EP 88: Building Tiny Homes, Building Hope: What’s Next for Fullerton Schools

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Hi, welcome to Chamber Talk. I'm Andrew, and today we are honoured to have Ruthie
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Hanchett, who is the president of the Fullerton School District Board,
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and she's also full circle now.
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She's finishing her term, and she's campaigning now for her next term,
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and she was originally on our fourth ever episode back in October 2022.
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Thanks, Ruthie, for coming back on. It's great to be back.
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So I want to, if you could cast your mind back a little bit I want to start
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off with a little bit of the conversation that we had back in 2022 When you were first campaigning,
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What sort of comes to mind that was going through your mind at the time?
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Obviously you're a lot more senior in the years now So what was going through
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your mind at that time? Hmm,
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You know, I was really excited. I didn't know a lot.
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I've learned so much. And that experience of campaigning really was so valuable.
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I got to know our community a lot better. And I discovered a lot about myself as well.
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I discovered how much I love meeting people, hearing their stories.
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That inspired me to want to continue to do the work even more so and bring those
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stories, those experiences, our pride and our kids and our community to the
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Fullerton School District.
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Since being on the board, there's so much to learn, so much nuance and complexity
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to a huge organization with over 2,000 staff members and 11,000 students that we serve.
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But while I've learned so much, the joy, the bedrock reason I ran continues to be the same.
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Just deep care for our kids, wanting to see our community grow,
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and just a strong conviction that public education is the most important tool
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we have to transform our society and such a powerful way that we can make a difference.
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Now, one of the things you mentioned there, because there's a few there that
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the questions we've got to ask, but there's one thing that stood out there.
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You were saying that obviously the experience, it was so different than what you imagined.
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Do you mind touching on maybe a couple of things that stick in your mind that
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are experiences that maybe none of us would even think about for somebody running in such a position.
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When I think about what maybe surprised me, on the one hand,
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I think I underestimated or couldn't experience or know how much joy and just pride and joy.
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Deep gratitude for our school district that I've gained through having this
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role and having this insider knowledge of what we do.
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We are innovative. Fullerton School District does things that nobody else does,
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whether that's new, innovative things like our tiny home and serving our community
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and building, you know, school.
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Our eighth graders are building houses for people experiencing homelessness,
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too. We just found out we won for the, I think, sixth time in a row national
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championship debate team.
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Two of our schools took home co-winners of the national debate team for junior
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high of the entire nation. That's going to be like a record.
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It's amazing. It is a record. We keep beating the record.
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You know, so much pride and so much just appreciation for our teachers and our
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staff that work so hard and are innovative and committed every single day to
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love our kids and serve them well.
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But I think on the other flip side, one of the things that I would say is hard,
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but still worth it, is really knowing the depth of,
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pain that our kids experience, too, being there when things don't go well,
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whether that's a personal tragedy of a family or a child.
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There were moments where we had families taken away by ice last summer.
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We've had, I know, kids experiencing homelessness, hungry.
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Suicide attempts, things like that that really threaten the well-being of our
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kids, that when you're on the board, you have that insider information and you
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have to make quick decisions sometimes about how to respond and support our
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staff through those hard times.
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And I think it's a little bit like being a parent.
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The joy is worth it, but it's a heavy burden to carry as well.
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Now, I don't wish to make light of it. So we will touch back onto the ice and.
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That type of topics in a moment.
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But you did mention something that I know a lot of businesses get involved with
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and sponsor sometimes is the tiny house or the tiny home.
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Do you mind sharing a little bit about that program so other listeners can hear
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about it and what it's about and maybe even want to get involved next time.
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Absolutely. Yeah. And there's lots we can learn on the Fullerton School website
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to learn more if people want to find out more.
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But it's this incredible partnership that we've created over the years.
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I think it's we've just finished our third tiny home. And when I say we,
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it's really our eighth grade students and all the partners that have come around
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them, seventh and eighth grade students at Nicholas Junior High.
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But this program started a few years ago when our staff were looking for something
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innovative, creative to do that not only gave opportunities for our students
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to try something new, but also could solve some real world problems and help
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them face some challenges.
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So we came up with this idea. Pablo Diaz was the person who suggested it.
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But our innovative team just really ran with it, introducing this concept to
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bring woodcraft and construction and development to Nicholas Junior High.
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So it's become a course that students are able to take with woodshop and others and construction.
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It's become actually an academy where students could take it multiple years in a row.
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And in that time, they learn the skills that they need to build a home.
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And so they practice by building an actual tiny home. And so now they've completed
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three different tiny homes, which are then located at a Fullerton School District property.
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And we've created a little village of families that, because Fullerton School
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District works with our families that are experiencing homelessness,
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we are able to then identify families that would really benefit from this opportunity
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to have free, supportive housing for a period of time.
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And we now are looking at our third family able to move into this tiny home
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that our eighth graders really built.
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And I think one of the really great things about this partnership is it's brought
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our community together.
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So we've seen, as you mentioned, you know, from the Chamber of Commerce to ROP.
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To the building and trade unions, to many of the construction companies in our community.
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They've donated from Home Depot donating, I think, countertops and appliances
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to Window donating windows.
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We've had many folks come up and show up to help roofing and flooring and things
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like that, both training and teaching our students, but also donating their
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service, their time and their goods to make sure that this is a quality home
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where families do actually want to live.
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And then the Fullerton Education Foundation is the other group that has really
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donated a lot of the seed money to get this program started and continuing to support that.
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We just received a really large grant from the Orange County Department of Ed
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in order to help pay for the curriculum and the teachers, because,
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again, it has to be about teaching, right?
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So they're really funding that piece of it that's about the instruction,
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the learning and opportunities for our students to learn these skills and trades.
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That we are really excited about that grant that allows us to continue to offer
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these courses to our students going forward.
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And then when you have projects like this, which turn into, you know,
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a big part of the school curriculum, are you, are these, is it like after hours type curriculum?
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Are you allowed to put it into your own, like the school hours?
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How does that work? Yeah, it's their elective. Oh, okay.
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So these junior hires at Nicholas, many of them are taking it as two different electives.
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So most junior high students have two electives.
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So whether that's, you know, band and art or theater or whatever it is they
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choose, these students are choosing to do this woodshop construction course.
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Oh, that's fantastic. And that's what they're, so they're learning,
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you know, getting academic credit. Right. They're learning these important skills
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and they're building a house for families to enjoy. Yeah, no,
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it's three in one for sure, isn't it? It's amazing that. And you'll always use it. Yeah.
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And our teacher, Musio Vidalis, Mr. Vidalis, is an incredible instructor who's
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really mentored our kids and really made this a success as well.
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That's fantastic. That's great to hear.
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And it is wonderful to see. I remember going there for the first one. And.
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It's a lot of work that folks have put in there as well. A lot of love,
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care and attention. And you can see how the community have come together.
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The school districts really pulled that in. It's really lovely to see that.
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One of the things that I noticed and see throughout the district is over the
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last three years, a lot of things have changed.
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And you sort of touched on that topic a moment with these ice raids and things
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like that. And I do remember you were a great advocate for the school district,
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whether it was in front of the camera or whether it was just in local community events.
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Looking back over the last three years, what surprised you the most about that?
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Was it that? Was it other things? What was the biggest surprise you've seen during your tenure?
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Yeah, I mean, that certainly has been one of the biggest challenges that we
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faced. And I think it's not only a challenge and a threat to our kids and their
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families, but really to foundationally the right to public education.
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Because these challenges and what we're seeing right now at the federal level
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to dismantle the Department of Education, whether that's taking away funding
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and oversight for children with disabilities, children from immigrant families and status,
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and others, we're really seeing this undermining of public education and the
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right of every single child, no matter who they are, who their family is,
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where they came from, what their abilities, to have the best, inclusive.
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Free, and appropriate education.
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So that, I guess I maybe didn't anticipate that being such a huge challenge,
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but I'm so grateful to be in the position I'm in and the power that I have to
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continue to be a voice for our kids.
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And not only just here in Fullerton, but really hopefully adding to those voices
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that are fighting to make sure that public education continues and that we have
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full funding and support for that no matter who and what, because these are our kids
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and their future and our future as a society and a democracy really depends
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on them getting an excellent education.
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Now, not to most folks, you know, it sounds...
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Way political and, you know, they're not quite sure the process.
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Would you mind sharing with us some of the things that you and even the staff
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of the school have to go through, through these processes? Like we're all understanding.
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Yes, you might go to your local senator or your writer.
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What is going on behind the scenes? Yeah. Well, for us, I feel like we sort
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of turn inward in many ways and ask the questions, how do we keep our kids safe?
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How do we make sure that they come to school every day and know that they're
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going to be taken care of, that they're welcome, they're wanted,
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they're safe where they're at.
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And that parents feel that too, because they're, you know, they're not going
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to send their kids to school if they don't feel comfortable.
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Leave them there, right, right. Yeah.
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And our kids are facing these fears in very real ways. I mean,
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I was thinking about last summer where we had a lot of activity here in Fullerton
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and the greater North Orange County area.
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Where, you know, ice raids were happening daily and families were afraid to leave their homes.
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And kids were afraid if they went to school, you know, we continue to have summer
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school, that if they came home, their parents may not be there.
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And because of that, families weren't leaving the home. They weren't necessarily working.
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We experienced a lot of families struggling to pay the bills,
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to have food, and just the mental health toll that that took on families and
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kids, where they literally were inside all summer.
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Instead of going to the park or hanging out with friends, they really felt unsafe to leave their homes.
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So we responded it so quickly. But even backing up to that, you know,
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really, it was in November 2024 when, um,
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When we knew that the Trump administration would be making changes to national
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policies, and we sort of basically I gathered my colleague, Vanessa Estrella,
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who had been absolutely newly elected to the board weeks within her election.
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We gathered some of our experts in the community that know immigration,
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know the challenges that we would probably be facing and said,
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how do we make sure our kids are safe?
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And that started with asking the questions of our staff. Who has data? Who has information?
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Are we keeping information about legal status, you know, where kids were born?
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Answer is no. But we wanted to make sure that information was protected.
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And we made sure families knew that so they felt comfortable and safe.
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And we said, you know, if you gave a birth certificate when you registered your
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kid to come to kindergarten, you can come pull that out. It doesn't have to be in their file.
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All we need to know is they're five, they can come to kindergarten.
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You know, so really making sure families felt safe and comfortable, starting with data.
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Then we trained our staff. We asked the questions, you know,
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what happens if somebody shows up and asked to have access to our campus,
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to our kids, to our information?
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How should they respond? Making sure that those were really airtight.
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We've shared that information with families. We've really made a big effort
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to reach out to families to make sure that they knew their rights.
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So we brought on legal experts. We asked questions and had them explain what
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their rights are, no matter what your legal status, what your rights are.
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Your child has absolutely the right to come to school every single day and receive
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a public education in California and the United States.
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And then we talked about, you know, what does it mean to keep families safe,
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to be prepared if the worst happens?
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If your family was separated and someone had to leave the country,
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how could we make sure American citizen kids have passports,
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are able to travel and be reunited with family when necessary?
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Who would take care of your kids? How do we make sure they've got an affidavit
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it and information so that their trusted loved ones know how to take care of
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them and care for them well.
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So just asking all those questions, helping our families feel as prepared as
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possible in the conditions we're in, and then making it very clear and pushing
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back on the rhetoric that, you know, we want our kids, we love our kids,
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they're our children, and they're welcome and wanted here.
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And so making sure that that was clear from the ways that we communicated with
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kids, resources we put out to the families, whether that was,
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communicating through teachers and staff and principals. We sent home guidance
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on how to talk to your kids about immigration, you know, just helping parents
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deal with the tough time they're in, making sure that they knew we had their
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back, we supported them.
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And, you know, this was a priority for us as a district. So that started with
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a resolution at the district level that myself and then Vanessa and I brought forward.
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You know, our staff, I was so grateful and proud of the way that they really
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embrace this challenge.
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And then we became a leader to the community.
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You know, I gathered folks last August from other school districts and we shared
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best practices. And I said, this is what we're doing in Fullerton.
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You can learn from our examples.
