School Shutdowns 2.0: LAUSD school strike harms children (again)

• March 22, 2023

Three years after the nationwide school shutdowns that locked millions of American children out of school, it turns out the Coronavirus was not nearly as destructive as the teachers unions. Starting today and through Friday, 30,000 members of the LA Teachers Union and SEIU Local 99, which serve 422,000 children, have walked out of school for three days. SEIU demands a 30% pay increase, and UTLA is striking “in solidarity.”  While they claim they are striking for a pay raise, in actuality they want a pound of flesh.

During the pandemic, the head of the Los Angeles teachers union, Cecily Myart-Cruz,  defending extended union-backed shutdowns famously said, “Our kids didn’t lose anything. It’s OK that our babies may not have learned all their times tables. They learned resilience. They learned survival. They learned critical-thinking skills. They know the difference between a riot and a protest. They know the words ‘insurrection’ and ‘coup.’”

She suggested that “learning loss” was a fake crisis. It quickly became clear that the teachers union was not interested in teaching children objective skills like math, science or reading. They only wanted to teach them how to be activists.

Now with plunging math and reading scores, the largest declines in many decades, especially among underserved communities, the union has no compunction about closing schools again. It is well understood that brick and mortar schools are essential. They provide structure and a safe space, skills and education that can propel a child to a future of health and prosperity or condemn them to a life in poverty or prison. The repeated closures feed the school to prison pipeline and it is certainly no secret to the unions that the very equity they claim to be fighting for is actually what they are destroying.

LAUSD has a 90% minority enrollment, 60% economically disadvantaged. These are the children who will be hurt most. Children whose parents cannot afford to stay home for three days may leave children at home unsupervised. These children may not eat. They may become abused. They may go into the streets and endanger themselves. They may burn in a house fire. This all seems to be collateral damage for the unions, which demand its members work less and get paid more.

Witness what is happening in 1600 schools across 650 school districts nationwide, which have permanently curtailed school week from five to four days. They claim teachers are “burned out” and need a day to recharge and go to doctor’s appointments. Who else has the privilege to cut their work week, especially when that work is more urgent than ever? Certainly not hundreds of thousands of LAUSD students whose parents are already struggling to make ends meet.

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As parents who fought to reopen NYC and Los Angeles schools and restore normalcy, the past few months have made it painfully clear the schools we fought for never really went back to normal. 2020’s COVID-related, union-imposed closures successfully locked children out of classrooms. When schools reopened they were virtually unrecognizable, first with masking, distancing and silent lunches, to post-COVID alterations including secret curriculums being implemented across districts to myriad excuses for keeping parents out of school buildings. And per a union-negotiated contract all parent-teacher conferences remain virtual through the 2022/2023 school year, effectively shutting parents out of schools yet again.

Today’s strike confirms that families can no longer assume schools will provide the essential services our tax dollars support. The COVID school closures drew a line in the sand, with unions on one side and parents on the other. If unions will not work towards ameliorating learning loss and staying open, nor acknowledge the primacy of parents in children’s lives, then parents must resist.  Whether by supporting school choice to create a free market economy or by creating our own union for families. Today, teachers unions hold all the cards: they are also top donors to Democratic political campaigns. Parents must demand campaign finance reform so electeds remain accountable to voters, not special interests.

The teachers unions want a pound of flesh. We should take that as a stern warning that they will not stop at that.

Natalya Murakhver is co-founder of Restore Childhood, a nonprofit dedicated to ending COVID mandates for children and restoring athletics, art and academics across the United States. She is producing “15 Days . . . ,” a documentary on the school shutdowns.

Twitter: @AppletoZucchini

Julie Hamill is an attorney, child advocate and school board member in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. She represents the Alliance of Los Angeles County Parents in litigation against the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The views expressed here do not reflect the views of any organization with which she is affiliated.

Twitter: @hamill_law

​ Orange County Register 

Moe Golshani won’t return as Mission Viejo boys basketball coach

• March 22, 2023

Moe Golshani said the timing was fortuitous.

Golshani said he was told by Mission Viejo administration Monday that he was not going to be retained as the school’s boys basketball coach, and almost simultaneously Golshani landed the coaching job at Hug High School in Sparks, Nevada.

He previously coached at Bishop Mangoue in Nevada.

“They (Mission Viejo school administrators) told me Monday they were going in a different direction,” Golshani said Tuesday. “And it was good timing. There’s no hard feelings.”

Mission Viejo athletic director Troy Roelen confirmed that the school has an opening for a varsity boys basketball coach.

