Dear Cajon Valley parents, community members and concerned citizens,

On the coming Tuesday (January 31, 2023), the Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD) Governing Board will hold  [a special board meeting](https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/cvusd/Board.nsf/vpublic?open)  in which the board members will discuss a recent contract for professional services and assistance between CVUSD and Alfabet Soup, LLC. Please attend the meeting and speak up to urge the board exercise proper and ethical financial oversight.

The contract involving Alfabet Soup, LLC, which will draw $60,000 in district funds for “professional services and assistance to designated programs throughout the district,” was  [motioned and approved](https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/cvusd/Board.nsf/vpublic?open)  at the school board meeting on December 13, 2022. It was quickly discovered in the official  [filing](https://strapi-cfer.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/a93c7e6287475b946ef5d45f4238585d.pdf?updated_at=2023-01-28T00:07:59.748Z)  of Alfabet Soup with the California Secretary of State that CVUSD’s former board president Tamara Otero is the manager and sole member of the business.

The foregoing situation presents a glaring conflict of interest for former Trustee Otero who had placed the contract on the board agenda on December 8, 2022. To obscure the collusion, Otero intentionally withheld her involvement with Alfabet Soup, LLC prior to the December 13 meeting, as the company’s  [initial filing](https://strapi-cfer.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/b247ba543c7d006f8fbedad443ed6cd1.pdf?updated_at=2023-01-28T00:08:35.684Z)  of Articles of Organization failed to list her name. Compared with other consultant agreements placed on the December 13 meeting agenda, the agenda item on Alfabet Soup is suspiciously oversimplified with no attachment or detailed explanation.

Otero’s actions leading up to the Board’s approval of a major contract with her business demonstrate the dangers of not holding our locally elected officials accountable. The role of the Board president is so important because the person must be a capable and ethical leader and steward of public education funds.

On the flip side, the incident also signals the urgent need for taxpayers, residents and parents to proactively engage in local school district affairs as public watchdogs. Without citizen oversight,  _educrats,_ unions and self-interested parties can easily hide behind the bureaucracy and expend large sums of taxpayer funds for activities, services and ideologies that do not benefit or even harm our children.

We urge you to  [attend](https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/cvusd/Board.nsf/vpublic?open)  the  **January 31 Special Board Meeting**  at  **5pm at CVUSD in the Boardroom located at  750 E. Main Street, El Cajon, CA 92020**. Sign up to give a public comment and address the Board with your concerns and demands for fiscal accountability.

Going forward, we encourage you to continue to get involved at the local school district, monitor new developments and speak up. The future of local education and our next generation needs to be vigorously safeguarded.

Thank you in advance!

**Californians for Equal Rights Foundation**

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Action Alert in Cajon Valley Union School District: Demand Responsible Leadership and Fiscal Transparency

Call into [the meeting](https://cferfoundation.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b78c84756813bc7a3a38500a0&id=c7ed16f37d&e=4961daabe9) of the California State Water Resources Control Board today or tomorrow to oppose its "[2023-2025 Racial Equity Action Plan](https://cferfoundation.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b78c84756813bc7a3a38500a0&id=5c5c420c16&e=4961daabe9)."
  
Couched in ideological euphemisms such as "equitable outcomes," "institutional racism," and "racial injustice,"  this new plan by the State Water Board is the latest example of politicization and racialization of public policies.  
  
Targeting "Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities" as the main stakeholder considered, the action plan spells out strategic directions and specific goals so that "a racial equity lens is consistently applied to Water Board's decision-making processes."  
  
In addition to concrete steps to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings into the state agency, the plan also sets goals and metrics to ensure that "Water Board employees at all organizational levels reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of California."  This is nothing short of unconstitutional racial balancing!

David, the California State Water Board is wasting taxpayer money and public resources on blatant race-based trainings and policies. Besides, there is little empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of DEI training.  
  
