The news, from last week, is that in response to a lawsuit from Orange Unified School District constituent Darshan Smaaladen, Judge Craig Griffin ordered three of the four challengers running for that Board to change or delete false or misleading claims in their candidate statements. That’d be Crystal Miles, Jack Chang, and Ivan Kokos – apparently only Chip Ahlswede, among OUSD challengers, succeeded in writing a ballot statement without any false or misleading claims.
The OUSD, since 2022, is one of those school districts that’s been bedeviled by rightwing extremists – extremists funded by and loyal to the Charter School industry, and heavy on Culture War issues to rile up the Rube Vote. In OUSD these extremists were removed by a 2024 recall, and now they’re trying to take over again. (In Placentia – Yorba Linda they were defeated in the 2024 election but are trying to come back, and in CAPO USD they’ve been firmly in control for a few years.)
This blog trusts the voters of OUSD won’t put the extremists back in charge this November and risk a return of the chaos and waste they saw in 23-24. But let’s go back to these misleading and false statements the challengers tried to make. FIRST:
What did Crystal Miles write?
The MAGA Villa Park Councilwoman’s name may ring a bell, as she tried running for state senate two years ago; now she is challenging trustee Sara Pelly in Area 4. And part of that challenge is to falsely claim..
“Only 40.66% of our students are proficient in math, and the OUSD ranks 13th out of 15 in overall quality.”
Wherever Crystal got that 40.66% figure, it is wrong; the correct figure is 46% according to the California Department of Education, for the latest testing cycle. Weird thing is, Crystal knew that, she’d posted the correct figure on her Facebook page two days earlier, but apparently she thought the lower figure sounded better for her candidate statement. 46% doesn’t sound so great either, but it should be pointed out that the district’s math proficiency has risen every year since 2022.
Judge Griffin made Crystal change that percentage figure, but the part about OUSD ranking “13th out of 15” she had to just delete. Nobody could figure out what it meant anyway – 13th out of 15 what? Our county has 28 school districts. I could say my Anaheim Democrats Club is the biggest Club out of ten clubs.
Going the extra mile to figure out Crystal, the plaintiff found a “dataset” (Niche) that included 16 OC school districts, and rated OUSD as one of the BEST at #13, with a letter grade of A+ to A-. Yes, that’s PROBABLY what Crystal was looking at, but didn’t understand it, thought it meant the opposite, and wrote 15 when she meant 16. I’m starting to think this Crystal isn’t too bright.
Area 4 – VOTE PELLY!
What did Jack Chang write?
Chang, a corporate finance/recruiting guy, is taking on distinguished educator Dr. Stephen Glass in the south-of-Chapman Area 7. (Glass whose main focus has been on improving those math scores!) And Jack Chang falsely wrote in his candidate statement that
“Test scores in our district are dropping” and “only 40% of students are proficient at math.”
Huh – we already know that last part is wrong, maybe Jack and Crystal attended the same wrongness seminar. But he did Crystal one better, wrongness-wise, by “rounding” 40.66% down to 40%, like someone who wasn’t good at math. Judge Griffin made Jack correct that claim to 46%.
And Jack had to delete the false claim, okay, the lie, that “test scores are dropping.” As the plaintiff pointed out, “The Education Scorecard, peer reviewed by researchers at Stanford and Harvard Universities, confirm that OUSD students are gaining academic skills at a rate placing the district in the top 14% nationwide; reading performance ranks in the top 20%, and math in the top third.”
Mr. Chang is fast and loose with the truth! Vote Dr. Glass in south-of-Chapman Area 7!
What did Ivan Kokos write?
What’s going on in Area 1, the Anaheim Hills area? They have found a commercial banker named Ivan Kokos to run against trustee Andrea Yamasaki. Ivan was at one point an “Ambassador” to, and then sat on the Board of, the Todd Ament-era Anaheim Chamber of Commerce. (Not something I’d mention if I were Ivan.) And I saw that he boasted of being endorsed by Curt Pringle – why of course, Curt has been a champion of charter schools for many years now. Skin in the game? Ivan says his daughter “sits in a classroom” ummm.. “right here in Orange County.” (At least Jack Chang does have two daughters in the district.)
But what did Ivan write? He wrote:
“I’m concerned about the district’s structural deficits: its own projections call this unsustainable.”
Ivan got lucky with Judge Griffin and only had to change those last few words to “show this is unsustainable.” Because Ivan presented this as his opinion – he is “concerned” and who amongst us can show that Ivan is not concerned? But plaintiff Smaaladen, quoted in the Foothill Sentry, has plenty to say about the matters Ivan is so concerned about:
“A structural deficit is one of recurring revenue and expense imbalances. It does not include one-time expenses that create a deficit over a single year, which OUSD incurred in 2024-25. Subsequently, the district has been operating with a healthy reserve, received Positive Certifications from the county, and earned an AA+ rating from Fitch, an independent, nationally recognized credit rating agency. That rating, which has been upgraded twice since 2021, reflects the district’s “financial resilience, supported by unrestricted reserves exceeding 25% of spending…
“Orange Unified (OUSD) does not have a ‘structural deficit’ and no one has called its spending ‘unsustainable.’”
Well, that’s not quite right. Ivan Kokos has. The plaintiff, always going the extra mile to understand these guys’ wrongness, has the theory that Ivan simply googled the wrong OUSD! Because guess what OUSD actually does have a well-documented structural deficit and unsustainable spending? The Oakland Unified School District!
Anaheim Hills, re-elect Andrea Yamasaki!
Chip Ahlswede vs. Kris Erickson
So who is this remarkable Chip Ahlswede, the only OUSD challenger to not fib in his ballot statement? The name sure sounds familiar – ah yes, he is the Apartment Association Vice President who spoke out against Anaheim’s attempt at rent control earlier this year. And he seems to carry a lot of weight on the Orange City Council – last time I watched one of their meetings, I kept hearing “I checked with Chip Ahlswede” and “Chip Ahlswede approves of this idea!” A landlord lobbyist – no wonder Matt Cunningham has made a special target of the nice lady he’s running against, Trustee Kris Erickson!
This, from July 27, has to be one of Matt’s lamest hit pieces ever: “Kris Erickson Allies Herself with Far Left.” Matt’s breathless news: Kris attended an anti-ICE rally! And some other people who go to those rallies say and believe things that some people might find extreme. Toward the end Matt can’t help but write
“Some may consider this unfair criticism. Or see it as ‘guilt by association.’ [ya think?] Fair enough. But progressives have been practicing this tactic for decades.”
Truly lame, Matt. I hope Chip got his money back for that one.
But look – damn, I missed this back in July! You probably did too…
Well how do you like that? A MAGA Councilwoman, a landlord lobbyist, and a couple of corporate finance guys… are now CHAMPIONS OF EDUCATION! Only in America.
Before we wrap this up. I don’t say “shoutout,” I’m sick of that word. But let us LOUDLY THANK the plaintiff Darshan Smaaladen, for cleaning at least a few lies out of our political discourse this year. As she told the Foothill Sentry:
“You
can’t[shouldn’t] blatantly lie and say things that are factually, undeniably untrue. The sad thing is, this happens all the time. Unless someone cares enough to take the time and has the money to pay for an attorney, these statements would be on the ballot, and people would believe them to be true. That’s just not right.”
Nice work Vern!! Thank you Darshan!!!