Ricardo Cano / CalMatters

Many parents report that their special-needs students have gone backward in development during the pandemic-isolating past year.

A group of eight California lawmakers will advance a proposal in January that would require the state’s public schools to reopen and offer in-person instruction once they receive permission to do so from state and local public-health authorities.

Almost every waiver application for in-person instruction for grades K-6 has been approved by the state for schools in counties deemed a high risk. But private schools comprise an overwhelming majority of those schools, creating an equity problem.

A still rampaging coronavirus pandemic means schools have spent gobs of money just to add the necessary protective equipment and cleaning staff necessary for a safe and effective school reopening.

Students returning to public schools in California next fall can expect a very different classroom experience from those they've been used to.