In fact, even the New York Times is now running articles like  [this one](https://cferfoundation.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b78c84756813bc7a3a38500a0&id=77603ae206&e=4961daabe9)  to critique diversity trainings.  After documenting  the American DEI industry as a "$3.4 billion" market, the author argues that mandatory DEI trainings "may well have a net-negative effect on the outcomes managers claim to care about."  Rather than helping the organization solve specific problems, many popular DEI programs, such as implicit bias trainings emphasized in the California Water Board plan, futilely seek "a revolutionary re-understanding of race relations" and create heightened legal risks. 
  
The California State Board is  [meeting](https://cferfoundation.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b78c84756813bc7a3a38500a0&id=46a95a3eda&e=4961daabe9)  **today (January 18) and tomorrow (January 19) at 9:30 am**  on each day. I encourage you to attend the meeting on either day and give a public comment in opposition to the "Racial Equity Action Plan," (**Agenda Item 4**).  
  
You can participate in the following ways:  
1. Attend remotely via this  [link](https://cferfoundation.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b78c84756813bc7a3a38500a0&id=6e78022dc7&e=4961daabe9)  and  **sign up to speak on Agenda Item 4 through this  [form](https://cferfoundation.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b78c84756813bc7a3a38500a0&id=31293a8076&e=4961daabe9)**.  
2. Join the meeting in person in Coastal Hearing Room, Joe Serna Jr. - CalEPA Building at  **[1001 I Street, Sacramento CA](https://www.google.com/maps/search/1001+I%0D%0AStreet,+Sacramento+CA?entry=gmail&source=g)**.   

Thank you in advance for taking action to oppose the race-based public policies and support equal treatment for all!

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Action Alert: Oppose California Water Board's Racial Equity Action Plan!

**For Immediate Release**

**December 12, 2022**

**SAN DIEGO, CA – December 12, 2022-** On December 9, Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) sent a formal [letter](https://strapi-cfer.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/bef712136b9ef9730aed1770ccfbb97b.pdf?updated_at=2022-12-12T14:24:44.156Z) to the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees arguing for the maintenance of CSU’s admissions standards including a four-year high school math requirement. Prompted by a recent [proposal](https://youtu.be/CT5Us_Jnwqs) to eliminate the requirement to advance equity and access, CFER urges the CSU Board of Trustees to uphold merit and standards.

“The Board is essentially kicking the can down the road by getting rid of a rigorous and empirically proven yardstick for undergraduate admissions, which would not solve the real problem of underperformance,” commented Frank Xu, president of CFER. “This is yet another effort by the education establishment to attack merit and quality of education under the disguise of equity.”

In the letter, CFER acknowledges the concerning realities of public education in the Golden State.

“Based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 23% of California’s 8th graders are proficient in math. While learning gaps are debilitating for low-income students (14 points behind the state average), black students (22 points behind) and Hispanic students (13 points), all California students are lagging behind compared with their peers in other states and with their predecessors three years ago. The California Smarter Balanced results reveals a 6% decline in math scores among California’s public-school students in 3rd through 8th grades and in 11th grade.”

However, we strongly oppose CSU’s proposal as a futile attempt “to cover up disastrous declines in K-12 education and placate radical ideologues and activists” because “[s]ystematic issues of non-performance at the K-12 level need to be addressed through policy reforms in grade schools to improve teacher performance and increase rigor.” While it is true that academic learning gaps in California have been exacerbated during the pandemic, education institutions should work to identify best practices and strive for excellence instead of lowering standards.

The Board of Trustees at CSU will meet during January 24th and January 25th to discuss the proposal. CFER will closely monitor the publicization of its meeting agenda and inform the public on ways to engage with the Board in the coming weeks.

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CFER Asks CSU Board of Trustees to Abstain from Dropping a Four-Year Math Requirement

**For Immediate Release**

**December 9, 2022**

**SAN DIEGO, CA – December 9, 2022-** Today, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) held  [a public meeting](https://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/agendas/2022-12/december-2022-commission-meeting)  in which an agenda item ([1-H](https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/commission/agendas/2022-12/2022-12-1h.pdf?sfvrsn=6cab26b1_3)) concerning teacher credentialing was discussed. Due to many public comments in opposition, the CTC voted today to pause the proposal. 