Golshani, 43, coached Mission for two seasons. This past season the Diablos went 16-14 overall and finished in a three-way tie for second place in the South Coast League with a 4-5 mark.

In the CIF Southern Section Division 3A playoffs, the Diablos beat Western in the first round and lost to Ontario Christian in the second round.

“I have nothing bad to say about Mission Viejo,” said Golshani, who has business interests in Nevada. “I wish it would have ended differently, but it is what it is.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Orange County scores and player stats for Tuesday, March 21

• March 22, 2023

Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribe now

Scores and stats from Orange County games on Tuesday, March 21

Click here for details about sending your team’s scores and stats to the Register.

TUESDAY’S SCORES

BOYS LACROSSE

NONLEAGUE

Foothill 11, Austin (TX) 6

Goals: (Foot) Fox 2, Pietras 2

Other nonleague scores

San Juan Hills 16, Newport Harbor 5

Santa Margarita 17, Santiago/Corona 3

JSerra 15, Crean Lutheran 1

St. Margaret’s 19, Servite 9

El Dorado 16, Mission Viejo 1

GIRLS LACROSSE

NONLEAGUE

San Clemente 20, Corona del Mar 12

Huntington Beach 14, Roosevelt 1

San Juan Hills 17, El Toro 9

Laguna Beach 12, Mission Viejo 6

Esperanza 18, Valencia 8

Newport Harbor 10, Royal 9 (OT)

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Kennedy def. Pacifica, 25-20, 25-14, 22-25, 25-16

Cypress def. Crean Lutheran. 3-1

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Rancho Alamitos def. La Quinta, 23-25, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23, 15-10

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Fairmont Prep def. Western Christian, 25-14, 25-10, 25-16

605 LEAGUE

Cerritos def. Oxford Academy, 25-16, 25-13, 25-19

NONLEAGUE

Buena Park def. Santa Clarita Christian, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-14

El Dorado def. Valencia, 25-19, 25-23, 25-20

Brea Olinda def. Whittier Christian, 25-9, 25-12, 25-17

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers work out centers, say no change to Anthony Davis’ management plan

• March 22, 2023

Laker center for hire? Well, not right away.

The Lakers (35-37) got a look at Tristan Thompson and Tony Bradley on Monday: Both veteran big men worked out for the team, which has an open roster spot. Thompson, 32, is the more well-known of the two, notably winning a championship alongside LeBron James as a member of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers. Thompson averaged 6 points and 5.1 rebounds while playing for three different NBA teams last season but hasn’t played for one this season; Bradley played 33 total minutes earlier this season for Chicago.

Coach Darvin Ham suggested the Lakers were getting a look at both more for a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situation rather than getting ready to sign either to a 10-day contract.

“No imminent plans,” he said. “Just kicking the tires to see, making sure we get people in front of us if whatever circumstance changes or whatever, we’ll know they’ve been in front of us and we’ve gotten to see them first hand. Just doing our due diligence.”

The Lakers have been light in the frontcourt for weeks. While the team expects forward LeBron James back before the end of the season, his right foot tendon injury has dragged on for more than three weeks. Center Mo Bamba, who the Lakers traded for at the deadline, is out with a right ankle sprain and could miss the rest of the regular season.

That has left the Lakers shorthanded with bigs, especially on back-to-backs when Anthony Davis has not yet been cleared to play both games. But a report from TNT’s Chris Haynes suggested that Davis might play both nights of the April 4-5 back-to-back at Utah and the Clippers, respectively. Ham seemed noncommittal when asked about the report.

“We have a plan in place and we’re following that plan closely,” he said. “If anything should change when we get to that moment, you’ll be the first to know. But outside of that, we’re sticking to our plan as of right now.”

LAKERS TRY TO TAKE A LOAD OFF

Instead of a full-contact practice on Tuesday, the Lakers took it easy: The team watched film, had a walkthrough and a league meeting a day ahead of a home showdown with the Phoenix Suns (38-33). For Ham, the payoff is keeping his roster from accruing additional wear and tear amid a number of critical games.

While practices might help the still-blending roster gain a little chemistry, Ham also said most players, whether they’re on the injury report or not, are still dealing with some bumps and bruises.

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“Just the medical vantage point that the new technology allows you to see from, you just really have to be smart,” he said. “You can’t think like a dinosaur and expect to run out with the Ferraris, you know what I’m saying? You just have to bite the bullet and know that the people who are in those positions and are giving you the information, they are experts.”

The Suns understand the pitfalls of injury well: Neither Kevin Durant nor DeAndre Ayton, two of their key big men, made the trip to Los Angeles.

