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School districts resist Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ insistence on fall reopening
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has drawn the anger of school officials in districts across the country with repeated calls to reopen schools full time this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic. DeVos also was wrong in stating that research shows there is no danger “in any way” if kids are in school, the Associated Press reported.
In contrast to DeVos’ insistence, the San Jose Unified School District announced Friday that its teachers will not return to the classroom — and instead will opt for distance learning — for the start of the upcoming school year because the coronavirus pandemic has made it too dangerous.
“Teachers do not feel that it is safe to return to teaching in person, and, in large majority, they are unwilling to do so at this time,” Patrick Bernhardt, president of the San Jose Teachers Association, wrote to district Superintendent Nancy Albarrán. The letter was dated Friday and shared on Facebook.
School districts in Oakland and Fremont also have announced that they will begin the school year with distance learning.
Trump commutes sentence of longtime friend Roger Stone
President Donald Trump called Roger Stone to inform his longtime political confidant that he would commute his sentence for crimes related to the Russia investigation, Stone told AP on Friday, just days before he was set to report to prison.
The White House later confirmed the commuting of the sentence in a statement, saying Stone was a victim of the Russia “hoax.”
In response, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the Russia investigation that led to Stone’s conviction, broke his silence in a Washington Post op-ed: “Stone was prosecuted and convicted because he committed federal crimes. He remains a convicted felon, and rightly so.”
Deaths, hospitalizations, cases hit new highs in California, mirroring a nationwide trend
More counties in California are being monitored by the state health department now than are not, as the coronavirus crisis continued to spread in nearly every corner of state over the weekend.
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