These fed-up parents fought California’s pandemic schooling and won. Now what?

BY CAROLYN JONES | CALMatters (CALMATTERS) – At the height of the pandemic, in spring 2020, Maria O. her husband and four children were quarantined in their one-bedroom apartment in South Los Angeles, each vying for privacy, quiet and adequate technology to work and attend school remotely. There weren’t enough tablets or laptops, and Wi-Fi was glitchy. Her children ended up logging into online classes using their parents’ phones. While the children once loved school, they started falling behind academically. Everyone grew frustrated.& “People on the outside don’t know the impact that remote learning had on families like us,” said Maria O.& “It was hard and it was stressful. We stayed afloat, but it wasn’t easy.” Maria O.’s family is among a dozen Californians who& joined a lawsuit& against the state, claiming that in many schools, remote learning was so inconsistent and ineffective that thousands of students — especially low-income, Black and Latino students — were denied their right to an education. She and other plaintiffs in the case were not identified by their full names in court documents and asked to remain anonymous when interviewed in order to protect their children’s privacy. The& case was settled& this month in...