That being said: The Lakers are fighting history on Wednesday night. Including their first-round playoff series against Phoenix in 2021, they’ve lost nine consecutive head-to-head meetings. While Ham said reversing course against a division rival is not necessarily the aim, there is plenty of pressure to win with their Western foes in the standings doing well to start the week. The Lakers were in 11th place going into Tuesday’s slate of games.

“I see a bit of hunger,” he said. “When we don’t execute a play, or we have a breakdown defensively, I see disappointment. I don’t see anyone being discouraged. I see the accountability of guys wanting to get it right over and over and over again. So, I think we’re in a good place mentally and spiritually in terms of the job that we have to do and the work that’s at hand.”

Veteran big man Tony Bradley is one of the players the Lakers worked out this week, but there is no indication the team is preparing to sign him to a 10-day contract even with an open roster spot. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

​ Orange County Register 

Boras Classic South releases bracket for baseball tournament at Mater Dei, JSerra

• March 22, 2023

The Boras Classic South tournament, among the top high school baseball tournaments in Southern California, released its bracket Tuesday.

Seven of the top eight teams in the Orange County Top 10 are in the tournament: No. 1 Mater Dei, No. 2 Santa Margarita, No. 3 Villa Park, No. 4 Orange Lutheran, No. 5 JSerra, No. 7 Cypress and No. 8 Huntington Beach.

The tournament will played April 11-14 at JSerra and Mater Dei, with the championship game April 14 at JSerra.

The winner will play the winner of the Boras Classic North tournament on April 29 at Santa Clara University.

Among the first-round games April 11 is Etiwanda at JSerra at 6 p.m. Those teams are both in this week’s CIF Southern Section Division 1 Top 10 poll.

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Non-Orange County teams entered include Notre Dame, which is No. 2 behind Santa Margarita in the CIF-SS Division 1 poll,  Aquinas, La Mirada, Corona and Norco.

Aquinas features senior third baseman Eric Bitoni (6-4, 215), who signed with Oregon and is projected to be an early-round selection in the MLB Draft.

​ Orange County Register 

Orange Unified appoints acting superintendent from its own ranks

• March 4, 2023

Nearly two months after it fired its superintendent, the Orange Unified School Board appointed its second acting superintendent and agreed to hire a consultant to find a more permanent leader.

Board members Thursday night, March 2, unanimously appointed Ernest Gonzalez, who serves as assistant superintendent in charge of human resources, to lead the Orange Unified School District.

Gonzalez assumes the role last held by Edward Velasquez, a former Southern California superintendent who was retired and living in Idaho but was flown in by the district on Jan. 9, four days after a divided board fired then-Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen without any public explanation.

The unexpected firing led to an outcry from teachers and some parents, who are looking at recalling those who fired Hansen, as well as support from other parents who said change was needed at the district.

Related links

Why did Orange Unified fire its superintendent?
Orange Unified’s interim superintendent gone after just a month on the job

Velasquez left the district about six weeks after his hiring, at least two weeks shy of the end of his contract, which paid him $1,350 a day plus airline travel, car rental and hotel expenses.

During his tenure, Velasquez flew to Spokane every week, usually on Fridays. Airline expenses he submitted to the district totaled $3,168.74, according to documents provided by the district.

On Thursday, in addition to appointing Gonzalez, the board also agreed to look for a firm that will search for a new superintendent. Meanwhile, Gonzalez will assume that post.

“We believe the appointment of Assistant Superintendent Ernie Gonzalez will bring some much-needed stability to the district, for our students, employees and families,” Trustee Kris Erickson said.

The district’s 41 schools serve approximately 26,000 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the cities of Orange, Villa Park, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Santa Ana and unincorporated Orange County.

The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is April 13, but board members plan to meet on April 3 to interview potential search firms.

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​ Orange County Register 

Appeals court ruling in Lunada Bay Boys case could make cities liable for surf localism

• March 4, 2023

A California appeals court has ruled Palos Verdes Estates may be liable under the state’s Coastal Act if city officials turned a blind eye to the Lunada Bay Boys’ decades-long harassment of out-of-town surfers attempting to enjoy the area’s coveted waves.

The ruling drags Palos Verdes Estates back into a lawsuit filed in 2016 by two surfers who experienced the group’s wrath firsthand and felt the city wasn’t doing enough to stop it. A trial court judge in that case had previously dismissed the city from the suit, which also named 15 Bay Boys individually, in 2020 after deciding the Coastal Act wasn’t applicable.

Now, not only is the city potentially back on the hook, but attorneys for the plaintiffs and the California Coastal Commission say the appellate court’s broader interpretation of the Coastal Act sets a “monumental” precedent that could force cities to confront the aggressive and territorial behavior of local surfers, referred to as surf localism, or face fines of up to $15,000 per day.

