The Perfect Enemy | Many reasons, one theme; parents running for Orange County school seats want to be involved

From a desire to raise literacy rates to concerns about teaching materials, the 120 people running for more than 40 school board seats in Orange County offer a wide range of reasons for wanting the job.

For Lisa Wozab, a mother of three who has worked with a variety of education and youth-related nonprofits, her bid for the open seat on Fullerton School District Trustee Area 4 is about a desire for better communication between school officials and parents.

“Parental rights, input, and collaboration are really important. And when we get to issues that may not be in line with how parents feel is developmentally appropriate, we need to make sure we are very clear, and give parents opt-out opportunities,” Wozab said.

Conservatives have targeted school board elections as opportunities for civic engagement, particularly in recent years, in an effort to push back on what they view as detrimental lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and what they view as cultural and political indoctrination in school curriculum.

“Not only were many parents frustrated with how long their children were out of school, but many of them became upset when they had the opportunity to see firsthand what was included in many of their children’s lesson plans,” said Dan Schnur, a former campaign consultant who teaches about political messaging at UC Berkeley and USC.

“A conservative parent might have been vaguely aware that their local school was not teaching in a way that they’d find acceptable. But during COVID, they got to see it close up.”

But others are running because they support introducing students to a wide array of materials that promote critical thinking.

“Public school students must develop the ability to research topics from all points of view, consider all arguments, and reach conclusions independently,” said Katie McEwen, an Irvine Unified School District candidate.

“Teachers must also support critical thinking skills by encouraging students to explore a variety of authors and books and facilitating open and fair discussions. At a time when students often depend on unreliable social media resources for their information, it is more critical than ever to provide students access to books with varying viewpoints.”

MORE: Learn about your candidates in our 2022 Voter Guide

The Register posed questionnaires to about five dozen school board candidates across Orange County. Many expressed concerns about age-appropriate books in libraries or the teaching of so-called “critical race theory” in schools.

“With a 22-year background as a public school counselor, I hold firm in my stance that critical race theory should not be taught to students and will draft a board resolution stating as much,” said Reina Shebesta, a candidate for Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

“Determining curriculum is crucial and a vital role of the Placentia-Yorba Linda School Board. However, the power should be with the parents,” Steve Slawson, a Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District candidate, said. “I am with the parents, against critical race theory, and in favor of getting back to the basics such as math, reading, and writing.”

And Jim Glantz, a Capistrano Unified School District contender, said board members should read and weigh in on books students are reading.

“Trustees should require the removal of books that contain critical race theory or sexually-inappropriate content,” Glantz said.

Yet other candidates, especially incumbents, maintained that critical race theory is not taught in K-12 schools in Orange County. Simply put, critical race theory is an academic and legal study of how racism has impacted the U.S. It’s become a hot-button issue in recent years, with some opponents expanding the definition of “CRT” to include any teachings on race or even gender-related issues in the classroom.

“Critical race theory is not part of our district,” said incumbent Fullerton Joint Union High School District Trustee Lauren Katzker.

“CRT is a law school course. It is not in the state standards and does not have a curriculum approved by the state and therefore is not approved by the board,” Huntington Beach City School District Trustee Diana Marks said.

Improving test scores

Another driver for school board candidates is test scores and helping schools make up ground lost during the pandemic, when online education was the rule and many students fell behind.

“We saw — over the last two years in particular — California schools have continued to fall down the list when it comes to literacy,” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said. “This has been something that has been an ongoing problem, but parents got a front-row seat to it during the pandemic.”

Recent data has suggested California ranks last among states in terms of literacy rates.

Candidates across the political spectrum support more tutoring and after-school learning programs. Many also support access to mental health services, and for increasing opportunities for community and parental involvement in schools.

“Investing in additional hours of staff intervention time with our students on campus is helping to bridge gaps in academic learning as well as social-emotional learning and mental health support,” said Katelyn Brazer Aceves, a candidate for a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Lan Quoc Nguyen, a Garden Grove Unified School District trustee, argued that learning losses have varied among students, and suggested that catch-up programs be tailored to meet their individual needs.

Ashley Anderson, a Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustee, noted the pandemic also sidelined projects that encourage site-based parental engagement, multilingual academic opportunities, and increased classroom funding.

Placenta-Yorba Linda Unified Trustee Carrie Buck suggested that school staff also get access to health and wellness programs, something that ultimately would benefit students.

“Our students do not need extra work to catch up,” Buck said. “They need highly skilled teachers, data-driven curriculum, and excellent programs to address learning loss from the last two years that has impacted our students.”

Building benches

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s upset win over Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia in 2021 was widely viewed as a referendum on the political importance of education. Parents care about schools, and parents vote.

That idea certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by either party.

In California, the state GOP launched a program called Parent Revolt. It’s a statewide effort to galvanize candidates for local education-related positions who are focused on “giving parents a voice along with providing quality education to children.”

“We have a huge opportunity with these local races,” Patterson, who has helmed the state Republican Party for nearly four years, said. The party offers training and other resources to “help build that infrastructure … so these candidates who truly care about making a difference in their local communities have every resource they need to get across that finish line,” she said.

For the Orange County Democratic Party, the focus is on protecting traditional public schools and stopping an influx of charters.

And part of “saving public education,” is electing school board candidates who would not support a “critical race theory ban” like the one in Placentia-Yorba Unified that led to Cal State Fullerton halting its student teacher program, according to Ada Briceño, chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, said.

“It’s one of the most important seats if you think about it,” Briceño said. “They take care of our children, they take care of the future of today. We feel really good that it’s a good place to build our bench.”

Below is a list of the districts and candidates who received a questionnaire from the Register. Candidates who returned the questionnaire are hyperlinked.

Capistrano Unified School District

Trustee Area 2Kira DavisMichael ParhamJessica Hubbard

Trustee Area 4Darin Patel Gary Pritchard Jim Glantz

Trustee Area 7Judy Bullockus Jeanette Contreras

Garden Grove Unified School District

Trustee Area 2Mark AnthonyLan Quoc Nguyen Nicole Jaimes

Irvine Unified School District

Trustee Area 2Marlene BronsonKatie McEwen Debra Hilton Kamm

Newport-Mesa Unified School District

Trustee Area 2Danielle Mills Michelle Murphy

Trustee Area 4Kristen Nicole ValleLisa PearsonBarbara George

Trustee Area 5Michelle Barto Reina Shebesta