Angry Parents Protest Religious Right Interference in Southern California School District.

 

Angry Parents Protest Religious Right in a Southern California School District Blake Jones  July 9, 2023 Politico Novice school board members get a hard lesson in politics in a region that could determine control of the House. Students have held protests, and irate parents and teachers are swarming the board’s meetings, feeling that their town, Temecula in Riverside County has become consumed by partisan warfare. , Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP Photo   TEMECULA, Calif. — Three Southern California school board members backed by a far-right pastor narrowly won election last fall in campaigns fueled by pandemic rage. Then they banned critical race theory and rejected social studies materials that included LGBTQ rights hero Harvey Milk. Now, they’re fighting for their political lives. After just six months in office, those officials face a recall effort on top of a civil rights investigation launched by the state’s Democratic-led education department. Students have held protests, and irate parents and teachers are swarming the board’s meetings, feeling that their town — the fast-growing, politically diverse suburb of Temecula in Riverside County — has become consumed by partisan warfare. “We don’t want culture wars. We don’t want Fox News appearances,” Alex Douvas, a parent of two kids in the district who previously worked for two Republican congressmembers in Orange County, told the board recently. “Our schools are not ideological battlegrounds. They’re not platforms for religious evangelism. These are institutions for learning and growth.” The religious right saw an opening to jump into the parental rights movement amid intense backlash about pandemic-era school closures and mask mandates. But those policies have all but disappeared in schools, and it’s proving harder to sustain that level of outrage over teachings on race and gender. The effort to ban certain books and challenge curriculum has split Republicans and polled poorly with independent voters nationally. Local Democrats see the strategy flopping — and are already looking to capitalize on it in a part of the state that has become a battleground for control of the House. Joy Silver, chair of the Riverside County Democrats, said she’s intensely focused on winning down-ballot races like school board seats “because the battles are taking place there.” In Temecula, the political agenda embraced by school board trustees Joseph Komrosky, Danny Gonzalez and Jen Wiersma has set off a different kind of public outrage than was likely intended. The booing and shouting at a recent public hearing grew so loud that the board president — who appeared to be wearing a bullet-proof vest under his sweater — cleared the room. “To the extent you keep it focused on parents and students first, not teachers, I think there’s room where you can push back on quote-unquote “woke” agenda issues, but if you go too far in the other direction and are trying to make that the only issue you care about, I think you’re going to see predictable backlash,” California GOP consultant Rob Stutzman said in an interview. “I look at something like Temecula, and to me it’s an eye roll.” https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/09/culture-clash-religious-right-california-00105259

School -Parent Activist Running for City Council in NYC.

 “The Billionaires Are Nervous. And They Should Be Nervous.”

https://portside.org/2021-06-16/billionaires-are-nervous-and-they-should-be-nervous

Portside Date: June 16, 2021

Author: An Interview by Oren Schweitzer

Date of source: June 14, 2021

Jacobin

Alexa Avilés is a longtime community organizer in South Brooklyn. After a decade as president of the parent-teacher association at her daughters’ school, PS 172, she’s running for New York City Council. Endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, she is running on the New York City Democratic Socialists of America’s (NYC-DSA) DSA for the City city council slate, made up of six DSA members and working-class organizers running on a platform of taking power from the wealthy and giving it to New York’s working class.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a PAC funded by billionaire real estate developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross issued mailers throughout her district, fearmongering around Avilés’s calls to defund the New York Police Department (NYPD).

Avilés is running in City Council District 38 to represent the South Brooklyn neighborhoods South Slope, Sunset Park, Red Hook, and parts of Borough Park, Dyker Heights, and Windsor Terrace. District 38 is a diverse working-class community, with a large population of immigrants and Puerto Rican and Mexican families, as well as being home to Brooklyn’s Chinatown. According to a study of District 38, it has the highest rate of adults without a high-school degree in New York City and half of its single mothers with young children live in poverty.