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Here, you know, here's the template, please use it. And other school districts
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throughout the county also adopted some of our practices as well.
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So I'm going to go into another question, which sort of comes off what you were just mentioning there.
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And I'd like to say thank you very much for what you guys did there,
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because it sounds like the school district really as a whole took that very
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seriously and made everyone feel comfortable and safe at the same time.
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And you sort of mentioned this a little bit before about having to make sure
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that there was a comfort level and that people were able to seek help where needed.
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So, and you started off with a story where, you know, a family had sort of like
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gone missing and maybe kids were at school and what have you.
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What happens in that instance for the school district? I mean,
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we don't really think about that, do we? We just see on the TV a raid,
00:15:45.022 --> 00:15:46.562
people getting put in a van.
00:15:46.684 --> 00:15:51.932
But, I mean, what, the kids let on their own to defend? What happens?
00:15:52.222 --> 00:15:55.792
Well, fortunately, we haven't had too many examples of that.
00:15:55.792 --> 00:16:01.102
But we have, we've had families, our students in Fullerton that have faced those
00:16:01.102 --> 00:16:04.882
situations where family members, loved ones have been disappeared,
00:16:04.882 --> 00:16:08.308
have been taken by ice and relocated.
00:16:08.912 --> 00:16:10.872
Yeah. So it's been very challenging.
00:16:11.489 --> 00:16:17.990
What we've done is try to, as best we can, help families prepare so that it's,
00:16:18.234 --> 00:16:20.212
I mean, it's always an emergency. It's always a crisis.
00:16:20.532 --> 00:16:25.282
But at least giving them a sense of having some preparedness so that there's
00:16:25.282 --> 00:16:27.969
not now who's in charge, who's going to take care of our children.
00:16:28.812 --> 00:16:32.912
And so in some instances, I can say family members, relatives stepped up.
00:16:33.492 --> 00:16:38.112
In some cases, those kids left our district because the family member lived
00:16:38.112 --> 00:16:42.202
far enough away that it didn't make sense for them to continue to come to Fullerton School District.
00:16:42.202 --> 00:16:46.522
Even though they then we supported them in that transition to enroll in a new
00:16:46.522 --> 00:16:50.362
school district to have the support they need and to follow up as best we can
00:16:50.362 --> 00:16:51.879
to make sure their needs were being met.
00:16:52.993 --> 00:16:55.048
Yeah, it's it's tragic.
00:16:55.674 --> 00:17:00.460
Now, you mentioned something there. I remember in the news a little bit ago,
00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:01.150
and there was a little bit of
00:17:01.150 --> 00:17:06.230
controversy regarding how the state of California had changed some type of,
00:17:06.785 --> 00:17:10.947
regulation or ruling regarding who can just pick up your kids.
00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:16.470
And I know for many years, schools have been extremely disciplined as to,
00:17:16.870 --> 00:17:18.390
you're not on the list, you can't pick them up.
00:17:19.557 --> 00:17:22.440
What was going on? Do you mind sharing what that was about? Yeah,
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:24.530
there was a lot of controversy around that.
00:17:24.870 --> 00:17:27.430
And I mean, I heard the first time I think I ever heard of it,
00:17:27.430 --> 00:17:30.750
someone said, did you hear that traffickers can now take your children out of
00:17:30.750 --> 00:17:33.240
school? And I was like, you know, I've been working in anti-trafficking for
00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:35.590
about 20 years and I don't think that's how this works.
00:17:35.970 --> 00:17:37.905
So, no, that's not how it is.
00:17:38.670 --> 00:17:44.590
But, you know, it really was just a way for families to gain that sense of control
00:17:44.590 --> 00:17:48.930
and power to ensure that the right people were going to be there for their kids if they needed it.
00:17:49.710 --> 00:17:55.520
And so it doesn't transfer the power of, you know, you're not suddenly the new
00:17:55.520 --> 00:17:56.708
guardian and the new parent.
00:17:56.986 --> 00:18:00.516
It just allows for that temporary care for kids.
00:18:00.841 --> 00:18:04.210
And that's what we want is kids to be with somebody that they know and trust
00:18:04.210 --> 00:18:07.250
and their parents have said, this is the right person for my kid.
00:18:07.575 --> 00:18:11.060
And, you know, so the school district doesn't get involved in making the decision
00:18:11.060 --> 00:18:12.248
about who cares for your children.
00:18:12.561 --> 00:18:18.490
We simply respect the law and the certified paperwork that says this best friend
00:18:18.490 --> 00:18:22.910
or neighbor or auntie or cousin or Tia, whoever it might be that the parents
00:18:22.910 --> 00:18:26.470
have designated is now the person that can care for kids when parents aren't able.
00:18:26.470 --> 00:18:30.845
And I mean, that's the worst case possible choice for a parent to have to make that decision.
00:18:31.176 --> 00:18:33.381
You know, so it really is important.
00:18:34.668 --> 00:18:40.018
Not in a last minute a last resort choice that parents are having to make these
00:18:40.018 --> 00:18:42.818
days and so we want to just make it as easy as possible for parents to have
00:18:42.818 --> 00:18:46.588
that little bit of peace that they've got somebody who's going to care for their kids if they can't
00:18:46.988 --> 00:18:49.658
well it sort of makes sense because a lot of a lot of parents both are working
00:18:49.658 --> 00:18:52.708
now aren't they anything could happen could break down on the freeway trying
00:18:52.708 --> 00:18:56.128
to get up the other one can't get out of work right now or it's tried too far
00:18:56.128 --> 00:19:00.708
away yeah who's going to pick up your little one i totally understand that yeah i mean
00:19:01.128 --> 00:19:03.272
Every time you register your kid for school, you fill out,
00:19:03.948 --> 00:19:06.703
who's allowed to pick up your kid. Right. I have one of my best friends on there.
00:19:06.934 --> 00:19:10.108
We're not related, but I know if I'm not going to make it, I can text her and
00:19:10.108 --> 00:19:12.348
she can pick up my kid. You know, so it's really not.
00:19:13.868 --> 00:19:16.908
It's not as open as everybody. No. It sounds like it. And it's meant to keep
00:19:16.908 --> 00:19:20.890
kids safe. And I think that's fundamentally what we're trying to do.
