Local elected officials are supposed to be more accessible to the people they serve because they are members of the same community. This doesn’t mean city council or school board members will agree with every constituent who reaches out to them, but at the very least they should be respectful and accessible in discussing local issues that affect both. Unfortunately, the Los Alamitos Unified School Board (through its President Marlys Davidson) doesn’t appear to care what parents have to say unless it supports the school board’s Ethnic Studies elective that is based on Marxist Critical Race Theory agenda.
On July 7, 2021, Seal Beach resident Staci Muller sent an email (including a link) to LAUSD Superintendent Dr. Andrew Pulver and the entire school board about her concerns regarding the district teaching Ethnic Studies and how this might be affecting property values. As a reminder, for decades being part of the LAUSD was one of the key selling points for people who planned to rent or own and even a key element in convincing residents to vote for a bond to finance new construction at Los Alamitos High School.
From: Staci Muller
Sent: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 10:46 AM
To: Dr. Andrew Pulver; Diana Hill; Meg Cutuli; Marlys Davidson; Chris Forehan; Scott Fayette; Ondrea Reed
Subject: How do you plan to handle this? The parents want to know!
The parents want to know what your plan is! We are creating huge groups of people for homeschooling now. If you have a plan I would let the parents know ASAP!
*On a side note a very well-known parent in Rossmoor sent me this message yesterday:
“I spoke to one of our neighbors in Rossmoor who has been renting her home for years. She’s never had a problem because people always want to move into Rossmoor for the good schools. She spoke to her real estate agent and the surrounding neighbors and so many people are leaving Rossmoor because of the critical race theory stuff. Now she’s having a tough time renting her home since the tenants literally moved out so quickly. (The tenants are parents with kids in the district.) She said she used to talk to realtors who would send her people and now all the realtors say they don’t have anyone because everyone is heading for Utah, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, etc.”
It seems that LAUSD President Davidson believes in ignoring constituents who don’t agree with her board’s left-leaning tilt. But Ms. Muller was not just sharing her concerns. She specifically wanted to know the LAUSD’s plan since the anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, anti-American Critical Race Theory embraced by LAUSD (and given flowery names to rebrand the curriculum as Ethnic Studies) has caused concern among some homeowners and renters served by the school district. The worry might not make sense to President Davidson, but she should still have been more respectful and responsive to one of her constituents.
Ms. Davidson responded to Ms. Muller’s parental and homeowner concerns with a “let them eat cake” response:
On Wed, Jul 7, 2021 at 11:29 AM Marlys Davidson wrote:
Thank you for sharing your concerns.
Mrs. Davidson
Ms. Muller quickly responded to Ms. Davidson’s insulting response by again asking what the LAUSD board’s response is to this growing concern:
From: Staci Muller
Sent: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 11:39 AM
To: Marlys Davidson
Subject: Re: How do you plan to handle this? The parents want to know!
You’re welcome lol.
How will you as a board be handling this?
Less than a half-hour later, the insolent Ms. Davidson replied, once again proving that if you do not adhere to her views, she doesn’t give a damn what you have to say:
Davidson responded:
PS – You might want to sell now while you can still get top dollar. I am off to an agenda planning meeting. Have a nice day.
There are many parents and concerned community members served by LAUSD and others who work and/or shop in Los Alamitos that have deep concerns about the district revising its education focus from the iconic Three R’s of Education “Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmatic” to “Reading, ‘Riting and Race.”
The focus should be on the basics. Currently less than 60 percent of LAUSD students meet or exceed standard math requirements!
Ms. Davidson might not care, but these parents and/or homeowners are very concerned about LAUSD stomping on Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic call to judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. After all, Critical Race Theory (with rebranding names like Ethnic Studies, social justice, culturally responsive curriculum etc.) is a racist curriculum designed to divide the United States of America by teaching students to judge people by the color of their skin.
Our students will graduate with many moving outside of LAUSD, which means this issue affects all Americans. This is why we are appreciative of concerned citizens who live or work outside the district but are involved in what the LAUSD is doing.
Instead of indoctrinating students with Marxist propaganda that goes against everything Dr. King stood for, LAUSD should focus on the basics that our children will require to be successful and productive members of society. Its board members, beginning with President Davidson, should also be more courteous to parents served by the Los Alamitos Unified School District.
Jeff Barke, M.D. is the President of the Rossmoor Community Services District and Staci Muller is a Seal Beach Resident
For those living in my hometown of 25 years, Rossmoor, and are missing Shakespeare by the Sea for the second year in a row, I assure you that the best live theater in town was the recorded 7/13/2021 RCSD meeting. It was only a few feet away from where the Shakespearian stage is often located. This was only my second meeting and my first ever in attendance. I was never so proud of my community reminding Dr. Barke that his role as President is to not throw his own community under the bus. What kind of CEO would ever consider doing such a brazen behavior?
Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Partisan Politics Has Got to Go!