Kate Huckelbridge, the California Coastal Commission’s executive director, called the Second District Court of Appeal ruling a “victory for the Coastal Act and for anyone who believes the best of California should be accessible to all.”

“It’s historic that a court has affirmed that bullies harassing visitors to Lunada Bay is as much a violation of the Coastal Act as an unpermitted rock fort, and we hope the city will work to ensure that part of the coast is truly open to the public,” Huckelbridge said. “We look forward to working with them to improve trails, add benches, public access signage and viewing binoculars — all to make sure the public feels more welcome.”

Kurt Franklin, one of the attorneys representing surfers Cory Spencer and Diana Reed, said other beach cities should take note.

“It is important to put cities on notice that they can’t sit on their hands with this; they need to take action, or they face Coastal Act risks, which ultimately includes penalties,” Franklin said.

Global spotlight

The Lunada Bay Boys, well known locally for their aggression, were cast into a global spotlight in 2015 when two Guardian reporters captured the surfers’ threats on hidden camera.

“The reason there’s a lot of space is because we keep it like that, we (expletive) hassle people,” said one surfer to the pair. “We’ll burn you every wave.”

A police officer later described the group as being “infamous” in the community and appeared dismissive.

“It literally is like a game with kids on a schoolyard to them. And they don’t want you playing on their swing set,” said the unidentified officer. “But you know, it is what it is. If you feel uncomfortable, you know, then don’t do it.”

Former Police Chief Timm Browne once acknowledged in a video on surfer localism that the community as a whole does not embrace outsiders.

“I mean, they pay a price to live here … they have beautiful views of the ocean from most of the homes in the city,” he said. “So they are protective of their community as a whole — I mean, surfers or nonsurfers.”

Those who surf Lunada Bay, he said, “have a sense of ownership” about their gem of a surfing spot.

‘Privatized a beach’

The original lawsuit alleges Palos Verdes Estates failed to stop the Bay Boys’ intimidation and violence against outsiders for years and tacitly allowed the group to build an unpermitted rock fort into the cliffside of the publicly owned Lunada Bay.

“They de facto privatized a beach in deed, in actions, and physically, they built a doggone headquarters down there,” Franklin said.

Spencer, one of the plaintiffs, allegedly had his hand sliced open when a Bay Boy ran him over with a surfboard, while Reed was allegedly sexually harassed by a member of the group who exposed himself.

“Because it’s surfing, people don’t seem to take it as seriously,” Franklin said. “If this was a hiking trail and people were throwing rocks at you, it would be stopped. The police would do something about it.”

The lawsuit accuses the city of even assisting in the efforts to drive away nonlocals by ignoring complaints and targeting visitors with parking tickets and towed vehicles.

City disappointed in ruling

The city has denied the allegations and argues it never violated the Coastal Act. It demolished the rock fort — which was more of a stone patio — in 2016 amid a media frenzy about the Bay Boys.

Ed Richards, an attorney representing Palos Verdes Estates, said he believes the state lawsuit will be dismissed just like a federal civil rights lawsuit, filed by the same surfers, was in 2018.

“We’re naturally disappointed in the court’s decision,” Richards said. “What this means is the case will likely return to the trial department and proceed with the litigation. We remain confident that we’ll prevail at the next stage.”

Richards said he does not believe the appellate decision will set a precedent because it deals with limited circumstances.

The California Coastal Act, enacted in 1976 to protect the state’s coastline, bars unpermitted developments that interfere with the public’s right of access to the state’s beaches.

Unlike the common usage, however, the act defines a “development” to include “a change in intensity of use of water, or access thereto” and should be “broadly construed to encompass all impediments to access, whether direct or indirect, physical or nonphysical,” according to the Feb. 27 appellate ruling written by Presiding Justice Laurence Rubin.

The rock fort and the alleged harassment carried out by the Bay Boys could each be considered violations under the Coastal Act because they created barriers for the public, the panel ruled. The city, alleged to be a conspirator by the plaintiffs, could be liable as the effective landowner.

“We conclude a change in the access to water brought about by an organized scheme of harassment of, or similar impediment imposed on, those seeking access may be just as much a change in access to water as one brought about by a physical impediment,” Rubin wrote.

Rubin likened the city’s alleged complicity to the Bay Boys’ blockade to another highly publicized case in which a property owner in Half Moon Bay attempted to restrict access to a road leading to Martins Beach by locking a gate and stationing security guards at the entrance.

