California officials chose in two separate instances this week to put kids and their education before woke politics.

July 16th, 2021
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In a true testament to the impact engaged parents can have, California officials chose in two separate instances this week to put kids and their education before woke politics. It’s something not seen enough these days, and certainly worth celebrating when it happens.

The first student-centric victory came on Tuesday, when the Los Angeles Unified School District defied the United Teachers Los Angeles ([link removed]) and passed a resolution condemning antisemitism and affirming the value of Jewish students, staff, and families. While resolutions have more to do with platitudes than policy, this one is important because it breaks from the stance of the powerful UTLA, which too often dictates the board’s decisions.

In recent months, chapters of the UTLA and the United Educators of San Franciscohave spent more time focused on solving matters in the Middle East ([link removed]) than educating students. Parents – outraged by the fact that UTLA was debating international affairs while still, at the time, refusing to commit to return to class in the fall – sounded alarms.

Parent watchdog group UTLA Uncensored ([link removed]) launched a week-long exposé on the union. Through a series of screenshots and document leaks (many obtained from whistleblowers within the union), the parents demonstrated that UTLA has a long history of not only anti-Semitic behavior ([link removed]) , but racism and sexism. California Students United, a rapidly growing grassroots group of parents in Los Angeles, sent UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz a letter ([link removed]) questioning its anti-Israel proclamation, rightfully wondering how the union has time to delve into international affairs, but not meaningfully educate students. Copies of the letter ([link removed]) were also sent to leaders throughout the district including each member of the board of
education.

At its meeting this week, the board unanimously supported a resolution ([link removed]) introduced by board member Scott Schmerelson distancing itself from the union’s position. “The Board of Education denounces the rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israeli rhetoric and hate-motivated crimes and incidents that denigrate Jewish students and staff,” it reads in part ([link removed]) . The board instructed the LAUSD superintendent to “direct all schools and offices to affirm the rights of Jewish students, staff, and families and to report acts of anti-Semitism in schools” and ensure curriculum is updated, and staff are trained to identify and reduce anti-Jewish hate speech.
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In a win for students statewide,the California Board of Education voted this week to postpone ([link removed]) implementing a new mathematics curriculum ([link removed]) that is peppered with social justice and fringe political themes. It did so after protests from parents, and receiving a letter signed by 500 educators and stakeholders urging them to hold off.

“California is on the verge of politicizing K-12 math in a potentially disastrous way,” the letter says. ([link removed]) “Its proposed Mathematics Curriculum Framework is presented as a step toward social justice and racial equity, but its effect would be the opposite - to rob all Californians, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, who always suffer most when schools fail to teach their students.”

The framework promotes teaching methods that include “trauma-informed pedagogy,” encourages teachers to include “environmental and social justice” and “sociopolitical consciousness'' into their instruction, and recommends keeping all students in the same math program until 11th grade. It “reject[s] ideas of natural gifts and talents” and says different courses would lead to “fragility” and racial animosity.

“The claim that math is not accessible is an insult to the millennia of non-Western mathematicians and erases the contributions of cultures around the world to mathematics as we now know it,” the letter continues.

Unfortunately, the board did not completely reject the curriculum changes, instead postponing ([link removed]) final action until May 2022. But the pause gives parents and educators more time to air their concerns with new math and ensures students have access to instruction that meets their unique needs and talents in the upcoming school year.

Certainly, there’s work to be done. As an LAUSD mom told the board ([link removed]) before it voted on its pro-Israeli resolution, districts can take a stronger stance to protect Jewish students and teachers who’ve been under attack by UTLA. Importantly, the district (and the State Board of Education) must spend more time and energy providing a quality education to all students, and less time on the hot-button, political issues of the day.

More from CPC
* Fixing California- Part four: The transportation revolution ([link removed])
* Fixing California- Part five: Affordable market housing ([link removed])
* Fixing California- Part six: Homelessness and law enforcement ([link removed])
* Smoke on the horizon: Failed California fire prevention setting up terrible fire season ([link removed])
* Confronting Randi’s twaddle ([link removed])
* Listen: A cruel summer ([link removed])
* Parent implores school district: Focus on academics, not international affair ([link removed])

CPC and allies in the news
* Mom of bullied daughter speaks out about California schools’ ‘indoctrination’ ([link removed])
* In abrupt turnaround, California to let school districts decide how to enforce mask rules ([link removed])
* Recalling California’s governor: long shot or lost cause? ([link removed])

Classroom headlines
* Why are unions and Democrats so opposed to giving poor children a choice in schooling? ([link removed])
* School choice keeps winning ([link removed])
* Teaching critical race theory isn’t just wrong. It might be illegal ([link removed])
* Parents pack Stanislaus board meeting to protest mask-wearing requirements at schools ([link removed])
* How critical race theory gets into classrooms ([link removed])
* Small California school districts will refuse to follow mask mandate ([link removed])

Union news
* The teachers unions go woke ([link removed])
* New California state worker contract gives 5% raises right away with more to come ([link removed])
* California union boss says Newsom ‘lost his mind’ ([link removed])
* Don’t let Randi Weingarten whitewash her role in school closures ([link removed])
* California prison union suspends chapter president amid misspending investigations ([link removed])

California budget
* California stimulus checks to arrive week before recall election in September ([link removed])
* Former Gov. Jerry Brown: ‘Fiscal stress’ coming ([link removed])
* Everything that’s wrong with the state budget, part 1 ([link removed])
* Everything that’s wrong with the state budget, part 2 ([link removed])
* California approves 1st state-funded guaranteed income plan ([link removed])

Covid and reopening
* Mask mandate back on in Los Angeles as virus cases rise ([link removed])
* Santa Clara County revises total COVID deaths by over 20% ([link removed])
* Cost of fighting COVID in California: $12.3 billion ([link removed])
* It’s 98 degrees out. Why is my child wearing a mask? ([link removed])
* California will still require masks inside schools, despite new CDC guidance ([link removed])
* The kids were safe the whole time ([link removed])

Other things we’re reading
* Disney to relocate 2,000 jobs from California to Florida ([link removed])
* Job openings are at record highs. Why aren’t unemployed Americans filling them? ([link removed])
* How bad is this year’s fire season? Even the firefighters are worried ([link removed])
* California Gov. Newsom asks residents to cut water use, expands state of emergency amid worsening drought ([link removed]≷=US&ceid=US%3Aen)
* The rise of the anti-“woke” Democrat ([link removed])

Connect with CPC

Want to keep up with CPC and our partners during the week? Follow us on Twitter ([link removed]) , join our Facebook ([link removed]) community, and sign up to be part of the growing Parent Union ([link removed]) .



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