Orange County Deserves a Representative Board of Education
The Orange County Board of Education, packed with far right Republicans, voted 4-1 to release a report recommending that their 27 school districts start up K-12 schools immediately, without even mask wearing or social distancing. For a second meeting, they had mainly speakers from the right extreme, saying that masks were not only useless, but dangerous. They also want to keep class sizes the same. And also, that social distancing was not scientifically justified. Both of these are preventions are scientifically well established. A Board of Education should at least have included an equal representation of speakers of both sides. According to the White Paper, the main reason to get children back to school was that they could be abused at home. We can think of many more positive reasons.
All seven Democratic Orange County Congressional representatives signed a letter opposing their stand. Yes, the 27 school districts can follow other guidelines. But when we are fighting the greatest public health challenge of a century, the Coronavirus, don’t the citizens of Orange County deserve the helpful guidance of a sympathetic and educated Board, not of a politically extreme Board? There are 47,000 teachers and 5,000 staff teaching in Orange County, with a population of 3 million.
Over their four year terms, the Board members collect $100,000 to $140,000. We really deserve much better for this money. Their action has been covered on CNN and NPR, embarrassing all of the caring and educated people of Orange County. Over 50,000 residents have now signed a petition opposing the Board’s action. Orange County is home to UC Irvine, its second largest employer. This is of course embarrassing to the University as well. We also compete to attract young faculty, who have or are starting families, and want the best education for their children, which is provided by the community. We also are trying to attract the smartest workers in our innovative industries in Orange County. Reputation Counts.
It may be that the local Democratic representatives got in on an off-year election, when Republican enthusiasm for Trump was waning. This could happen again in November. But now that we see that the Board of Education can play a crucial role, we have to concentrate on getting a Board responsive to our young and educated community. Unfortunately, of the five board members, only two come up for replacement, and those on June 30, 2022. The other three are on June 30, 2024.
The one Board member who voted against the White Paper was Rebecca “Beckie” Gomez of District 4, who is also Dean for the Health Science Division of Cypress College. She represents Santa Ana, Tustin and Fountain Valley.
Here are the recommended core rules in the White Paper:
