shot by Oct. 31.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 the first big domino to fall,鈥� said San Antonio Independent School District Superintendent Pedro Martinez, chair of Chiefs for Change, a network of state and district superintendents.

As the board deliberated, across the country in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden used a White House address to unveil aimed at vaccinating and testing school staff and to combat those he called 鈥渂ullying鈥� Republican governors who have banned districts from mandating masks. Taken together, the actions on both coasts represent some of the more aggressive official actions to quell COVID鈥檚 effects in schools since lockdowns were first imposed in March of 2020.

Biden鈥檚 plan requires close to 300,000 school staff members working for federal programs, such as Head Start and Department of Defense schools, to be vaccinated, calls on all districts to regularly test students and staff, and provides grants for districts confronting loss of funding for implementing mask mandates and other safety measures.

What the administration is calling the 鈥淧ath Out of the Pandemic鈥� includes making 280 million rapid and at-home tests available using the Defense Production Act and lowering the cost of over-the-counter tests from Walmart, Kroger and Amazon. Free testing at pharmacies will be expanded to 10,000 sites nationwide.

The actions come amid widespread anxiety over the Delta variant, which is interfering with a smooth return to school. With more students back in class across the country, schools are reverting to remote learning due to COVID-19 outbreaks. According to , 1,400 schools in 35 states were closed as of last Sunday, about twice as many as the week before. Others are sending thousands of students home to quarantine, and among children are the highest in states with the lowest vaccination rates.

鈥淲e鈥檙e in the tough stretch, and it could last for a while,鈥� Biden said, adding that stricter vaccine requirements are needed. 鈥淭his is not about freedom or personal choice. It鈥檚 about protecting yourself and those around you.鈥�

Martinez criticized the administration, however, for not stepping up efforts to get vaccines approved for younger children and broadly publicizing clinical trial data that can strengthen confidence among parents.

鈥淗ere we are in September and I’m not hearing anything about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need a national bold stance on vaccines. We鈥檙e held hostage by this virus.鈥�

Emergency use authorization was initially expected in the fall, but in August, the Food and Drug Administration said it likely won鈥檛 be until the .

Biden鈥檚 announcement included a new grant program, using school safety funds, to help districts like Martinez鈥檚 that are facing funding loss and litigation related to mask mandates and other COVID-19 precautions.

鈥淲e should be thanking districts for using proven strategies that will keep schools open and safe, not punishing them,鈥� Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. 鈥淲e stand with the dedicated educators doing the right thing to protect their school communities, and this program will allow them to continue that critical work of keeping students safe.鈥�

Texas, Florida and Arizona are among the states that have banned local districts from issuing mask mandates. The Biden administration has launched civil rights investigations in several states, arguing that such actions are creating an atmosphere where some parents might think it鈥檚 not safe enough to send their children to school.

is also suing the San Antonio district for mandating vaccines for staff, but Martinez doesn鈥檛 plan to back down; in fact, he said he would mandate booster shots for staff as well. Martinez said the vaccines and boosters are necessary 鈥渢o maintain stability.in our classrooms,鈥� but added it鈥檚 hard to imagine the backlash he鈥檇 receive if he mandated vaccines for students. Reportedly one of to lead the Chicago Public Schools, he declined to comment on whether he would push for a vaccine requirement for students in Chicago if he becomes superintendent there.

鈥楩ear that this was coming鈥�

According to the , just over half of 12- to 15-year-olds and almost 60 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds are vaccinated. A released last week showed that a third of parents of older teens and over 40 percent of parents of 12- to- 15-year-olds say they still don鈥檛 plan to have their children vaccinated.

In August, the Culver City Unified School District, which serves a middle and upper middle class population on the westside of Los Angeles, became the first district in the nation to require vaccines for students.

鈥淎t the high school, the parents I know are all very happy the district made this decision,鈥� said Erika Lewis, who has two students in the district. 鈥滻 personally don鈥檛 know any who opposed it.鈥�

in Los Angeles County considering a mandate include Alhambra, Beverly Hills and El Monte.

But a mandate in Los Angeles Unified, where almost three-quarters of students are Hispanic, might not be as well-received.

Surveys show greater among Blacks and Hispanics, and show that they encounter more barriers to getting the vaccine, such as inability to take time off work. Biden鈥檚 directives included requiring employers to allow staff time off to get vaccinated.

Others say it鈥檚 too soon, considering the vaccine for children 12 and up hasn鈥檛 received full authorization yet from the FDA.

鈥淭his vaccine is still experimental and that鈥檚 something the district is not explaining to parents,鈥� one mother told the board in Spanish through a translator. 鈥淲hy are you in such a hurry to vaccinate all children?鈥�

Another asked who they could sue if their child experiences negative side effects.

In interviews with 蜜桃影视, other parents celebrated the district鈥檚 decision.

鈥淚 am thrilled that LAUSD is taking the health of our children and educators so seriously,鈥� said Ariel Harman-Holmes, whose three children 鈥攁ges 2, 7 and 9 鈥� have disabilities. 鈥淚 have three children who are too young to be vaccinated, so we rely on the vaccine-eligible members of our community to keep them safe.鈥�

Rebecca Cunningham, a parent of a 5th and 9th grader in Los Angeles schools, who is also in favor of the mandate, said the district has worked hard to eliminate roadblocks that some families might face in getting the vaccine.

鈥淚 really feel like we鈥檙e getting to the point where maybe six months ago there were legitimate reasons why someone would want to wait,鈥� she said, but not now.

During the board meeting, physicians presented data showing that the risks from the vaccine, including inflammation of the heart, are smaller than the health risks associated with getting the disease.

At the White House, Biden said his patience was 鈥渨earing thin鈥� with the 80 million Americans who remain unvaccinated and expressed anger at governors who are 鈥渙rdering mobile morgues鈥� instead of promoting the vaccine. He called on governors to require all school staff to be vaccinated.

鈥淭alk about bullying in schools,鈥� Biden said of GOP governors in states like Florida and Texas. 鈥淚f these governors won鈥檛 help us beat the pandemic, I will use my power as president to get them out of the way.鈥�

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said in a statement that the union stands 鈥渋n complete support of this plan and of the administration鈥檚 effort to protect as many people as possible.鈥� But National Association of Secondary School Principals CEO Ronn Nozoe called for more support from Washington.

鈥淭he added pressures and responsibilities of carrying out more robust testing and screening programs will fall on the shoulders of principals, assistant principals and other administrators,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is intensified by a growing number of threats being made against school leaders for simply implementing safety measures to protect their communities.鈥�

In March, Biden made $10 billion available to districts for COVID-19 testing. Districts can also use federal relief funds for testing and vaccination efforts. Leading up to the school year, the Biden administration challenged districts to hold vaccine clinics and available on how to operate them, but some districts still ran into .

The Los Angeles district also has an extensive COVID-19 testing program, in which all students and staff, vaccinated or not, are required to test weekly. The district rolled it out last school year, but reliance on the program to catch positive cases has increased this year with most students back in school.

鈥淥ur charge remains clear 鈥� to provide students the best education possible, which includes the many benefits of in person learning,鈥� said Interim Superintendent Megan Reilly. 鈥淰accinations are an essential part of the multi-layered protection against COVID-19.鈥