00:19:21.454 --> 00:19:24.904
So one of the things, obviously, three years now, congratulations.
00:19:24.904 --> 00:19:26.924
It's a full term, isn't it? Look at that.
00:19:29.524 --> 00:19:34.104
When you reflect back over the three years, what sort of accomplishments are
00:19:34.104 --> 00:19:36.441
you most personally proud of? Yeah.
00:19:36.690 --> 00:19:41.414
Well, we've already talked about our response to immigration and just the threat
00:19:41.414 --> 00:19:44.852
that that brought to public education. I would say that's definitely top of my list.
00:19:45.229 --> 00:19:49.424
But, you know, I came to the school district really wanting to bring a perspective
00:19:49.424 --> 00:19:51.664
of online safety and looking, you know,
00:19:52.064 --> 00:19:55.794
my background, my experience is anti-human trafficking, child abuse prevention,
00:19:55.794 --> 00:20:00.804
protection of children, and also youth engagement and empowering young people in that process.
00:20:01.129 --> 00:20:06.784
So one of the first acts I did as a new school district trustee was to introduce
00:20:06.784 --> 00:20:11.354
a board goal, which means really focusing all of our district energies and efforts
00:20:11.354 --> 00:20:15.415
around the idea of digital citizenship and online safety.
00:20:15.682 --> 00:20:20.244
So I have worked, like I said, for many years in anti-human trafficking online
00:20:20.244 --> 00:20:24.264
protection but what we're seeing right now is our kids greatest threats for
00:20:24.264 --> 00:20:28.185
sexual abuse exploitation trafficking really is happening online
00:20:28.574 --> 00:20:33.714
and so um and at the same time they're growing up online you know and as fullerton
00:20:33.714 --> 00:20:36.422
school district we have always had it well,
00:20:36.898 --> 00:20:43.487
since i've been around we've had a one-to-one ipad policy so we give kids technology but we um.
00:20:44.751 --> 00:20:48.351
I believed and I still believe we need to do a really excellent job of keeping
00:20:48.351 --> 00:20:52.281
them safe and equipping them and empowering them to know how to use that technology
00:20:52.281 --> 00:20:53.634
in a safe and healthy way.
00:20:53.890 --> 00:20:57.561
So one of my first acts was making sure that we had a focus on that.
00:20:57.561 --> 00:21:02.681
And so since then, we've introduced a lot more lessons through our social emotional
00:21:02.681 --> 00:21:06.151
learning curriculum, through our digital safety and,
00:21:06.651 --> 00:21:10.581
digital technology kind of awareness tools to help kids understand both the
00:21:10.581 --> 00:21:13.296
threats and the dangers that exist online.
00:21:13.632 --> 00:21:18.731
But also how to stay safe and what to do if they're in a compromising or dangerous
00:21:18.731 --> 00:21:23.751
situation, how to seek help from trusted adults, and really finding this balance
00:21:23.751 --> 00:21:26.437
of a healthy approach to technology and screen time.
00:21:26.710 --> 00:21:30.582
Because I think both there's real threats and dangers and risks,
00:21:30.715 --> 00:21:35.971
but then there's also just sort of this mental health issue of screen addictions
00:21:35.971 --> 00:21:38.366
that we're seeing absolutely affecting our kids.
00:21:38.627 --> 00:21:42.281
And so helping our kids navigate that, it's a really big challenge.
00:21:42.281 --> 00:21:44.591
I think for adults, we're figuring these things out.
00:21:45.251 --> 00:21:48.701
But that's a really critical, I think, part of a 21st century education is to
00:21:48.701 --> 00:21:52.741
know how to use these tools, but use them in a way that's healthy and safe and
00:21:52.741 --> 00:21:55.091
appropriate. So that was one of our first acts.
00:21:55.531 --> 00:21:59.411
One of my first things as a trustee was to make sure we brought that perspective
00:21:59.411 --> 00:22:02.172
to the board. And then I've seen it rolled out in many ways.
00:22:02.851 --> 00:22:06.631
Even just yesterday, we had a board meeting, and we were looking at the LCAP,
00:22:06.631 --> 00:22:09.150
the Local Control and Accountability Plan for our schools.
00:22:09.417 --> 00:22:13.311
And that's absolutely embedded in the ways that our schools are functioning,
00:22:13.311 --> 00:22:16.551
the goals that they have. Every single school is looking at how do we make sure
00:22:16.551 --> 00:22:20.428
we have digital wellness and digital safe citizenship online.
00:22:21.049 --> 00:22:22.947
So that's exciting to see that play out.
00:22:23.711 --> 00:22:28.451
I've also looked at safety from the perspective of we rolled back and really
00:22:28.451 --> 00:22:31.161
limited cell phones at school a couple years ago.
00:22:31.597 --> 00:22:34.998
We were seeing that cell phones were being used at the junior highs to help.
00:22:35.614 --> 00:22:40.115
Film fights, but it was sort of this performative effort where kids were filming
00:22:40.115 --> 00:22:43.945
fights and then posting them. And imagine this horrible thing happens and then
00:22:43.945 --> 00:22:46.345
it's all over social media and everybody's seeing it.
00:22:46.725 --> 00:22:51.705
So we really know that cell phones not only distract kids, keep them from learning
00:22:51.705 --> 00:22:55.502
in the classroom, but it's that constant kind of FOMO fear of missing out that
00:22:55.705 --> 00:22:58.677
someone's doing saying something online and I'm not there.
00:22:58.967 --> 00:23:03.355
And so it really contributes to their sense of anxiety and anxiousness when
00:23:03.355 --> 00:23:07.605
they're at school. So by eliminating cell phones, we basically created a policy.
00:23:07.605 --> 00:23:12.249
I brought a policy that said from bell to bell, once they walk on campus, no cell phones at all.
00:23:12.644 --> 00:23:16.955
And this was a little bit before our governor also pushed for this legislation.
00:23:16.955 --> 00:23:19.955
So at the beginning, people were kind of like, oh, this will never work.
00:23:19.955 --> 00:23:22.925
Kids will fight back. Teachers will be spending all their time saying,
00:23:22.925 --> 00:23:25.365
put away your cell phones. And you know what? It worked.
