It Is Critical That We Elect Strong Candidates Who Will Protect Our Communities

With so many bills in the legislature seeking to strip boards of local control, it is more important than ever to choose our candidates wisely. We need to support and elect board members and other elected officials that will protect our communities, our children and parental rights!

Several of our new legislators as well as seasoned politicians are working very hard to reduce or eliminate the power of our local representatives. They don’t want us deciding what is best for our communities through the local officials we elect to represent our districts and communities.

The list of bad bills is seemingly endless: a couple of them are highlighted here. Two of the most egregious attempts to reduce local school board authority are Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s AB 1352 as well as Assemblymember Corey Jackson’s AB 1078. 

AB 1352 requires local school boards to follow the state’s standards regarding policy and curriculum. The bill also allows school board members to be removed by a 2/3rd vote for not following the state’s policies, curriculum and practices. Bonta (who is also our attorney general’s wife) believes that this is the way to address systematic bias in our society. 

In a similar attack on local control, AB 1078 would require a 2/3rd vote to remove any books or material and then set up an appeals process for the state to review the decision. The most recent amendments in the bill would threaten to reduce financial resources to the school if the district picked materials unfavored by the state education bureaucracy and progressive activists. Assemblymember Jackson believes his bill is necessary to fight back against so-called “book banning,” when, in reality, most schools are curating the most appropriate books for their curricula. 

Look at what happened in Temecula. The day after the president of the Temecula Valley Unified School District removed a book from their curriculum, Governor Newsom put him on notice via Twitter. It didn’t end there, next Governor Newsom sent the Attorney General, Rob Bonta and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond, to the district. This doesn’t sound like the America that I know. We need to make sure that our local candidates and elected leaders have the fortitude to stand up to this type of intimidation. Fortunately, Temecula Valley Unified School District recently elected strong leadership and has been able to withstand the scrutiny.

Another case of legislative intimidation comes from the Orange Unified School District (OUSD). After the new board majority was sworn in, they fired the superintendent. In retaliation, Senator Josh Newman introduced SB 494 which would require an interim period for newly elected trustees before they can make serious decisions like terminating top administrators in the district. Newman proposed this measure under the premise of stability, but he was simply doing the bidding of the teacher’s union that had worked hard for control of the previous superintendent. 

In addition to SB 494, the unions have chimed in to now recall two of the board members for taking action that was in the student’s best interest. Having personally attended a handful of OUSD meetings and looking at their test scores, the termination of the superintendent was long overdue. Many community members appreciate the board's timely action. Frustrated that they lost at the ballot box, the union engages in physical acts of intimidation and assault, intentionally tripping me just for attending an OUSD board meeting in support of the board earlier this year.

These responses from our California executive and legislative branches are childish and no more than scare tactics. Local school board members need to know that they have authority to take action within the scope of their elected position and they should be bold even if those in Sacramento don’t like what is happening locally and introduce a new bill. Trustees should be confident in their position and ignore the divisive language by California legislators.

Boards can also opine on legislation that would impact their operations, directly or indirectly. When the chair of the Assembly Education Committee refused to hear Assemblymember Bill Essayli’s parental notification proposal, AB 1314, the Orange County Board of Education took an affirmative action and passed a resolution in favor of AB 1314 with a vote of 5-0 at our April meeting. While our vote has no direct impact over the authority or jurisdiction in other Orange County K-12 school districts, it shows support for a good policy and provides direction for other districts to follow. A good board will prioritize and defend students and protect parental rights at every opportunity.

Unfortunately, many elected school board members are often not aware of the power and authority that they have as an elected member of their community. In some cases this is by design with superintendents and other entrenched unelected bureaucrats purposely misleading and bullying them. Some superintendents act as though board members report to them when the opposite is true. District superintendents are hired by the board to carry out the vision of the board, not vice-versa. 

As another example, look at what is happening in Western Placer County Unified School District (WPUSD). The school board website reads, “The Board members of the Western Placer Unified School District serve as a critical link between our community and the school district. They establish policies to assure school resources are focused on achievement for all students. The board members are elected by the community and welcome your input and involvement.”

Recently, a ninth grade class in a WPUSD high school was assigned a book with excessive racism, profanity and unnecessary sexual content to teach about leadership. Why was such a book chosen to teach about leadership? Are there not more age-appropriate options? Are the board members stepping in to make sure their policies ensure resources are focused on achievement?

Lance Christensen sums it up so nicely in a recent article in the California Globe,

“In the face of increasing pressure, school districts are not immune from the squeaky wheel syndrome and are likely to allow inferior books into their classrooms to avoid dealing with the mob as mature adults. But they do not have to. Trustees are well within their rights and authority to select the best books for their students no matter how badly the activists stretch, justify and misrepresent state law.”

If we want to maintain our local control and protect students and parental rights, we must elect and support trustees who are dedicated to education excellence and have the fortitude to stand with the parents and community members who elected them to this very important role in their district and community.