Dear friends and partners,
Friday marked the end of the LA Unified school year—but you’d be forgiven for not noticing, given our students have been learning from home for three months, our
Grab and Go meal centers continue to operate (now having served over 30 million meals), and the District’s first ever
virtual summer learning program open to every student starts next week.
But one distinct mark of the end of the year is graduation—and although they took the form of car parades and online ceremonies this year—the pride we have in our graduates is no less diminished. On the contrary, the Class of 2020 deserves particular accolades and I was honored to join high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools to share messages of congratulations. (One benefit of virtual graduations is that I could be in many places at once—110 in all!)
Although I think I learned more from this year’s graduates than they could learn from me, I spoke about my grandfather missing out on his graduation when he was drafted to fight in World War II, and how I see the Class of 2020 fighting for justice in their own ways—whether it be racial, economic, environmental, or any other wrongs they want to see righted in the world.
As we send our graduates off to bring their resilience to a world that could use some fresh thinking, we are also looking toward the fall. We are working on a plan that prioritizes the health and safety of our school communities, while also ensuring that students can return to their classrooms to minimize learning loss caused during this pandemic and the needs of families as the economy reopens. Although there are a lot of unknowns about the pandemic and how the next few months will look, I will continue to push for students and families to be at the center of our decision-making.
That includes engaging in discussions and pursuing policies that root out institutional racism in our schools and affirm that Black lives matter.
Another challenge in planning for next year is the budget uncertainty we face from both Sacramento and Washington, D.C. This week, with the question of congressional aid looming large in the background, the State Legislature voted on a new spending plan after rejecting the Governor’s budget proposal. This makes it difficult to pass a District budget before we know how much funding to expect, especially with increasing costs to accommodate COVID-19 and online learning, and fewer taxes going to the state because of the shutdown. It’s unlikely that LA Unified will escape unscathed, but I will continue advocating for increased funding as well as investing more in the resources students need to get a high-quality education—which is more important now than ever.
We might not know exactly what the next few months will look like, but if the resilience and perseverance of our graduates is any indication, our future will be bright.
Onward,
