Sometimes, it's hard to tell truth from parody in California. 

October 15, 2021
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Last week, the satirical website The Babylon Bee published an article ([link removed]) proclaiming, “kids form union and donate millions to Newsom so they won’t have to get vaccinated.”

As with any good parody, this piece centered on truth: the most effective voices in California’s education system are teachers unions, because they have a lot of money.

Look no further than Newsom’s recent COVID vaccine mandates, which apply very differently depending on who cut the pertinent check to his most recent campaign. ThoughNewsom’s announcement of the first-in-in-the-nation childhood vaccine mandate ([link removed]) was chock full of platitudes about science and a commitment to keep all Californians safe, his rhetoric falls apart when one considers how his vaccine mandate affecting the state’s prison guards is being applied.

While requiring all eligible students attending both public and private schools to receive the vaccine to continue attending school in-person, the Newsom’s administration is working to exempt prison guards from his mandate ([link removed]) affecting state workers.

Looking at how COVID affects children versus adults and the vaccination rates in schools and prisons, Newsom’s stance doesn’t make much sense.

Statewide ([link removed]) , 56% of prison staff are fully vaccinated, with rates among staff at some prisons being as low as 29%; 76% of prisoners have received both doses. Meanwhile, over 56% of eligible children ([link removed]) are fully vaccinated despite the vaccine only recently being made available to them, and a whopping 90% of California Teachers Association members are vaccinated ([link removed]) . California prisons have repeatedly been the sources of outbreaks that have resulted in deaths, while research is clear that schools are not hotbeds for COVID-19 ([link removed]) . Children are far less likely to develop symptoms when experiencing COVID-19, let alone
experience a severe case, compared to adults who are more likely to develop complications the older they get and with each comorbidity they have.

Yet, Newsom and Sacramento lawmakers are doubling down on the student mandate, even working to strip parents of religious- and personal-belief exemptions ([link removed]) . But when one considers the money behind Newsom’s recent recall victory, the confusing approach suddenly fades away.

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which represents the guards, contributed $1.75 million to Newsom’s campaign ([link removed]) and its leadership is staunchly against requiring the shot to work. Conversely, education unions donated $2.4 million to Newsom, and have been vocal proponents of requiring both staff and students to be vaccinated.

Newsom’s vaccine mandates aren’t about science. They’re about politics, and are being applied according to the highest bidder. “Only by raising money and donating it to people like Governor Newsom can we cheat the system and change the science,” The Babylon Bee’s satirical account reads.

The California Policy Center recognized the power imbalance The Babylon Bee joked about years ago, and thanks to your support, was able to create the Parent Union. If teachers have a union to fight for their interests, children should too, and that’s what our growing members are doing each and every day.

Our Parent Union may not buy off politicians, but together, parent voices are being heard, and students’ interests will be honored.
Support the California Policy Center. Donate Today. ([link removed])

Quote of the Week

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." — Ronald Reagan

More from CPC
* Activist parents are painted as terrorists ([link removed])
* Listen: Oil, academic toil, and FBI trouble ([link removed])

CPC and allies in the news
* Leader of California union SEIU charged with tax fraud, embezzlement ([link removed])
* Tesla moving headquarters from California to Texas ([link removed])
* California passes ethnic studies requirement for high school graduation ([link removed])

Classroom headlines
* The DOJ’s intimidation of parents with opinions ([link removed])
* Masks are changing how kids interact ([link removed])
* Proposed California ballot measure could spark court challenges to teacher protections ([link removed])
* Who can opt out of school COVID vaccine mandates? California lawmakers eye crackdown ([link removed])
* Facebook needs to empower parents, not censor political speech ([link removed])
* Hundreds of families crowd Stanislaus education office to protest student vaccine mandate ([link removed])
* Newsom signs California education budget with universal pre-K, college savings accounts ([link removed])
* Why are moms like me being called domestic terrorists? ([link removed])

Union news
* California union leader charged with tax fraud, embezzlement ([link removed])
* Letter with insider information shows the teachers union, AG Merrick Garland, and the FBI’s plan to monitor parents was a political setup for midterms ([link removed])
* California union lobbyist sues SEIU Local 1000 president, alleging harassment retaliation ([link removed])
* Labor unions move towards the Republican Party in Michigan and more ([link removed])
* Leader of California’s largest union resigns amid tax fraud, embezzlement charges ([link removed])
* California union director faces grand theft, perjury charges. Here’s what the complaint says ([link removed])

Other things we’re reading
* A tale of two states: Contrasting economic policy in California and Texas ([link removed])
* LA County employees file suit against county over mandatory worker vaccine mandate ([link removed])
* As drought worsens. California farmers are being paid not to grow crops ([link removed])
* How government devastated minor league baseball ([link removed])
* Gavin Newsom signs law banning sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers, lawn mowers by 2024 ([link removed])
* California on pace for another budget surplus ([link removed])
* 770 new laws coming to California ([link removed])
* University of California issues mandatory flu vaccine order for students and staff ([link removed])

Connect with CPC

Want to keep up with CPC and our partners during the week? Follow us on Twitter ([link removed]) , join our Facebook ([link removed]) community, and sign up to be part of the growing Parent Union ([link removed]) .


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