Essential California Week in Review: School showdown

State officials promise vaccines for teachers, but struggle to agree on how best to reopen schools. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Los Angeles Times] Essential California February 20, 2021 [View in browser]( Good morning, and welcome to the [Essential California newsletter](. It is Saturday, Feb. 20. Here’s a look at the top stories of the last week: Schools showdown. Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers have been [at odds on plans to reopen schools]( with Newsom — who has been reluctant to promise vaccinations for teachers — criticizing a $6.6-billion legislative proposal to open elementary campuses in April. But on Friday, he said the state will begin earmarking 10% of its weekly allotment of COVID-19 vaccine doses [for educators]( in an effort to jump-start reopening. A brighter spring? Coronavirus infections in California have plummeted to pre-Thanksgiving levels, bringing renewed optimism that a wider reopening of the still-shackled economy [may be just around the corner](. Still, Latino residents of L.A. County continue to suffer [disproportionate devastation](. Vaccine setbacks. Even as new vaccination sites open, California continues to [struggle with data]( and [supply problems](. Volume has risen, but [patients seeking second doses are being prioritized]( over those who need their first. And winter storms across the U.S. delayed dose shipments, forcing L.A. to [postpone]( [appointments]( and the Disneyland site to [close]( temporarily. State stimulus. Newsom and legislative leaders announced Wednesday that they have agreed to provide [low-income Californians a $600 payment]( — part of a $9.6-billion pandemic recovery package that also includes $2.1 billion in grants for small businesses. School police overhaul. The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a plan that cuts a third of school police officers, bans the use of pepper spray on students and [diverts funds from the department]( to improve the education of Black students. LAPD internal investigation. Allegations that officers circulated a mock valentine with a photo of George Floyd and the caption “You take my breath away” have drawn strong condemnation, including from Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor and Floyd’s family. The LAPD has [launched an internal investigation](. Going to court. Democrats succeeded in unraveling much of the Trump agenda through a California-led deluge of lawsuits. But they now face a sobering reality: Their courtroom playbook is [about to be turned against them by Republicans](. Impeachment fallout. Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) faces an attempt to censure him at the California GOP convention this weekend for his vote to impeach Donald Trump. He is the latest Republican elected official to draw criticism from a state party [over disloyalty to the former president](. Texas on ice. After a devastating winter storm, millions of people in Texas remain without access to water. Power has largely been restored, but outages linger, highlighting a power system [unprepared for climate change](. The problems extend [far beyond Texas across the South]( where pipes burst by record-low temperatures have left a shortage of clean drinking water. Immigration reform. President Biden made official on Thursday his aggressive opening salvo to reform a broken U.S. immigration system — an ambitious bill that would [offer a pathway to citizenship]( for an estimated 11 million immigrants in the United States without legal status. The administration also directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to [focus on “significant threats,”]( as Biden’s order for a 100-day pause on most deportations remains hampered by court rulings. Enjoying this newsletter? Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. [Become a Times subscriber.]( ADVERTISEMENT This week’s most-clicked links in Essential California 1. “Once by the Pacific” by Robert Frost. [American Poems]( 2. After receiving a lowball appraisal, a Bay Area Black couple had a white friend pose as the owner for a second appraisal of their home. [ABC 7]( 3. One man’s story of how he survived a bear attack in California’s Trinity Alps. [SFGATE]( 4. How one journalist experienced the search for two kidnapped children. [KQED]( 5. What happens when a city’s largest employer goes “work from anywhere”? [Bloomberg CityLab]( ADVERTISEMENT ICYMI, here are this week’s great reads The California roots of the fight over the term “illegal alien.” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would use inclusive language, including dropping the use of “illegal alien,” a term with a fraught history in California. [Los Angeles Times]( Texas storms, California heat waves and “vulnerable” utilities. Power failures have cast a spotlight on whether energy companies and regulators are doing enough to prepare for climate change and natural disasters. [New York Times]( From the archives: “The day we discovered our parents were Russian spies.” A 2016 Guardian story follows up with two American-raised young adults whose parents were arrested in 2010 as deep-cover Russian spies. [The Guardian]( Poem of the week: “The Cabbages of Chekhov” by Robert Bly. [Writer’s Almanac]( Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints, ideas and unrelated book recommendations to [Julia Wick](mailto:julia.wick@latimes.com). Follow her on Twitter [@Sherlyholmes](. (And a giant thanks to the legendary [Laura Blasey]( for all her help on the Saturday edition.) ADVERTISEMENT Thank you for reading the Los Angeles Times Essential California newsletter. Invite your friends, relatives, coworkers to sign up [here](. Not a subscriber? Get unlimited digital access to latimes.com. [Subscribe here](. [Los Angeles Times] Copyright © 2021, Los Angeles Times 2300 E. Imperial Highway, El Segundo, California, 90245 1-800-LA-TIMES | [latimes.com]( *Advertisers have no control over editorial decisions or content. If you're interested in placing an ad or classified, get in touch [here](. We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. 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