“Dr. Audrey Yamagata-Noji was first elected to the Santa Ana Unified School District in 1987,” according to the SAUSD website. In total, she has been in office for twenty years!
Why does Audrey Yamagata-Noji keep running for the Santa Ana Unified School District’s Board of Education? Surely it can’t be because she is delivering good results.
While the district has done a good job, for the most part, with its fundamental schools – and several charter schools are doing well, many of the regular schools are on the State of California’s persistently low performing list, including all of our High Schools – with the exception again of the charter and fundamental schools.
We have a huge problem with dropouts as well – and thousands of our High School seniors have graduated only to walk away without diplomas, after failing the California High School Exit Exam.
And during Yamagata-Noji’s tenure, the SAUSD has undertaken expensive remodeling of district offices, while laying off teachers. And the district was caught making up enrollment figures – creating phantom students, resulting in fines from the State of California’s Department of Education.
Not exactly the sort of legacy that Yamagata-Noji, who is the current President of the SAUSD School Board, can be proud of.
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I hope and pray that Santa Ana voters will vote her out. She is only on the board now to pad her retirement.
She keeps running because every she serves, adds to the double-dipping pension she receives from CalPERS which she will receive along with her STRS pension. Twenty-four years as a SAUSD board member will provide her, courtesy of CalPERS with a lifetime pension of over 50% percent of her salary that she currently earns at Mt. San Antonio College. STRS will also provide her with a salary of close to 100% of her salary at Mt. San Antonion College.
Nice gig if you can get it.
She has done such a fine job.
Just look at the improvements over the last twenty years!
She is as bad as Richardson.
And to think…she only beat Nativo Lopez to keep her seat by a few votes. I think he was ahead the night of the election then she pulled ahead the next day with provisionals. I’m not sure Nativo was worse.
SAL TINAJERO 12,977 17.0%
ROSEMARIE AVILA 12,131 15.9%
NATIVO V LOPEZ 11,021 14.4%
AUDREY YAMAGATA NOJI 10,600 13.9%
LUCY SANTANA 10,123 13.3%
NORA GARCIA 7,120 9.3%
LUPE O MORENO 6,270 8.2%
ROLAND LUJAN 4,001 5.2%
JAIME VEGA RODRIGUEZ 2,098 2.7%
“And during Yamagata-Noji’s tenure, the SAUSD has undertaken expensive remodeling of district offices, while laying off teachers. ”
The remodeling of the District office is still going on even now! They are or will be remodeling facilities offices for Todd Butcher, construction manager and they don’t even try and hide it. What monies will they be using, measure G? Who gave the approval for this?
Bud,
According to the OC Weekly, the money came from the general fund. But I do think some Measure G money was spent as well. What a mess!