CalMatters
By Joe Fong
State lawmakers, however, have yet to issue a vaccine mandate for public school teachers, arguing that a mask mandate, increased ventilation and other existing safety measures are enough.
Legislators have put the decision in the hands of local officials, but most school districts haven’t made vaccination a requirement for teachers either because they’re still exploring the legality of a mandate or there isn’t enough support from local teacher unions. The California Teachers Association is strongly supporting vaccines, but has so far stopped short of endorsing a vaccination mandate for all public school teachers.
Some school districts have settled for the softer alternative of a weekly COVID-19 test, as some are facing advocacy groups that are actively fighting against a vaccination requirement for teachers until the FDA fully authorizes the vaccines...
Despite these experts urging universal teacher vaccinations, there has been little momentum among state lawmakers. State Sen. Josh Becker, a Democrat who represents sections of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, has been one of the few calling on districts to require teachers to be fully vaccinated before returning to campuses.
“We’re at a tipping point,” he said. “The delta variant in many ways puts our mindsets back to March 2020. But back then, we did not have the defense.”
This CalMatters article also ran on Jefferson Public Radio on August 10.