00:23:26.205 --> 00:23:29.845
And to the point where teachers actually said, I didn't think it would,
00:23:29.845 --> 00:23:32.085
but thank you so much. It's made my job so much better.
00:23:32.905 --> 00:23:36.585
And so we really saw a change in that, you know, decrease in fights.
00:23:37.150 --> 00:23:42.265
I think we're seeing, yeah, the culture around cell phones really changed at
00:23:42.265 --> 00:23:46.105
our schools because of just from the top down, it was a no tolerance policy.
00:23:46.105 --> 00:23:48.325
We're just not going to do it. And we can do that.
00:23:48.745 --> 00:23:53.578
Well you know i think i think it is a very sensible idea because if you think about it this day and age,
00:23:54.309 --> 00:23:59.195
adults even do it they're trying to outdo each other to be that most famous
00:23:59.195 --> 00:24:04.706
one so why would not kids try and mimic that and do the same so taking away that,
00:24:05.613 --> 00:24:10.255
that thing that device that could make that happen i mean isn't that bad now
00:24:10.255 --> 00:24:14.423
you mentioned obviously because of your because of your experience and background,
00:24:14.865 --> 00:24:17.485
um and you were talking about how you're training.
00:24:18.551 --> 00:24:21.384
To see, you know, maybe things that are a little odd.
00:24:22.446 --> 00:24:25.873
You know, you know, these predators, they're very smart. They're always trying
00:24:25.873 --> 00:24:27.194
to outsmart everything.
00:24:27.531 --> 00:24:32.133
And I think of even our own child, she's not online very often at all,
00:24:32.133 --> 00:24:35.693
but the little bit she would be, she's not going to tell us till afterwards.
00:24:36.169 --> 00:24:40.853
Parents, again, you know, sometimes I'm stuck doing something on Instagram and
00:24:40.853 --> 00:24:42.369
the kid knows which button to push.
00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:48.833
What things can parents look for without seeming like they're over hovering
00:24:48.833 --> 00:24:55.553
over the kid regarding online predators and websites that you shouldn't go to?
00:24:56.313 --> 00:25:01.122
What advice would you give to them? Well, my first advice is delay as much as possible.
00:25:01.481 --> 00:25:05.591
I think that I'm raising two girls. They're 13 and 15.
00:25:05.940 --> 00:25:11.674
And I tell parents, the worst thing you can do for your daughter's self-esteem is social media.
00:25:13.053 --> 00:25:17.043
We just know from the research, it is not good for their well-being and their sense of self.
00:25:17.630 --> 00:25:22.158
Body image, it really is damaging. So I think as much as we can delay
00:25:22.512 --> 00:25:26.737
and then have open conversations about social media, and, you know,
00:25:26.737 --> 00:25:30.087
I know screens and technology, it's not all social media, but what we're seeing
00:25:30.087 --> 00:25:32.937
is actually gaming is a huge risk to our kids right now.
00:25:33.857 --> 00:25:39.937
It is absolutely a platform where predators, people exploit children.
00:25:39.937 --> 00:25:42.307
And so they build trusted relationships with kids.
00:25:42.649 --> 00:25:45.157
They may pretend to be a child themselves.
00:25:45.537 --> 00:25:48.988
They begin by innocent conversations, and then it turns into,
00:25:49.203 --> 00:25:50.863
send me an image, do this for me.
00:25:51.003 --> 00:25:54.377
And it escalates to sexual abuse or other forms of exploitation.
00:25:54.377 --> 00:25:59.774
We're seeing the fastest rising trend right now is teenage boys in financial and,
00:26:00.397 --> 00:26:04.459
sextortion, which is basically this idea of blackmail extortion,
00:26:04.737 --> 00:26:11.040
where someone usually begins with someone sends a nude image and then says, send me one of yours.
00:26:11.394 --> 00:26:15.267
And so oftentimes, teens think they're talking to a young, you know,
00:26:15.267 --> 00:26:17.803
attractive young girl, and they send a nude image.
00:26:17.995 --> 00:26:22.277
And then it's actually, I mean, in some cases, a man in Nigeria.
00:26:22.277 --> 00:26:26.255
Like there are literally international rings of these
00:26:26.598 --> 00:26:31.047
people who then exploit young boys and say either it escalates in the sexual
00:26:31.047 --> 00:26:34.317
content, you know, send me more or else I'll share it with everybody you know,
00:26:34.317 --> 00:26:37.177
or you'll be shamed because the entire football team will see this,
00:26:37.177 --> 00:26:38.115
how embarrassing this is.
00:26:38.475 --> 00:26:42.468
Or they ask for money. And so it's, if you don't send me $500,
00:26:43.229 --> 00:26:44.674
all your network will see this image.
00:26:45.023 --> 00:26:49.267
And not only is it illegal, you know, any sexual abuse images of children is
00:26:49.267 --> 00:26:50.868
always illegal and should be reported.
00:26:51.737 --> 00:26:55.483
But it really is leading to really dangerous consequences to the point where
00:26:55.704 --> 00:26:59.570
we've lost a lot of teenagers by suicide because they feel so trapped,
00:26:59.831 --> 00:27:04.287
so shamed by the way they've been exploited and abused in this situation.
00:27:04.287 --> 00:27:09.187
So, I, you know, I try to start with parents by saying it's so critical that
00:27:09.187 --> 00:27:13.581
we have open communication with our kids and say, you will never get in trouble
00:27:13.803 --> 00:27:15.517
for coming to me asking for help.
00:27:16.183 --> 00:27:18.207
We want our kids to know we make
00:27:18.207 --> 00:27:22.503
mistakes. You might do something that you regret. Stupid thing. Right?
00:27:23.180 --> 00:27:26.891
I will forgive you. We will get over it. I will help you get through this together.
00:27:27.331 --> 00:27:31.101
We don't want our kids to feel like they have to hide that from us because that's
00:27:31.101 --> 00:27:36.003
what leads to these, you know, endless consequences that cannot be reversed.
00:27:36.386 --> 00:27:39.881
These things can be fixed, right? So, and there are websites out there now.
