April 2024

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CO-ADMINISTRATOR’S MESSAGE FROM JOAN P. & GAIL

Jotted by Joan

Where did March go? Our March general meeting was informative. Jodi Balma is very knowledgeable, and a dynamic speaker.

SAVE the DATE – April 18 will be the celebration of the two Cerritos College students that have been selected to receive our Academic Achievement Award for 2024. Come and hear how impressive their achievements are and what they are passionate about for the future. So impressive.

The April meeting is also the yearly meeting that needs your input and vote.

Officers up for election:
Administrator – Harriet Moses
Secretary – Christine Taxier
Finance – Marilyn Forsstrom

Submitted from the Bylaws Committee:
When a full Executive Committee cannot be filled, the Affiliate shall be governed by three elected positions for Administrator, Secretary and Finance, as approved by AAUW. Other offices may be filled by volunteer members as needed.

We continue to meet at the Cabrillo Lane Adult Education Center. Social time 6:30 pm; meeting begins at 7:00 pm. Hope we have full member participation.
THANK YOU to those who have already given so generously.

Birthdays this month include Ceci Van Zitter, Marilyn Forsstrom, Mary Ann Quinn, and Thea Siegel. Our Best to them.

Your Co-Administrators Joan and Gail 💐🪻🌷
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>> > > Elections for 2024-25 officers will be held. < < <<

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DUES – $113

Our AAUW year ends on June 30 and YOUR dues for next year need to be paid and forwarded by me to our National Association and California State before then. Later payments cause a lot of hassle, extra paperwork and processing delays, so please try to pay by the end of MAY. Remember that $69 of that amount is a tax-deductible contribution to AAUW National Association as a reorganized 501(c)3 tax exempt group. Current annual dues now $113, Life Members still $41, Honorary 50-year $21.

Please send your check to Marilyn, written out to La Palma-Cerritos AAUW.

Meeting & Program, Joan P
Academic Achievement Awards

Thursday, April 18 Social Time: 6:30 PM
Meeting: 7 PM
Place: Cabrillo Lane Adult School Auditorium
20122 Cabrillo Lane, Cerritos
Select HERE for map

Come meet and Celebrate our newest Academic Achievement Award Winners.

Please note: All our meetings comply with local rules and the accepted health guidance of Los Angeles and Orange counties for in-person meetings. Board and general meetings are in-person with due respect to members who do not wish to attend in-person. Those members may choose to easily attend and participate in meetings by connecting via phone to another member in attendance and have been doing so successfully.

Please welcome and support your new officers. Remember that their job is to lead and encourage other members. Please offer to help them when they ask.

Membership, Saurabh & Jackie

We are looking forward to taking care of services for current membership. In order to increase membership for our branch, we request all members to bring one friend to our meetings. Please welcome our new member, Ferne, at the meeting. Thank you.

Download our Branch Brochure

Download AAUW Membership Application

AAUW Fund, Tobi

Panda Inn luncheon on February 13th raised $286 for the Fund. Thank you all!

Thank you.
Sue Carruthers and Thea Siegel

A big thank you for all of our members who made contributions to the AAUW Fund during 2023. Let’s try to keep the contributions coming in 2024. In celebration of our 51st anniversary as a branch we would ask you to consider contributing $51.00 or any other amount . A list of our various funds is on our website.

Public Policy, Sondra

How One Branch Has Put the School Board Project into Action

By Laurinda Ochoa, Member AAUW California Public Policy School Board Project Committee

Last year the AAUW Danville-Alamo-Walnut Creek branch said “Yes” to the AAUW California School Board Project (SBP) call to action. In August our branch members started to attend monthly local school board meetings and witnessed attacks by local religious and political extremists on books, curriculum, teachers, librarians and district staff.

Based on social media statements by people who want to “return schools to local control of concerned parents,” we believe our school district and adjacent districts are being targeted by groups intent on changing public education in California. As AAUW members we support our state and national public policy priorities of providing honest, equitable, and inclusive, quality public education for all students.

