Orange Unified School District has been the victim of a well funded and coordinated board takeover. The entire board of education has been stacked with conservatives for the sole purpose of approving charter schools that follow a Hillsdale 1776 American College classical education curriculum, which is curated with lesson plans that whitewash American history, exclude diversity, equity and inclusion, and follow and anti-CRT agenda. The Hillsdale college curriculum is also classified as Christian based education , which paves the way for public school funds to finance religious institutions.
Where it began
Orange Unified School District (OUSD) has long been the target of wealthy charter school developers Mark Bucher, Mari and Jeff Barke and others in an effort to dismantle public schools by rerouting taxpayer public education dollars into their charter schools (followed quickly by their own pockets). They are political extremists who want to eliminate the division of church and state in order to teach an edited version of history that’s rooted in white supremacy wrapped in the cloak of American patriotism and their own distorted version of values based on extremist interpretations of scripture.
School board members Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma received an exorbitant amount of campaign contributions from charter school groups that were quickly formed prior to campaign season by shady individuals. This enabled Miner and Ledesma to outspend their opponents $10 to $1.
Miner was heavily supported by mega-church pastor Jack Hibbs (of Calvary chapel Chino Hills) from his pulpit, in clear legal violation of his church’s IRS tax exempt status. Her campaign then provided tens of thousands of dollars to trustee Rick Ledesma’s campaign. Again, outspending his opponent $10 to $1.
How it began
In a move that sent shock-waves throughout Greater Orange, on Thursday January 5, 2023 the new Extremist Majority that took control over the Orange Unified School Distict (OUSD) Board of Education after the November 2022 election fired award-winning Superintendent Dr. Gunn Marie Hansen.
The Extremist Majority also put Assistant Superintendent Cathleen Corella on paid administrative leave indefinitely.
The 4-3 firing came in a surprise but highly coordinated end-of-winter-break Closed Session Special Meeting called with the minimum legally required notice .
In what appears to be Brown Act violations prohibiting “serial meetings” or “serial communication”, the four trustees, Rick Ledesma, John Ortega, Angie Rumsey, and Madison Miner already had replacementsready to take over the positions after the Closed Session firings. The November 2022 election of Madison Miner over Trustee Kathy Moffat in Trustee Area 4 by 221 votes gave the extremist control over the OUSD Board. Trustees Kris Erickson, Ana Page and Andrea Yamasaki voted against the extremist plans.
The public explanation of “looking to make some changes” that OUSD Board President Rick Ledesma stated to the press that he and the new majority wanted to make also smacks of Brown Act serial meeting violations.
Greater Orange community leaders quickly dubbed the coordinated attack on the highly regarded and qualified OUSD Administrators the “Thursday night massacre”.
In her election campaign, Madison Miner used extreme rhetoric disguised as “parent rights”. The OUSD Extremist Majority is clearly willing to go to extreme measures to implement the agenda of the extremist political, social cultural and conspiracy theories.
It was immediately clear at the end of the OUSD Special Meeting that the OUSD Extremist Majority had over-played their hand.
Since the adjouring of the meeting on Thursday January 5th, Greater Orange social media has been on fire with opposition to the extremist move and community members began organizing a recall of the extremist trustees.
These links outline a very detailed history, including a 3 part expose` by Salon Magazine.