There’s a reason why nearly 2 million signatures were collected by Californians in order to trigger a recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom. One of those reasons has been his consistent claim of calling himself a ‘Zoom school’ parent even though his kids returned to full in-class instruction at a private school in Sacramento (with a $25,000 per child price tag) last November.
It started during Newsom’s State of the State address last week, in which he shared that his kids have been missing “too many rites of passage” including field trips, proms, and graduations. “Look, Jen and I live this as parents of four young children. Helping them cope with the fatigue of Zoom school. The loneliness of missing their friends. Frustrated by emotions they don’t yet fully understand,” he said.
Newsom later shared with CNN’s Jake Tapper that his four young kids have been “living through Zoom school and all of the challenges related to it.” Critics lashed out at Newsom’s comments, especially since he’s had his kids in private schools, and complained that he can’t relate to the school and teacher unions that have refused to reopen after months of coronavirus shutdowns. While these public schools have not been set to reopen until early April, many planned to limit in-person classes to only 1-2 days per week.
“He’s not trying to help kids in the state, he’s trying to pretend schools are open to campaign for his recall. That’s the incredible frustration parents are feeling,” said Jonathan Zachreson of Reopen California Schools.
Another parent, Marcelino Valdez, said it’s hard for the governor to relate to parents and the 500-plus members of their recall group who have kids in public school, adding that this is a “real lack of understanding and a lack of leadership on his part.”
However, Newsom caught on with his “Zoom school” scandals and claimed in a recent press conference just a few days ago that his kids have “attended school on Zoom on and off for months.” Two out of four of their children have learning disabilities and been having an “especially difficult time” with virtual learning.
In late November, Newsom also quarantined his children after exposures occurred to a classmate and California Highway Patrol officer at the school. And while this is all true that they have been attending Zoom class “on and off for months,” it doesn’t take away how he’s been phrasing things this whole time.
It’s a typical leftist ideology to identify and push whatever narrative you want, even if it doesn’t match with reality. The real “privilege” is sending your kids off to a fancy private school while keeping the entire public school system on lockdown and bowing to the radical left teacher unions who want to sit home and collect checks.