Jacobin’s Oren Schweitzer sat down with Avilés to discuss the state of politics in New York City, what it’s like to run on a socialist slate for office, and how she hopes to build working-class power.

---

OS

Why are you running for city council?

AV

I’ve been asked for many years now by community residents if I would consider running. A few years ago, I noticed that despite how high the stakes are for our community, it felt like our leadership was not putting the community first. It was a “put up or shut up” moment for me. I decided to jump in.

I made the decision to run even before the pandemic hit. Our communities were suffering greatly. Our neighbors were being displaced. Every year, we see increasing displacement where poor people and working-class folks could no longer live in the neighborhood.

We’ve seen unemployment and insecurity, stagnating wages, food insecurity. Coming out of the Trump era, families were being detained and deported by ICE. We’re coming out of a time of fear and insecurity. It felt like we needed steadfast leadership that put people over everything else.

DSA member running for city council in New York.

https://portside.org/2021-06-16/billionaires-are-nervous-and-they-should-be-nervous

 

 

SCUSD and Black Parallel School Board Seek Settlement

Sacramento City Unified School District and Advocacy Groups Pursue Settlement of Lawsuit Alleging Disability and Race Discrimination

SACRAMENTO, CA - The Sacramento City Unified School District (District) and plaintiffs suing the District for alleged discrimination against students based on race and disability asked the federal court to pause litigation so the parties may seek potential resolution through settlement.   

The lawsuit, alleged as a class-action, was filed by a coalition of nonprofit advocacy groups on behalf of the Black Parallel School Board (BPSB) and three students in the District. The suit alleges that the District’s policies and practices in the areas of special education and student discipline harm students with disabilities, and in particular, Black students with disabilities. 

While the District does not agree with the allegations in the lawsuit, “we appreciate plaintiffs’ willingness to work with us,” said District Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar. “The District believes that we should work cooperatively with the plaintiffs to identify potential policies and practices that may not serve the best interests of the District’s students with disabilities, and to jointly find solutions to those issues, which would include addressing factors which limit service options or strategies for serving District students,” said Superintendent Aguilar. 

The parties have asked the Court to grant a seven-month stay of the litigation. During the stay, and by early February, the District has offered and agreed to implement several measures intended to benefit students with disabilities, including Black students with disabilities. These measures include:

• Halting all District suspensions based on “willful defiance” not only for students in kindergarten through third grade, but up and through eighth grade;
• Offering students a special education assessment plan within 15 days of a request for such assessment; and
• Directing school administrators and staff not to ask or require students to leave school as an informal response to concerns with student behavior.
•  

“These measures are significant to students with disabilities and their parents and guardians whom we and other advocates in our community fight for and support,” said BPSB Chairperson Darryl White. “The District’s willingness to implement these interim measures has encouraged BPSB to engage in cooperative discussions with the District about potential broader and more permanent reforms and protections for our students.” 

Also, during the stay, an agreed-upon set of experts will review the District’s data and practices in the areas of special education, student discipline, and implicit bias.  That review will include expert interviews of students, parents, District staff, and other stakeholders. After the assessment and study of the information gathered, the experts will issue recommendations that the parties will consider as part of a possible settlement to create positive, lasting change for students and their families. 

The Court granted the requested stay of litigation today, December 20, 2019. 

Making LCFF Work- in Sacramento

At the June 5, 2015,  meeting,  and each year since, the Community Priorities Coalition presented the Sacramento City board with alternatives ways to invest in our children. 

Funding of California’s k-12 public education system is changing fundamentally.  Some schools will get much more money to educate kids as described in the above video.  The centerpiece of the change is the Local Control Funding Formula, designed to send additional funds to districts where  “the need and the challenge is greatest.”  The law requires that  parents, students, teachers, and other community members be involved in the process of deciding how new funds are spent. 

Ed Source has an excellent guide to these changes.

 http://edsource.org/wp-content/publications/10-questions.pdf

    Sacramento City Unified’s plan for Local Control Funding is on their web site.