“If closing a gate and posting a security guard constitutes development in Martins Beach, so may setting up headquarters at the Rock Fort, physically obstructing trail access to the beach, and intimidating outsiders with word and deed,” Rubin wrote.

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New Lunada Bay Boys lawsuit alleges surfer confronted outsiders in blackface on MLK Day
Judge dismisses federal lawsuit seeking to declare Lunada Bay Boys a street gang
Surfers threaten out-of-towners on video, Palos Verdes Estates police respond
Are the Lunada Bay Boys really a criminal gang?
Illegal surfer hangout in Lunada Bay headed for destruction this week

No ruling on merits

Though it reversed the trial court’s dismissal, the appellate court did not rule on the merits of the case. The panel determined the lower court erred in its “narrow” interpretation of the Coastal Act and that the plaintiffs had “sufficiently alleged an actionable conspiracy in which the City has participated” to allow the case against the city to proceed again.

Thus far, 12 of the alleged Bay Boys named in the case have settled, with some agreeing to stay away from Lunada Bay for up to a year, while seven opted to pay $25,000 to $90,000 instead.

The case will return to the Superior Court to resolve the outstanding allegations against the remaining two individuals and the city.

​ Orange County Register 

Implications of Walgreens’ decision on abortion pills

• March 4, 2023

By Tom Murphy | Associated Press

Walgreens says it will not start selling an abortion pill in 20 states that had warned of legal consequences if it did so.

The drugstore chain’s announcement Thursday signals that access to mifepristone may not expand as broadly as federal regulators intended in January, when they finalized a rule change allowing more pharmacies to provide the pill.

Here’s a closer look at the issue.

ABOUT THE ABORTION PILL

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone in 2000 to end pregnancy, when used in combination with a second drug, misoprostol. The combination is approved for use up to the 10th week of pregnancy.

Mifepristone is taken first to dilate the cervix and block a hormone needed to sustain a pregnancy. Misoprostol is taken a day or two later, causing contractions to empty the uterus.

More than half of U.S. abortions are now done with pills rather than with a procedure, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. In rare cases, the drug combination can cause excess bleeding, requiring emergency care.

WIDENING ACCESS

For more than 20 years, the FDA limited dispensing of mifepristone to a subset of specialty offices and clinics due to safety concerns.

The agency has repeatedly eased restrictions and expanded access, increasing demand even as state laws make the pills harder to get for many women.

In late 2021, the agency eliminated an in-person requirement for getting the pill, saying a new scientific review showed no increase in safety complications if the drug is taken at home. That change also permitted the pill to be prescribed via telehealth and shipped by mail-order pharmacies.

Earlier this year, the FDA further loosened restrictions by allowing pharmacies like Walgreens to start dispensing the drug after they undergo certification. That includes meeting standards for shipping, tracking and confidentially storing prescribing information.

STATES STEP IN

Typically, the FDA’s authority to regulate prescription drug access has gone unchallenged. But more than a dozen states now have laws restricting abortion broadly — and the pills specifically — following last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning the federal right to abortion.

Last month, attorneys general in 20 conservative-led states warned CVS and Walgreens in a letter that they could face legal consequences if they sell abortion pills by mail in their states.

In addition to state laws, attorneys general from conservative states have argued that shipments of mifepristone run afoul of a 19th century law that prohibited sending items used in abortion through the mail.

WALGREENS’ REACTION

A spokesman says the company told the attorneys general that it will not dispense mifepristone in their states and it doesn’t plan to ship the drug to them as well.

But Walgreens is working to become eligible through the FDA’s certification process. It plans to dispense the pills where it can legally do so.

The company is not currently dispensing the pills anywhere.

OTHER DRUGSTORES

Rite Aid Corp. said it was “monitoring the latest federal, state, legal and regulatory developments” and would keep evaluating its policies. The Associated Press also sought comment from CVS Health Corp., retail giant Walmart and the grocery chain Kroger.

Some independent pharmacists would like to become certified to dispense the pills, said Andrea Pivarunas, a spokeswoman for the National Community Pharmacists Association. She added that this would be a “personal business decision,” based partly on state laws. The association has no specifics on how many will do it.

OTHER LEGAL ISSUES

In November, an anti-abortion group filed a federal lawsuit in Texas seeking to revoke mifepristone’s approval, claiming the FDA approved the drug 23 years ago without adequate evidence of safety.

A federal judge could rule soon. If he sides with abortion opponents, mifepristone could potentially be removed from the U.S. market.

In January, abortion rights supporters filed separate lawsuits challenging abortion pill restrictions imposed in North Carolina and West Virginia.

Legal experts foresee years of court battles over access to the pills.

AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this story.

​ Orange County Register