00:27:39.881 --> 00:27:43.951
TakeItDown.com is, or through the National Center for Missing and Exploited
00:27:43.951 --> 00:27:47.420
Children is a great website that you can report even anonymously.
00:27:47.658 --> 00:27:52.341
And they will help remove nude images of children from platforms that have a
00:27:52.341 --> 00:27:55.491
partnership with them, like Instagram, TikTok, things like that.
00:27:55.491 --> 00:27:59.591
So there are ways to help kids navigate these really tough situations.
00:27:59.591 --> 00:28:04.451
But it starts with seeking help, of saying, I'm in a bad place and I need help.
00:28:04.451 --> 00:28:08.261
And parents not losing their minds and punishing and freaking out and shaming,
00:28:08.261 --> 00:28:10.313
but instead helping their kids through that process.
00:28:10.626 --> 00:28:14.281
So I think having those open conversations, I always say, you know,
00:28:14.281 --> 00:28:16.617
it's so critical to begin the conversation.
00:28:16.890 --> 00:28:19.711
Talk about it with our kids without shame, without judgment,
00:28:19.967 --> 00:28:23.206
but just say, you know, these things can happen and it's not a kid's fault.
00:28:24.251 --> 00:28:28.657
But I don't want you to be in that bad situation. So let's talk about how we can stay safer.
00:28:28.982 --> 00:28:32.650
And really, again, not like removing technology all completely,
00:28:32.894 --> 00:28:34.810
but helping them navigate it safely.
00:28:35.390 --> 00:28:40.131
Now, talking, you know, not having to go into privacy laws and all the other
00:28:40.131 --> 00:28:41.404
bits and pieces that go on,
00:28:42.042 --> 00:28:46.030
are there agencies, because we have a lot of security type agencies,
00:28:46.506 --> 00:28:53.631
do they somehow try to police some of these game consoles or is that not allowed?
00:28:53.631 --> 00:28:58.261
I mean, what is, you know, there's an issue there that we need to address it
00:28:58.261 --> 00:29:00.682
somehow. What is going on? Unfortunately, not enough.
00:29:01.531 --> 00:29:04.671
A lot of the big technology companies, whether that's Meta and,
00:29:04.991 --> 00:29:11.891
You know, Instagram and TikTok and social media, Google, the gaming platforms like Roblox.
00:29:11.891 --> 00:29:16.101
And there's just so many where there is not enough happening.
00:29:16.101 --> 00:29:18.961
And even the efforts, like I know there's been other countries have made more
00:29:18.961 --> 00:29:24.471
significant efforts, Australia, the UK, to really limit ages and who's allowed to use these spaces.
00:29:25.365 --> 00:29:29.129
And the jury's still out to see if that really makes it has an impact on how
00:29:29.129 --> 00:29:30.149
it protects kids, because I've
00:29:30.149 --> 00:29:34.199
been hearing a lot about even that forcing more to kind of the dark web.
00:29:34.199 --> 00:29:39.569
And, you know, obviously, they're kids are very smart and they can oftentimes
00:29:39.569 --> 00:29:43.567
get around a lot of the filters and ways that we're trying to keep them safe.
00:29:43.828 --> 00:29:48.089
You know, so that's why I think I always say I think kids will oftentimes find
00:29:48.089 --> 00:29:52.209
a way around the safeguards that we put up. So, again, it's a it's really about
00:29:52.209 --> 00:29:54.120
building trust and communication with your kids.
00:29:54.225 --> 00:29:59.039
Because, I mean, I think it's our job to create every filter and kind of barrier
00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:02.758
we can to keep kids from seeing and accessing things that are inappropriate for them.
00:30:03.002 --> 00:30:07.959
But we also have to talk to them about what to do when they do see it, when they do get there.
00:30:08.259 --> 00:30:10.849
Because we're not always there. And whether that's they go to a friend's house
00:30:10.849 --> 00:30:14.699
and a friend doesn't have the same filters and things that we do at our house
00:30:14.699 --> 00:30:17.346
or they pull up their phone and show them an image, you know,
00:30:17.613 --> 00:30:21.699
our kids need to be prepared to say, I don't like that. That makes me uncomfortable.
00:30:22.019 --> 00:30:26.099
I know that's not safe. I'm not going to look. Not because my mom will get mad,
00:30:26.099 --> 00:30:29.902
but really because it's for their own best interest as well. That makes sense. Yeah.
00:30:30.065 --> 00:30:33.839
So moving along from that a little bit, and then we'll move on to the real stuff
00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:37.599
because it's such a really good topic. It is real stuff. Thank you. It really is. Yeah.
00:30:38.388 --> 00:30:43.519
So what do you see with, I mean, you've helped it a little bit by sort of like
00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:47.479
conversating phones for a while. Cyber bullying.
00:30:47.779 --> 00:30:52.134
That's a big deal these days. Absolutely. There's a police all over that these days as well.
00:30:52.859 --> 00:30:56.842
What do you see? What's your experience and what are your mindset towards it?
00:30:57.341 --> 00:31:01.289
It absolutely happens. Yeah. And not only peer-to-peer kids.
00:31:02.259 --> 00:31:07.229
But we're seeing a huge growth with AI in the role it's playing in cyberbullying
00:31:07.229 --> 00:31:08.916
and exploitation and abuse.
00:31:09.399 --> 00:31:13.859
We're seeing reports all around the country and the globe of young people using
00:31:13.859 --> 00:31:18.831
AI nudification tools to create child abuse images of their peers.
00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:22.953
I mean, you know, 10 years ago when I was doing this work, I would say,
00:31:23.266 --> 00:31:25.484
don't post inappropriate pictures. Right.
00:31:26.158 --> 00:31:31.312
Now you can post your school yearbook photo and somebody can take it and nudify it.
00:31:31.752 --> 00:31:36.542
It's really scary. And so I think we have a responsibility as adults not only
00:31:36.542 --> 00:31:41.962
to talk to our kids about the important, like the ethics and really hold them
00:31:41.962 --> 00:31:43.622
accountable that this is harmful.
00:31:43.622 --> 00:31:46.997
Like if they're thinking about doing this, really talking about the consequences,
00:31:47.177 --> 00:31:53.168
that this is a crime and really helping them see, you know, be responsible not to create these images.