   LCAP Timeline and Process-  here.

 SCUSD outlines its LCAP development process, Community Planning Process, timeline, and lists potential community partners to engage with in LCFF implementation. A new budget has been submitted  and should be on the web site this PM. 

After submitting a report and requests for three years,   an updated report will be submitted on June 15 of this year.  As of yet, the SCUSD board has not responded  in prior years by spending the money the way it was  intended to be spent. 

Here is our submission for the 2017/ 2018 school year.

May 4, 2017

To: Jay Hansen, President

Jessie Ryan, 1st Vice President Darrell Woo. 2nd Vice President Christina Pritchett. Member Ellen Cochrane, Member

Mai Vang, Member Michael Minnick, Member Natalie Ross. Member

Jose Banda, Superintendent

Dear Board of Trustees and Superintendent:

The Sacramento City Community Priority Coalition (CPC) is pleased to submit to the Sacramento City Unified School District its 20 l 7-18 Budget as another budget scenario to consider.

The CPC coalition member organizations and groups consist of Black Parallel School Board, Building Healthy Communities. Hmong Innovating Politics, La Familia Counseling Center. Making Cents Work, PRO Youth and Families , Sacramento Area Congregations Together, Democracy and Education Institute, and Public Advocates Inc.

Based on the input of our respective communities. the CPC recommends three major priorities for both the LCAP and the LCFF that we conclude will better serve the students of our communities. Those priorities include:

•       Class size adjustments/reductions in select high need schools - beginning with grade 4-6 and gradually progressing to higher grades after three years of LCAP implementation.

•       Culturally competent professional development to enhance school climate and ensure the use of effective and restorative discipline policies in all schools for all students.

•       After school and/or other early intervention supports/programsdesigned to improve and further classroom performance.

The district needs to attract quality teachers that reflect the diversity of the students and continue class-size reduction, address inequities regarding our low-income and high needs students, increase graduation rates, improve professional development, and continue to improve community outreach and involvement year around. Monies allocated through the Local Control Funding process are required by law to be spent on increased or improved services and actions that are principally directed to meet the needs of specific target populations: low income, English Language Learners, foster children, special education.

In addition , to increased funding for class size reduction beyond grades K-3: specific funds should be allocated to meet the needs of the designated targeted populations. For example, English Language Learners need additional instructional assistance and increased efforts to involve their parents in their education programs. including bilingual counselors , teachers, social workers and other staff. Funds should be allocated to establish designated additional programs for ELL students in those schools with large numbers of English Language Learners. These programs might include the use of additional certificated personnel, and/or classified staff.

We recommend that the budget adopted by Sac City Unified School District clearl y and specifically designate where funds will be spent to meet these target populations. At present, we are unable to track funds from the district budget to serving these target students. We strongly recommend that this change. The district should specifically and clearly indicate the amounts of funds planned for specific services and actions that are increases or improvements principally directed to meet the needs of each target group, and which funds have been planned used for spending on combinations of these groups, and which funds have been used for all students districtwide, in addition to funds allocated by school site, which the district currently identifies . This level of transparency is necessary for parents , students and the community to be involved in a meaningful way in the LCAP development process and other district and school site decision making processes.

Sacramento City USD School Board

The Sacramento Progressive Alliance endorses in District 7

Jonathan Tran   https://www.facebook.com/Tran4scusd

 Linda Tuttle      https://www.facebook.com/LindaTuttleforSchoolBoard

Both have worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunity in Sacramento City Schools. See post below. What it takes to unite Teachers Unions and the Communities of Color.

Teachers and students win in Los Angeles, Michelle Rhee loses

On Tuesday night, an exhausted Steve Zimmer celebrated his against-the-odds re-election victory for the Los Angeles Unified School District board against Kate Anderson, whom he defeated with 52 percent of the vote. The next morning he was at Occidental College, preparing to teach his popular course on education policy that evening. This is Zimmer's second year as an adjunct professor at Occidental, where he teaches two courses that have generated enormous enthusiasm among students interested in education issues.