Many supporters and friends of CFER participated in this important initiative in response to CFER's [action alert](https://cferfoundation.org/posts/action-alert-contact-ctc-on-ethnic-studies). Along with a similar drive led by our friends at the Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies (ACES) who first blew the whistle on the situation, over 800 public comments poured into the CTC opposing giving Ethnic Studies majors teaching credentials to teach History and Social Studies.  We are thankful to all of those who have given public comments both via email and during today's meeting to defend merit in teacher credentialing. Together, we blunted an attempt that would have further eroded public education. 
 
We are encouraged by this positive development putting the state agency in the right direction towards considering public input and valuing standards. As a watchdog organization, CFER will continue to monitor the case and keep the public informed about any future development. 
 

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Encouraging Update! The Commission on Teacher Credentialing Pauses A Proposal on Teacher Credentialing 

Dear California parents, taxpayers and concerned citizens,

On this Friday (December 9), the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) will hold  [a public meeting](https://www.ctc.ca.gov/commission/agendas/2022-12/december-2022-commission-meeting)  in which an agenda item ([1-H](https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/commission/agendas/2022-12/2022-12-1h.pdf?sfvrsn=6cab26b1_3)) concerns teacher credentialing. Alarmingly, this proposal seeks to  **give college graduates with an Ethnic Studies major credentials to teach 7-12 grade Social Studies and History** (Appendix B (b) (9)).  
  
**Allowing unqualified candidates who are trained to indoctrinate rather than educate to teach in K-12 classrooms will surely compromise and erode the quality of public education further!**  
  
Since late 2020, CFER has  [raised](https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/a-diverse-bi-partisan-effort-against-california-s-divisive-critical-ethnic-studies-curriculum/) public awareness and  [conducted](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2021-07-28/o-c-ed-board-forum-assembles-panelists-who-warn-of-dangers-of-critical-race-theory)  multiple research projects on various problems with California's Ethnic Studies paradigm. In short, the current model to teach Ethnic Studies is hijacked by a race-based, oppressor-v.-victim model. Last year, California became the first state in the U.S. to mandate ethnic studies for all its public high schools, with the  [passage](https://www.dailycal.org/2021/10/12/newsom-signs-ab-101-requiring-ethnic-studies-in-public-high-schools/)  of AB101. The state-endorsed model framework, approved by the State Board of Education on March 18, 2022 in spite of over 7,000 opposing public comments, was laden with ideological jargon such as “four ‘I’s of oppression,” “critical consciousness,” “intersectionality,” “double helix,” and “radical healing.”  
  
**The finalized framework was so problematic that CFER  [sued](https://cferfoundation.org/pr_0903/)  the state contesting the constitutionality of two particular affirmations that chant repetitively to Aztec, Mayan and African deities.** In higher education, the teaching of Ethnic Studies is thoroughly politicized.  
  
CTC's proposal means  **Ethnic Studies majors are ill equipped to teach History and Social Studies.**  Their coursework, focused on the study of ethnicities through the controversial lenses of oppression, resistance and anti-racism, cannot generate subject matter competencies for such foundational courses.  
  
Our friends at  [the Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies](https://www.calethstudies.org/) (ACES) first blew the whistle on this dangerous development. **We must act now to defend academic standards**:  
  
1. Please  **email the CTC today**  at [execoffice@ctc.ca.gov](http://execoffice@ctc.ca.gov/) to share your concerns about and oppositions to credentialing Ethnic Studies majors to teach History and Social Studies.  
2.  **Attend the CTC public  [meeting](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82037546309)  on Friday**, December 9 at 8:30 via zoom and give a public comment voicing your objections.