00:31:53.469 --> 00:31:57.582
But then also for our young people to again know there's no shame if someone
00:31:57.582 --> 00:32:01.892
has done this to you it's not your fault um and to help them walk through that
00:32:01.892 --> 00:32:04.191
process it's scary and hard and,
00:32:04.992 --> 00:32:09.382
but it's not the end of the world and so helping kids um walk through that if
00:32:09.382 --> 00:32:12.846
that's something a crime that's happened to them to get through it um,
00:32:13.456 --> 00:32:17.542
and and help them process that is a really important piece because unfortunately
00:32:17.542 --> 00:32:20.952
we're going to see more and more of it right and so we need to both as I think
00:32:20.952 --> 00:32:25.478
a school district, you know, we need to hold kids accountable when they make these bad choices.
00:32:26.432 --> 00:32:31.572
And, you know, help them learn through that lesson, but also support the trauma
00:32:31.572 --> 00:32:33.752
that comes from kids that have experienced those things.
00:32:33.752 --> 00:32:38.503
Now, we hear a lot about, you know, areas of safe spaces, especially in colleges, right?
00:32:39.303 --> 00:32:44.055
You know, the school, things like that. The safe space, great idea.
00:32:44.351 --> 00:32:47.585
But then is there somebody there to help you? Because you were talking before,
00:32:47.585 --> 00:32:49.275
really, you might need to talk to somebody.
00:32:49.735 --> 00:32:52.395
Is that something that schools are looking at now? High school,
00:32:52.395 --> 00:32:55.113
elementary? I don't know what level you're looking at. Yeah, yeah.
00:32:55.875 --> 00:32:59.195
Oh, yeah. I mean, we have mental health professionals at every single school. Yeah.
00:32:59.195 --> 00:33:04.055
So whether that's, you know, it may not be this issue specifically,
00:33:04.055 --> 00:33:07.865
but supporting our kids no matter what they're going through absolutely is critical.
00:33:07.865 --> 00:33:11.795
I mean, it is part of serving our children and it is part of public education
00:33:11.795 --> 00:33:14.740
now as we have to address the mental health challenges that our kids are facing.
00:33:15.515 --> 00:33:19.415
And, you know, exploitation and abuse is part of that. Now, you're mentioning
00:33:19.415 --> 00:33:24.715
before a little bit about how obviously funding can be a little bit challenging
00:33:24.715 --> 00:33:28.376
today than maybe it was a couple of years ago.
00:33:28.945 --> 00:33:32.215
Whether it continues or not, nobody knows. Everything's up in the air.
00:33:32.655 --> 00:33:38.235
So what types of things do you have to do to overcome these challenges?
00:33:38.235 --> 00:33:42.167
Because you can't just close down the science lab because I haven't got funding for it.
00:33:42.775 --> 00:33:47.195
What do you have to do as a district? Well, we just approved our budget for
00:33:47.195 --> 00:33:51.435
26, 25, 26, 27. We're there yet. Right. Yeah.
00:33:52.216 --> 00:33:56.297
26, 27. And the good news is Fullerton School District is doing really well.
00:33:57.215 --> 00:33:59.501
We are operating a,
00:34:00.070 --> 00:34:03.972
in the black. We've got some reserves, about $24 million that we've been able
00:34:03.972 --> 00:34:05.736
to kind of carry along through the years.
00:34:06.200 --> 00:34:10.232
And we're doing really well. Whereas many districts, because of declining enrollment,
00:34:10.232 --> 00:34:14.792
because of just financial uncertainties, they've been laying off teachers and
00:34:14.792 --> 00:34:16.292
they've had a lot of financial troubles.
00:34:16.292 --> 00:34:19.872
But we're doing well. And I'm really grateful for that. I'm really excited.
00:34:19.872 --> 00:34:24.184
That means we get to focus on, you know, serving our kids and doing what's good for them.
00:34:24.992 --> 00:34:27.801
We've also been really aggressive about going after grants.
00:34:28.992 --> 00:34:32.462
The state of California has provided a lot of support for what I would call
00:34:32.462 --> 00:34:34.992
like holistic wraparound services and support for kids.
00:34:34.992 --> 00:34:39.172
So we are benefiting from community schools grants, which allow us to serve
00:34:39.172 --> 00:34:43.502
some of our Title I schools with really additional supports for families that
00:34:43.502 --> 00:34:47.202
address like holistic needs of kids and families to make sure that they're thriving
00:34:47.202 --> 00:34:48.255
and learning well in school.
00:34:49.032 --> 00:34:52.832
And we also have some additional grants for after school programming.
00:34:52.832 --> 00:34:56.395
The state of California has really stepped up with what are called ELAP grants
00:34:56.749 --> 00:35:00.732
to provide after-school care for kids, and that's supporting our summer programming
00:35:00.732 --> 00:35:02.832
as well, so that families that work have a
00:35:03.252 --> 00:35:06.742
safe space and a healthy space for kids to continue to learn and grow and be
00:35:06.742 --> 00:35:10.632
cared for during the summer and after school, but also reduces learning loss
00:35:10.632 --> 00:35:13.862
and, you know, making sure kids are continually to keep their skills up over
00:35:13.862 --> 00:35:15.912
the summer so we're not set back when,
00:35:16.252 --> 00:35:18.940
you know, August starts up, school starts up again.
00:35:19.632 --> 00:35:24.670
So I would say we're actually doing pretty well. We're in a pretty good financial place.
00:35:25.019 --> 00:35:29.052
I think the economic situation is always uncertain. And especially with the
00:35:29.052 --> 00:35:33.602
new governor coming in soon, you know, we'll have to see if the next administration
00:35:33.602 --> 00:35:38.259
really prioritizes education in California because the majority of our budget comes from the state.
00:35:39.263 --> 00:35:42.002
But we're doing well. And I think part of that is because we've been really
00:35:42.002 --> 00:35:45.232
thoughtful about making sure that our investments are—.