To implement the SBP and work toward these public policy goals, our branch has taken a three-step approach:

Educate our members and the public about the issues facing public education by hosting Issue Programs and, later, Candidate Forums;
Advocate for our public education priorities by speaking up at local Board of Education (BOE) meetings to support board decisions that are consistent with AAUW policies and values;
Collaborate by forming coalitions with local groups to educate the public about the importance of supporting public education and those candidates that believe in honest and equitable quality education for all.

EDUCATION:

We encourage all branches to host an SBP program by inviting local experts to speak about what is happening in your districts. Often, accurate information is not available from local media and we need to hear from people actually engaged in public education to understand the local issues. PTA, BOE members, district superintendents, librarians, teachers and informed parents can provide valuable insights.

ADVOCACY:

We hope all branches attend BOE meetings and have one speaker advocating AAUW values. Board members and school staff have voiced appreciation to AAUW members for speaking up in support of public education. Often AAUW is one of the few voices of reason and civility at these meetings. Our voices can change the tone of the public discussion.

COLLABORATION:

We’ve learned our Education and Advocacy efforts naturally lead to other people and groups being interested in working together with AAUW to protect public education. We’re now working with others in a two-county area to “Lift Up Public Education” by educating the public, advocating for public education, and demonstrating community support for our local school districts. For more information on how we organized our coalition and distributed the workload, visit our website here.

We encourage other branches to support quality public education and promote critical AAUW values by taking these simple steps to build member and community support for Quality Public Education.

Remember to let your SBP liaison know when you have attended a school board meeting, and be sure to complete and submit the SB Checklist. You can find your liaison here; you can find the Checklist here.

Is There a Hidden Agenda Behind the “Parents’ Rights” Movement?
Kathi Harper, chair AAUW California Public Policy School Board Project Committee

We members of the AAUW California Public Policy School Board Project sub-committee frequently come across materials from groups advocating for book-banning, curriculum censorship, and policies which negatively impact the lives of LGBTQ+ students, in the name of “Parent’s Rights.” For example the House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 5, the “Parents Bill of Rights Act.” Eight governors have signed legislation with similar titles.

H.R. 5 establishes the rights of parents to, among other things: review curriculum; inspect the books and other reading materials in the school library; be advised of policies that permit transgender girls to compete on female athletic teams or use bathrooms or lockers designated for females; and provide consent before a school may use their child’s chosen name or pronouns on forms, or change the child’s sex-based accommodations. Many of the state laws noted above require the removal of “inappropriate” materials upon the objection of a single person.

AAUW California recognizes that not all our members will find these policies objectionable. And to be sure, most of our members would agree with this statement from PEN America, a human rights and free expression organization: “There is no question that parents deserve a say in shaping their children’s educations; that they have a moral and legal responsibility for their children, and the freedom to make fundamental decisions for their families.” (Suzanne Nossel, PEN America CEO, Time Sept. 20, 2022.)

However, legitimate questions are raised when one parent’s “right” to control what their child reads and learns collides with another parent’s right to ensure their child has access to a broad and diverse range of educational materials. Or when a parent’s “right” to know if their child confides to a teacher regarding a sexual identity unknown to the parent collides with the student’s right to privacy. Or when one parent’s “right” to ensure her daughter doesn’t play on the same team as a transgender girl collides with that girl’s right to partake in all the same activities as other girls, or to feel safe in the campus environment.

AAUW California advocates for a diverse curriculum in our schools, as well as the protection of all forms of gender identity and expression. It is a cause of concern when the rallying cry of “parents’ rights” is, as stated by PEN America, “wielded to do far more than give parents their rightful voice; it is turning public schools into political battle grounds, fracturing communities, and diverting time and energy away from teaching and learning.” Additionally, according to the National Education Association (NEA), H.R. 5 “ignores the breadth of parental engagement” that already exists, “disregards educator experience and expertise” and “inserts the government into local decisions.”

PEN America worries that the current emphasis on working with schools for the betterment of the child has been replaced with a parental focus on wanting to impose their personal beliefs – moral, religious, and/or political – on the entire education system. As an organization founded on the principal of expanding educational opportunities we might all heed Suzanne Nossel’s final words in her Time article: “The phrase ‘parents’ rights’ may have a nice ring to it, but the agenda now afoot in its name should sound alarms for all those who care about the future of public education.”