You can use the following template provided by ACES:

_Dear Members of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing_,

_We urge you to  **vote AGAINST**  the proposed Education Code change, Title 5, Division 8, Chapter 1, Article 3, §80096 Subject Matter Competency, (b) (9),  enabling college graduates with a major in Ethnic Studies (ES) to automatically qualify for teaching History and Social Sciences in grades 7-12. This proposed change in credentialing is deeply harmful to our students for various reasons. Key among them_:

- **Ethnic Studies at the university level imposes a specific ideological point of view, which is an inappropriate frame of reference for 7-12 grade History and Social Sciences**. As noted by many experts and stated in California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, unlike at the university level, “In K–12 education it is imperative that students are exposed to multiple perspectives, taught to think critically and form their own opinions.” This is contradicted by university faculty members who state that their ES students must become "grounded in the correct politics." Imposing a one-sided political agenda is not good training, or a relevant lens, for teaching 7-12 grade History._

- **Ethnic Studies majors are not prepared by their coursework to teach 7-12 grade History and Social Sciences**. Unlike other cross disciplines recommended in other subsections of the credentialing change, Ethnic Studies does  _not require_  any foundational courses in History, the subject they are supposedly qualified to teach. In contrast, it makes sense for someone who majors in mechanical or structural engineering to qualify for teaching 7-12 grade physics, since physics is a required prerequisite to obtain such a degree, and fundamental physics courses are part of that major. It does not make sense for Ethnic Studies majors to automatically be credentialed for something they haven’t even studied as part of their major._

- **The proposed ed code change goes against AB101’s legislative intent and the Governor’s promise**, when vetoing AB 331, directing that  offensive, one-sided, SBE-rejected Ethic Studies Model Curriculum material should not be taught in California high schools  – yet that is EXACTLY what University Ethnic Studies classes teach, and their students who major in that subject would bring those messages into History and Social Science classrooms._

_Ethnic Studies, or majors focusing on the study of ethnicities, should not be considered sufficient coursework for competency in teaching History / Social Sciences subject matter. Please vote against this proposal, or  **revise subsection (b) (9) of the proposal to remove “ethnic studies**, or any other major with a focus on the study of one or more related ethnicities.”_  

Thank you for supporting merit and standards!


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Action Alert: Contact the Commission on Teacher Credentialing Now to Reject the Woke War on Merit

**December 5, 2022**

**SAN DIEGO, CA – December 5, 2022-** Today, Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER) submitted a public [comment](https://strapi-cfer.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/51f9da3e301f063614fe333a7516ab65.pdf?updated_at=2022-12-05T14:34:46.741Z) to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding the Commission’s Strategic [Plan](https://www.regulations.gov/document/EEOC-2022-0004-0001) for Fiscal Years 2022-2026. In the letter, we pinpoint the ideological nature of pursuing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) as an institutional goal outlined in the EEOC draft (Strategic Goal III).

“Promoting DEI runs counter to EEOC’s mission to ‘prevent and remedy discrimination and enforce civil rights in the workplace,’ commented Frank Xu, president of CFER. “EEOC (and the government in general) is in no business of prioritizing a political litmus test over equal opportunity. We hope that EEOC will reconsider its commitment to DEIA and ensure its strategic plan maximize the agency’s capacity to combat workplace discrimination.”

CFER’s public input uses many real-life examples of DEIA practices in public and private spheres. We argue: “Perpetuating DEI in employment practices will inevitably create heightened legal risks in violation of equal opportunity and equal protection for public and private employers.”

We also draw on CFER’s experience combatting government-sanctioned racial preferences in California in the last two legislative sessions: “Since 2021, the California State Legislature has attempted twice to legalize racial quotas in civil services through the California Upward Mobility Act, in the name of DEI. The first proposal – Assembly Bill 105, was vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom on account of its unconstitutionality. The second proposal – Assembly Bill 1604, was significantly revised to remove any portion of illegal racial preferences, upon opposition from CFER and the Pacific Legal Foundation.”

CFER will continue to monitor developments pertaining to EEOC’s adoption of the new strategic plan and advocate for equal opportunity and non-discrimination as the guiding light for public policies.

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CFER Urges the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to Abstain from Politicized Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan

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