What’s New and Next at the RESTORED Orange USD?

Pro-public education Yamazaki, Page, Erickson;
Anti-public education Ortega, Rumsay.

Let’s first look back and acknowledge how REMARKABLE that victory was, the victory of the Parent-led Recall of two extremist Orange Unified School District Trustees last March. Extremists Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma were recalled in the 2024 primary election, which had really low turnout and (despite the efforts of the DPOC AND this blog) especially low Democratic turnout. Remember, this was the same primary election where, IN THE SAME GENERAL GEOGRAPHIC AREA,

• Supervisor Don Wagner beat his Democratic challenger nearly 2 to 1;
• Assemblyman Phillip Chen outperformed HIS Democratic challenger nearly 2 to 1;
• and the three fine challengers to extremists on the County School Board failed nearly as badly as ever.

Yet here in OUSD, in the same election, Miner and Ledesma were recalled by 7-point margins. And against bushels of Charter School / Lincoln Club money, as well as illegal cheerleading from Megachurches like the Calvary Chapel. (Are regular folks getting tired of Jack Hibbs telling them how to vote?)

What did this grassroots recall movement do right? We should study and emulate it. One organizer tells me that he thinks their secret weapon was a big Spanish-speaking team that went out and talked to the Spanish-speaking communities during the last weeks of voting. Well, THAT sounds like a no-brainer. But are Democrats (and other folks of good will) doing that?

But it’s also obvious that a hell of a lot of Republicans voted for this recall. Which is a great development! Republican voters who are sick of waste, chaos and headlines; who are sick of the greedy Charter School Industry bleeding our public education resources; and who refuse to be manipulated any more with irrelevant Culture War issues!

My kind of Republicans! I wonder when the OC GOP will catch up with them. Not just quite yet evidently, because, just as Communist Czechoslovakia had “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” we now see:

The Tone-Deaf Double-Down Cluelessness of the OC GOP.

Yes, you saw that right, I’m afraid. No sooner had the votes cooled on the overwhelming recall of Madison Miner (by voters across the spectrum) than Fred Whitaker’s OC GOP shouted out, “Madison, we’ve got your back. You are OUR kind of trustee.”

This is Madison Miner we’re talking about, the most juvenile and irresponsible of these anti-education zealots, the Marjorie Taylor Greene of the gang. Madison who joked, when an anti-education thug from LA growled about ripping out her liberal colleague’s throat with his teeth, “I’ll bring the popcorn.” Madison who, with her colleagues, voted to let the OC Classical Academy, where her kids attend, mortgage school district property – something that’s never been allowed before. *UPDATE – tale disputed – CLICK HERE.

And Whitaker’s OC GOP is letting the County know, “This is OUR type of school board trustee, this is what the Party stands for.” And when they’re not celebrating Madison, they’re endorsing folks like TONY BEALL for Mayor in Rancho Santa Margarita, THE DAY AFTER he throws a tantrum AT THE ENTIRE RSM AUDIENCE AND ALL HIS COLLEAGUES justifying his closing of the RSM Boys & Girls Club for some dumb museum, same day as he illegally refuses to pay the district elections attorney Michelle Jackson because he hates her husband (honest Republican Bill Brough, who had the nerve to try and audit Tony’s crooked Toll Road Agency.) The Tone-Deaf Double-Down Cluelessness of Today’s OC GOP.

I’m predicting Orange County Republicans lose EVEN MORE members with leadership and messaging like this – from 56% of registered voters in the Party’s glory days, to 33% now, to – I’m betting – under 30 very soon. Which is sad. I like having a decent, competent, responsible opposition Party.

But, “Stop your bagatelles and rhapsodizing, and get back to the matter at hand,” you chide me. I hear you, and I’m on it.

What’s New, and Next, on the Restored OUSD?

Pro-education Yamazaki, Page, Erickson;
Charter zealots Ortega, Rumsay.

I’m using the word “restored” rather than “new, improved” or whatever, because we need to remember the OUSD was always (usually) a normal functioning competent school board, that worked hand-in-hand with the district’s beloved and accomplished Superintendent Dr. Gunn Marie Hansen… UNTIL the 111-vote victory of Madison in 2022. THAT was the revolution – a bad revolution – THIS is just the RESTORATION of a good school board.

