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Open Letter to Orange County Board of Education Trustee Tim Shaw:
Dear Trustee Shaw,
This week, our county was thrown into national news when you, and three other Trustees, voted to approve guidelines to reopen our schools without masks or social distancing measures.
Dear Trustee Shaw,
This week, our county was thrown into national news when you, and three other Trustees, voted to approve guidelines to reopen our schools without masks or social distancing measures.
Public reaction varied, depending on what television channel you were watching or what Facebook group you were in, bec sadly this pandemic has turned political. But I write to you today to share my personal reaction to you voting to approve, beyond the story being told.
If people weren't paying attention when you spoke on Mon before the vote, they missed the part where you said "I've been affected personally, probably more than most." And you're absolutely right, most probably have not been affected by coronavirus like you and your family.
I'm not here to hurt you as you grieve the loss of your brother, but I am here to share my disappointment. You've experienced the pain, you've had to wait for updates, you’ve had to fear the unknown as your loved one fought for his life. And you've had to mourn his loss.
Your story is unique, like everyone else's, but the virus is not. Over 135k families have lost loved ones at the hands of this virus. Each one different than the next, but the tears that fall from those who mourn is not unique. The pain that crushes your soul is all too familiar.
You were given an opportunity to use your own personal experiences to protect other families. You had the ability to stand before the board and say that one more person lost was too many. You were placed into a position of influence, and you chose politics over people.
"No one is forcing you to do anything" was the comment you made that evening. Complete disregard for teachers/staff, working families who rely on school & the community who will be left exposed to the further transmission of a virus that wouldn't stay strictly on a school campus.
I can't speak for you. I don't know why you would go out of the way to inflict the same pain you're feeling onto other families . But what I can do is link some dots together and wonder if your decision was further proof that money is the root of all politics.
Clear evidence conts to be released with your financially ties to charter PAC's & ties to Mark Burcher, co-founder of the Orange County Classical Academy charter, which is set to open this fall. The same charter school that OCBE President Mari Barke's husband is a founder of.
Maybe guidelines were passed to make parent's believe that schools were so unsafe that they would need to look elsewhere for their education. Or maybe it was to help fill the seats of a new charter school that didn't require a lottery for enrollment bec of a lack of interest.
I could speculate on your personal motivation for voting all day, but what needs no speculation is that you & the other trustees who voted to approve have a clear conflict of interest to see traditional public schools fail.
Barke, Williams, Sparks & Shaw sold out to charters.
Barke, Williams, Sparks & Shaw sold out to charters.
So I leave you with this quote from Roman philosopher Cicero, who inspired our Founding Fathers in the creation of our US Constitution-
“The safety of the people shall be the highest law".
The safety of the people.
“The safety of the people shall be the highest law".
The safety of the people.
** I posted this letter to express my disappointment, but I please ask that all of you be kind to the Shaw family. It’s been only 10 days since Tim’s brother was laid to rest and the whole family is mourning. No one should have to go through their pain. No one.
There are so many accounts who have spent hours researching and posting evidence of the charter school money ties to the OCBE. Just a few (there are lots, tag yourself below if I didn’t tag you):
@Autre_KatieHill @KSlatteryResist @Papa_Cody @LarryTenney
@Autre_KatieHill @KSlatteryResist @Papa_Cody @LarryTenney
I’m thankful for Governor Newsom stepping forward with statewide mandates for schools in California. I’m also thankful for the school districts (and OCDE) who immediately came out after the guidelines passed from OCBE and clarified that they would NOT implement them.
But the board’s detachment from reality needs to be remembered. The only way we make changes in this county is by voting.
We need to focus right now on voting for those who voted for us.
We need to focus right now on voting for those who voted for us.
“Talk to your trustee,” she said. “See if there’s a free charter school somewhere you feel you can commute to, see if they’re planning to open. I know my husband’s is.” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-17/push-for-reopening-orange-county-schools-without-masks-has-pro-charter-school-links
“Find a public charter school — those are free to the public and they’re typically superior in terms of a quality education,” Swaim said. “If we can get parents switched into charter schools or private schools, we’re going to make those union schools pay for their failings.”
