Dear Orange County parents, community members and concerned citizens,

On this Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 5pm, the Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) will hold a public meeting, in which the board trustees will vote on a white paper on critical race theory (CRT) and ethnic studies (Item #8). Please show up at the board meeting at 200 Kalmus Drive, Costa Mesa CA 92626 to support the adoption of a well-written, academically rigorous and balanced policy paper on the two interrelated subjects of CRT and the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC).

This timely white paper was drafted to summarize the proceeds, findings and intellectual discussions of two expert forums hosted by the OCBE during summer 2021. Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) executive team members and advisors participated in both expert panels last year. Along with other prestigious experts, they relied on both scholarly and practical knowledge on the subject matters to inform the public of Orange County. The white paper surveys the intellectual and empirical debates surrounding ESMC and CRT, summarizes both public expert forums, and provides policy recommendations to schools, families and students in the Orange County public education system

To urge the OCBE to approve the white paper, you can attend the board meeting in person and sign up to give a public comment shortly prior to the 5pm meeting.

Please take swift action to support a balanced ethnic studies program, diverse viewpoints and true education in Orange County public schools!

Kindly see below a list of pertinent topics that we suggest you can incorporate into your comments. For longer sample speeches, please visit CFER's Reject CRT website at  https://www.rejectcrt.org/resources.