Post-recall, the Board now has 3 pro-education members and 2 Charter Zealots. First order of business was electing a new President, and that went to Ana Page (which makes good political sense as she’s up for re-election in November.) In an olive branch to the zealots (something that side would never have done) Angie Rumsay was given the Vice President post. Also coming up in November: election of two new members to replace the recalled Miner & Ledesma, AND the re-election of zealot John Ortega, who has his own unique baggage of corruption and should NOT be re-elected.

The Board COULD legally continue to function with just five members, and wait for voters to choose the Ledesma/Miner replacements in November. OR they could appoint two temporary members now (probably with similar views to the new, pro-education majority) and those two could then run in November with the advantages of being incumbents. A small number of people were sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what would happen at the April 11 Board meeting in that regard, and one of them was Matt Cunningham, my old nemesis Matt “Jubal” Cunningham of Anaheim Blog and the ironically titled “OC Independent.”

Where would we be without our nemeses? Since money from the Anaheim Kleptocracy has somewhat dried up, with all the FBI arrests and his own wife’s resignation as Chamber CEO, Matt’s main blogging passions have been attacking Santa Ana’s progressive Council majority (on behalf of the SA police union which pays him) and attacking public education (probably on behalf of some charter school group that’s paying him.)

To that end, as the April 11 OUSD meeting approached at which appointments were to be discussed, Matt wrote a piece focusing on proving that the parent-driven OUSD recall campaign was “spearheaded by teachers’ unions and the DPOC.” Not true, of course. Those groups SUPPORTED the people’s recall, but they just went along for the ride, as any research will show. For one thing, look how badly Democrats and pro-education candidates did elsewhere.

(If you can take one more historical digression – an entertaining one – it was Matt’s decades-long hardon against teachers’ unions that got us STEVE ROCCO on this same OUSD Board in 2004. All Matt knew was that Rocco was against the unions, so he told everyone to vote for him, and yes believe it or not, Matt did have that kind of power back then, back when he ran “Red County.” HA! So for the next four years we had to hear about the conspiracy between Albertsons, Kodak & Kraft cheeses framing Rocco for shoplifting.)

Matt concludes his April 11 piece, “it would be surprising if Erickson, Page and Yamasaki chose not to press their advantage by appointing two more political allies to the Board [tonight].” And I agree, and that is what they ended up deciding to do that night. BECAUSE WE ARE AT WAR. IT IS A WAR ON PUBLIC EDUCATION. AND WE ARE UKRAINE IN THIS WAR. We have no idea what kind of re-grouping the other side is up to right now. (Here’s where you can go to apply for one of those positions if that’s your school district.)

In Matt’s follow-up piece, he weeps over the unfairness and inconsistency of certain public commenters, who would carelessly relegate Matt, Madison and their ilk to the status of “second-class citizens…”

“One recall supporter sounded a conciliatory note, saying debate among a diversity of viewpoints on the Board is a healthy thing – before going on to lay out a restrictive set of criteria as to what constituted a legitimate trustee.

“’I’m not going to agree with everything trustees do up here – that’s OK. That’s not what any of this is about. But we need to move forward and have honest dialogue between our board members to keep things moving,’ John Sanks said – and then immediately asked the Board to rule out an entire swatch of OUSD voters and taxpayers.

“’We need to pick someone who is connected to an OUSD school, who listens to the parents and has recent experience with an OUSD is very valuable. No more Board members who choose not to send their kids to an OUSD school,’ Sanks said.

“These criteria would disenfranchise OUSD voters who: send or sent their children to a religious school because OUSD doesn’t offer religious instruction or a spiritual school environment; who paid to sent their kids to private school because the schools are more responsive and less bureaucratic, where their kids needs and priorities are bucking up against those of the teachers union; childless people; voters who moved into OUSD boundaries after their children were grown.

“OUSD voters who do not have of have not had children in OUSD school are still compelled to pay taxes for the support of those schools. Those who are homeowners are being taxed to pay for the Measure S school bond. OUSD recall organizers like Mr. Sanks asked them to vote for the recall. Yet. at the same time, he would exclude them from eligibility to seek appointment to the Board – relegating them to a form of second-class citizenship.“

Now, that is sad. Or, as they say in Pico Rivera, “Tha’ss sahh.”

Yeah, Matt makes the argument as well as he can, but the voters will decide in November. The voters will decide if they want the Orange Unified School District run by folks with skin in the district and its schools, or by Culture Warriors funded by Charter Schools who send their kids (if they have ’em) elsewhere.

And look out Culture Warriors! The Fifth of November is getting close – and we’re coming for our kids!