After California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife Jennifer bragged on social media about two of the “community schools” in the state, critics blasted her, saying that her husband’s draconian COVID policies had harmed their children.
“[Gavin Newsom] & I visited two wonderful schools that truly demonstrate the way investments in community schools are transforming education in California,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom boasted. “By focusing on the whole child, these schools build on CA’s commitment to giving ALL children the best start in life.”
.@GavinNewsom & I visited two wonderful schools that truly demonstrate the way investments in community schools are transforming education in California.
By focusing on the whole child, these schools build on CA’s commitment to giving ALL children the best start in life. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ZUmKlu72gf
— Jennifer Siebel Newsom (@JenSiebelNewsom) February 18, 2023
Her tweet catalyzed an onslaught from critics who savaged her husband’s record.
“Gov. @GavinNewsom kept my kids out of their public schools for nearly a year and a half with no good scientific or epidemiological justification. His record on education is the worst in the country,” Stanford University professor of medicine Jay Bhattacharya tweeted.
Gov. @GavinNewsom kept my kids out of their public schools for nearly a year and a half with no good scientific or epidemiological justification. His record on education is the worst in the country. https://t.co/4xH8uALdGG
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) February 19, 2023
“He transformed education into an abject catastrophe. Except for his own kids who went to in person private school in 2020. The nerve of @JenSiebelNewsom posting something like this,” a mother of four said.
“For an entire school year, California’s public schools were shut while private schools were open,” another critic snapped. “Of course, Governor Newsom’s children were attending in-person private school. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
Jennifer Newsom’s Twitter account subsequently only allowed people she followed or mentioned to reply.
Although Newsom’s policies helped keep California’s public schools remote for over a year, in October 2020 he admitted that his four children, who attended a private school, had returned to classrooms in some capacity, alternating remote and in-person education.
In March 2020, Newsom issued an executive order mandating the necessity of following the state public health directives, which ordered “all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors.” That order effectively shut down schools.
On April 1, 2020, Newsom announced that schools were expected to be physically closed for the remainder of the school year.
Newsom announced in July 2020 that over 5.5 million California students would not be allowed to attend school for in-person education in the fall of 2020.
“Learning is non-negotiable,” he pronounced. “Schools must provide meaningful instruction during the pandemic whether they’re physically open or not. We all prefer in-class learning, but only if it can be done safely. I believe that as a parent.”
On March 15, 2021, California Judge Cynthia Freeland issued a temporary restraining order to bar California from enforcing California’s Safe Schools for All reopening framework through March 30, thereby lifting the state’s partial closure.
In mid-April 2021, EdSource reported, “Across California, schools are opening their doors again, a first step toward rebounding from the pandemic.”
Some California children in schools were required to wear masks in the classroom through March 2022.