That night, Zimmer followed his prepared lesson plan, but he could have taught a seminar on community organizing and the importance of grassroots activism in overcoming the influence of big money in politics.

Thanks to a huge infusion of campaign contributions from corporate titans like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and business big-wig Eli Broad, Anderson's campaign spent almost twice as much as Zimmer's -- $1.9 million to $1 million -- in the race for the school board's District 4 seat, according to the City Ethics Comission. District 4 stretches from the West Side to the West San Fernando Valley.

Billionaires try to buy LA school board election

This week in the War on Workers: Billionaires try to buy LA school board election

byLaura ClawsonFollowF

Michael Bloomberg is among the plutocrats pouring money into LA's school board elections.

A group of billionaires and astroturf groups is trying to buy a Los Angeles school board election to expand the corporate education policy agenda in that city. One big goal is to defeat one-term incumbent and former teacher Steve Zimmer. The "Coalition for School Reform" has gotten $1 million from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. But the group wasn't exactly broke before Bloomberg's contribution, according to the LA Times:

Education and arts philanthropist Eli Broad leads the way with a contribution of $250,000 to the coalition, which includes L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Also in for $250,000 is billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio, who headed the Univision network for years.

Lynda Resnick, the entrepreneur behind POM Wonderful pomegranate juice and other ventures, has donated $100,000 to the coalition. Investor Marc Nathanson and his wife, Jane, have together given $100,000.

Bloomberg's former schools chancellor, Joel Klein, who now runs NewsCorp's education division, 

Progressive Alliance endorses Sue Heredia for Natomas School Board

These are rough times in schools and for elected school boards.

        Teachers , and incumbent school board members, are the subject of a campaign heavily funded and driven from the top down to take a profession that has long been respected by the public at large and make the people in the profession villains.  The goal is to drive down the pestige and working conditions of people working in the professions.  (for example, the film  Won’t Back Down).

               Natomas  district is under funded as are almost all schools districts in the state.  The district was  forced to cut over   $31 million in prior   years.  These cuts were imposed upon the district by the economic crisis and the failure of the legislature to respond to the needs of all the schools.  The result is almost $525  per child less money for the district. This makes California rank 47^th. out of the 50 states in per pupil spending.

        The  cuts were  imposed by the economic crisis- not the school board and not the teachers and  the cuts hurt children.   Most California school budgets are in crisis and they will continue in crisis for several years as a consequence of the economic collapse of the housing market and the financial heist of Wall Street.  The crisis will get worse if Prop. 30 fails on the November ballot.   Readers can do something positive about this crisis by voting Yes. On Prop. 30, the Millionaires Tax this fall.

Sacramento Black Parallel School Board

Good Morning.  First let me say that I am honored and humbled to have been selected as your guest speaker today.  CONGRATULATIONS are due to the Executive Board of the Black Parallel School Board on this day, the 2^nd Anniversary of your creation.  It is appropriate to celebrate during Black History Month, since much of our past struggle has surrounded the right of blacks to obtain a quality education or to be educated at all.  Even before the cases of Plessy vs. Fergueson and Brown v. Board of Education were decided, Africans were striving to learn a new language and have the right to have a book and read it.  Remember that it was after Africans arrived in America and owned land and property that the first Negro Act was passed making it illegal for us to read, be educated and even assemble for fear that we would rebel against whites.

Kudos to BPSB for taking on the arduous task of representing the community that makes up Sacramento City School Districts.  SCUSD has been difficult.  I say that because although there are similar alternative Board organizations elsewhere around the State, the school system inSacramento is probably one of the most resistant and difficult Districts to deal with.   It has a history of ignoring the needs of our children and it has a structure and administration that does not accept criticism or change, and frankly did not readily embrace this organization as a good thing.