P.A.C. 

What is our OGEA PAC? And What is it up to?

Our OGEA PAC is our Political Action Committee, which operates a separate fund dedicated SOLELY for the purpose of electing OGSD board members who share our values of supporting all teachers, staff, students and their families. We want to keep students at the forefront of our efforts to provide equitable, high-quality education for our diverse student community.  

How is our PAC funded?  It’s funded with a small monthly fee which is separate from our dues.  Our OGEA PAC contribution is currently $2 per month.  At the beginning of every school year, members are given the opportunity to opt out of the $2 per month PAC contribution, or to change their contribution to $1 per month. The deadline to make changes is usually the 2nd Friday of October. Any members that join after October are automatically deducted $2/month for PAC contribution.  The Political Action Committee asks you to please NOT opt out or down, as we need those funds to help  maintain the integrity of our OGSD School Board.  Most teachers’ unions in California that have PAC funds, require slightly larger monthly contributions. So far, $1 or $2 monthly per member, has adequately funded our campaign needs, including such things as election enrollment costs for candidates that we have endorsed, mailings, lawn signs, posters, phone banking and canvassing materials, snacks, caffeine and water for our dedicated campaigners, and for our members and guests who attend in-person meet-and-greets with the candidates.

We have worked hard to make sure the Oak Grove School District area voters continue to elect Board Members who are supportive of our teachers and our students!  All of our Board members are currently teaching in public schools, or have their own children who are students in our district or nearby districts! If you compare our board to other local school boards, you will see the effect that supportive and pro-active boards have on the climate and culture of our school communities!  

And we want to keep it that way!

2024 is going to be a busy year for us!  We will have 3 board positions to fill!! 

We will all need to work together to help in Trustee Areas 1, 3 and 4!

Why?

Area 3 elected Jorge Pacheco, Jr. twice! This area includes Frost/Indigo, Del Roble, Parkview and Herman.  But now, Board Member Pacheco has announced that he is running for the County Board of Education, so we will need to fill his position (if and) WHEN he gets elected!  Vote for Jorge Pacheco Jr. for County Board of Ed!!  While our PAC cannot officially campaign for him there, many of us will volunteer to help him win, because we know he will help to highlight many of the issues that are crucial to us here in OGSD. We know he will move forward with many of the initiatives that he started here, which we know we need throughout the entire county!  Rather than spend a lot of money on an expensive special election, we will advocate to appoint a new board member for Trustee Area 3 to finish Jorge’s term.  Thanks to Board Member Pacheco, we already have someone lined up, and their name will be announced soon!

Trustee Areas 1 and 4 are currently filled by our awesome and amazing Board Members Beija Gonzalez and Carla Hernandez, respectively.  Currently, Beija is serving as the Board President, a position Carla held until earlier this school year.  They are both doing a wonderful job, calmly, fairly and professionally leading our Board, and we will support them no matter what.

As Board Member Hernandez says, even though they represent a specific area, all of our Board Members aim to support the WHOLE district community, including all staff, students and families!  But, in this November 2024 election, we will need to focus our efforts in Trustee Area 4, which includes the attendance areas of Sakamoto, Santa Teresa and Taylor, and in Trustee Area 1, which includes the neighborhoods around Anderson, Hayes and Oakridge.

Have you heard of the parent group called “Informed Parents of Silicon Valley”? Were you there when they leafleted around our schools this school year?  You should check out their website!  They ask citizens to report any use of “Questionable Books, Critical Race Theory, Gender Theory, Graphic or Comprehensive Sexuality Education, Anti-American Curriculum” or “Anti-Religious Messages”* in our schools.  *This is copied directly off of their website, which has a checklist for citizens to report teachers and schools. Check it out for yourself!  (Informed Parents Website: https://www.ip-sv.org)  If this type of reporting checklist is concerning to you, or if you are morally opposed to banning books or regulating how history is portrayed, you should consider working to uphold your values towards liberty and open-mindedness.

What if “Informed Parents of Silicon Valley” were to support their own candidates for our board?  All it would take is 2 new and differently-minded board members to upset the balance in OGSD!  Please help PAC to elect board members who are supportive of teachers and supportive of our students! Get involved!  

And stay tuned for the PAC-sponsored Virtual Town Hall, date and time TBD. 

Board members will address our concerns through our questions:  

• How do we attract pro-education candidates who support OGSD policies that support our students?
• How will the board handle a potentially irate community member at a board meeting who attacks our policies about gender or critical race theory?
• What should we do if a parent reports a teacher, questions our curricular content or tries to ban books in our classrooms?

You will be able to ask your own questions, too!  Stay tuned and see you there!!

-written by Martha Satterlee de Prado, PAC Treasurer

-edited by Melissa Chaffin, PAC Chair