California Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging all schools in the state to reopen, saying there are no health barriers to getting children back into classrooms and ending distance learning.

Speaking Wednesday, he said: “Money is not an object now. It’s an excuse.”

His wishes remain an expectation rather than a mandate because California’s decentralized education system lets the 1,200 school districts govern themselves.

Some of the largest school districts are reopening, including Los Angeles and San Diego.

Newsom says more than 9,000 of California’s 11,000 schools have reopened or have set plans to reopen, but that is misleading because there is no uniformity in what it means for a school to be open. Some are offering one or two days of in-person instruction, mixed with distance learning on other days.

(AP)