Great things are happening both at the federal and local levels.

Yesterday (February 4, 2025), the San Dieguito Union High School District (SDUHSD) Board of Trustees held a special meeting and voted unanimously (5-0) to eliminate a graduation requirement for ethnic studies. Instead, SDUHSD students will have the option to choose to take English 9 or English 9 Honor with or without Ethnic Studies. Congratulations to the SDUHSD community for this hard-fought victory as a result of months-long efforts by local watchdog groups and independent trustees Michael Alman and Phan Anderson!

On February 3, Students Against Racial Discrimination (SARD), with the help of UCLA Law Professor and CFER Advisor Richard Sander, filed a federal lawsuit against the University of California (UC), alleging racial discrimination in the school system’s undergraduate admissions. Action 1: You can strengthen SARD’s case against one of the Golden State’s biggest discriminators by joining as a member as a student, a prospective student, a concerned California resident or just to share information anonymously. Check CFER’s corresponding action alert for more details.

Parents, taxpayers and concerned community members now also have the backing of the Federal Government in their battles for excellence, equality and transparency in local education. Since January 20, a rapid succession of executive orders has been signed in an effort to curb the omnipresent invasion of woke ideologies. The following presidential actions are particularly related to education:

· “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”: this executive order, signed by the President on January 20, requires the Federal Government take appropriate actions to terminate DEI-related grants/contracts and eliminate DEI performance requirements for federal grantees (including public schools) that receive federal funding.

· “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity”: signed on January 21, this actionreaffirms our nation’s civil-rights laws, decouples DEI from all future federal grants/contracts, and encourages the private sector to combat discrimination.

· “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”: this January 20 Executive Order mandates that federal funds not be used to promote gender ideology, including in women/girls’ sports and other areas. This is complimented by a January 28 order titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation” and the latest “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” action signed on February 5.

· “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling”: the January 29 order acknowledges parental rights and prohibits federal funds from supporting racial and gender indoctrination in all public K-12 classrooms.

· “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families”: the President expressed support for state-based school choice programs in this January 29 Executive Order.

· “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism”: a January 29 federal action directs the Education Department to investigate incidents targeting Jewish students in all educational institutions that receive federal funding.

These pro-education, anti-indoctrination Executive Orders are not just symbolic moves taken by a new federal administration. They can become powerful tools to help you fight in your local school district, which receives federal funding. If you see something, say something. Action 2: Let your school board member know that the school district will lose federal funding if they carry on the indoctrination.

In the meantime, we must stay vigilant and keep up the pressure on local education policymakers who may still have their hands tied by ideologues, union operatives and far-left activists. Unfortunately, we witnessed this unfolding in the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD), where the school board reversed a decision to drop ethnic studies in the face of a union campaign to hijack the public and intimidate critics. Occupied by a progressive supermajority, the State Government and the State Legislature are also actively participating in resisting federal reforms. Too often, moderate school board members, such as Rowena Chiu in PAUSD and Marc Cooper in the Franklin-McKinley School District, face risks of being censured, cancelled and smeared.

Parents, community members, watchdog groups and independent school board trustees need to work together to effect change, as in the case of the San Dieguito Union High School District. There is no time to relax and boast. CFER is here to support local organizing efforts throughout California: we get down to the nitty gritty by helping analyze curriculums/programs, launch local school district watchdog operations and offer practical strategies on outreach/advocacy/research.

Let’s get to work!