Today, parents all across California are protesting the vaccine mandate for children 12 and up. Gavin Newsom recently ordered a vaccine mandate for schools, following similar mandates from Los Angeles and San Diego Unified School Districts.
In Sacramento, an estimated 2500 people are planning to protest outside the state capitol as part of an event they call, “Our Children, Our Choice”. Other protests are scheduled all around the state, from coastal Orange County to rural Del Norte County, parents are leaving their children at home and protesting the mandate. San Francisco parent Babe Prieto said, “We know that if our children stay home from school … that will impact the funding that schools will get for that day. And we want them to know that we’re serious about not being forced to vaccinate our children.” Prieto is among some of the thousands of parents protesting the mandate today.
Mandates have been a hot button issue this year, and mandates have become costly to the rural counties of California. In Modoc Joint Unified School District in northeastern California, almost half of the staff have considered leaving their job which would cause the district to shut its doors completely. In neighboring Lassen County, the Long Valley Charter School stated they could bring in workers from out of the country according to Sherri Morgan the executive director of Long Valley Charter School, “I have thought about bringing in candidates from out of the country. I was close when Covid restrictions first happened.” In San Francisco, mandates are having an effect on public safety as 200 unvaccinated members of the police, fire, and sheriff departments have been placed on paid leave and will have to go through a hearing process and have the possibility of getting fired. In Fallbrook, members of the Fallbrook Freedom Fighters organized a protest with parents from the community.
With more and more parents becoming involved in their children’s education, parents are taking a stand on an issue and are hitting their districts and the state where it hurts, as by keeping children out of school, the districts lose money.
Photo Cred: Anne Wernikoff/ CalMatters