00:35:46.743 --> 00:35:49.803
We're knowledgeable about what's long-term or what's short-term funding so that
00:35:49.803 --> 00:35:53.853
we're not, you know, spending a lot on like salaries for teachers and then suddenly
00:35:53.853 --> 00:35:57.025
the funding's gone, you know, but really being thoughtful about how we,
00:35:57.506 --> 00:36:01.693
utilize the funds that are available to us, supporting the teachers and the
00:36:01.693 --> 00:36:05.573
staff as best we can, but then using one-time monies or special grant block
00:36:05.573 --> 00:36:09.877
money to do infusions of opportunities for our kids.
00:36:10.771 --> 00:36:15.973
So low enrollment is sometimes prime with some schools and there seems to be
00:36:15.973 --> 00:36:20.866
quite a few things. Some kids are going to charter school, other ones are getting schooled from home.
00:36:21.864 --> 00:36:27.643
And I don't want to address all that system, but basically, what does that do
00:36:27.643 --> 00:36:31.493
for a school district? I mean, if there's low enrollment, that means there's
00:36:31.493 --> 00:36:34.193
less maybe funding for the school, the school might close.
00:36:34.524 --> 00:36:38.913
Absolutely. Could you take us through, like, the good and bad points to this
00:36:38.913 --> 00:36:41.853
so people understand? I don't know how many good points there are.
00:36:41.853 --> 00:36:46.929
But declining enrollment is an issue that all of the state of California is pretty much facing.
00:36:47.225 --> 00:36:50.773
Even when we look at, you know, communities that are still growing,
00:36:50.773 --> 00:36:54.522
like, there are some growth in Brea, but especially Irvine.
00:36:54.818 --> 00:36:59.653
Their enrollment is slowing down. Right. Even if it's not negative numbers.
00:36:59.653 --> 00:37:02.943
Sure. But it's really due to the fact that, especially in Southern California,
00:37:02.943 --> 00:37:04.530
it's just expensive to live here.
00:37:04.785 --> 00:37:08.513
And so young families are not buying homes. They're not staying here and they're
00:37:08.513 --> 00:37:09.597
not raising their kids here.
00:37:10.039 --> 00:37:14.079
So and then, you know, we've had some impact with the slowdown in immigration as well.
00:37:14.363 --> 00:37:17.863
So families that may have moved here for the opportunity to have a better life
00:37:17.863 --> 00:37:20.319
just are we're not seeing the influx in the same way.
00:37:21.303 --> 00:37:27.140
So, it's a California challenge. It's an urban challenge that we're all facing together.
00:37:27.564 --> 00:37:32.023
I would say, fortunately, Fullerton, our declining enrollment is a little less.
00:37:32.023 --> 00:37:34.823
And I think that's because people like our school. You know,
00:37:34.823 --> 00:37:38.001
our community has an excellent reputation of excellent schools.
00:37:38.703 --> 00:37:42.134
People want to be in Fullerton School District. They find ways to get here,
00:37:42.419 --> 00:37:46.143
whether that's because, you know, anyone who lives and works in Fullerton school,
00:37:46.483 --> 00:37:50.043
Fullerton can send their kids here. And we have lots of folks that transfer
00:37:50.043 --> 00:37:52.850
their children to Fullerton because of our excellent schools.
00:37:53.543 --> 00:37:57.401
And we see that once kids attend, they tend to stay.
00:37:57.622 --> 00:38:01.563
We're not seeing a drop out of students, but what we're seeing is just fewer
00:38:01.563 --> 00:38:03.409
and fewer kids coming from the beginning.
00:38:03.688 --> 00:38:09.583
So our kindergarten classes right now have about 200 less kids than our graduating
00:38:09.583 --> 00:38:13.193
eighth grade classes. That's quite a lot. So you're over time,
00:38:13.193 --> 00:38:15.003
you know, that's nine years, 10 years.
00:38:15.443 --> 00:38:19.913
If you start with TK, the kids, we're just getting fewer kids starting in our
00:38:19.913 --> 00:38:23.863
schools. And again, that's due to expensive. We have a housing crisis issue.
00:38:24.243 --> 00:38:28.294
You know, we have an affordability crisis issue and families aren't having as many children.
00:38:28.943 --> 00:38:31.803
We have a lot of adults who are choosing not to have children,
00:38:31.803 --> 00:38:36.287
not to have the traditional marriage, family approach to life.
00:38:36.700 --> 00:38:39.810
And so we just don't have as many kids to educate.
00:38:40.229 --> 00:38:44.409
Um, but you know, we continue to educate the kids we have and do the very best we can.
00:38:44.715 --> 00:38:48.440
But the way that California funding is set up is, um, every,
00:38:48.440 --> 00:38:51.470
all of our money, our funding is based on average daily attendance.
00:38:51.470 --> 00:38:54.320
So it's based on not how many kids say they're coming to your school,
00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:57.120
but how many show up every day. And our attendance rate is, you know,
00:38:57.120 --> 00:39:00.923
in the high nineties, but you know, if somebody's sick or they go on vacation,
00:39:01.046 --> 00:39:04.590
we don't get paid for their presence, right? Like bums off seats. Yes.
00:39:04.950 --> 00:39:07.970
But you have to obviously staff for the total amount of kids,
00:39:07.970 --> 00:39:11.020
you know, if everybody shows up, you got to have enough teachers and janitors
00:39:11.020 --> 00:39:14.901
and lunch service people to make sure they're all taken care of, right?
00:39:15.210 --> 00:39:19.423
So that, you know, that discrepancy sometimes can be challenging.
00:39:19.732 --> 00:39:25.700
But certainly as we see declining enrollment, less and less need for educating
00:39:25.700 --> 00:39:27.468
our kids, we have to make decisions, you know.
00:39:27.735 --> 00:39:32.344
And so one of the strategies, this is kind of a financial HR approach,
00:39:32.681 --> 00:39:34.380
we did with Fullerton School District
00:39:34.380 --> 00:39:37.586
is this last year, we offered some incentive for early retirement.
00:39:37.998 --> 00:39:42.060
And so we obviously, you know, the numbers add up when you've got folks at the
00:39:42.060 --> 00:39:46.369
end of their careers, they're being paid a lot more than brand new teachers.
00:39:46.636 --> 00:39:51.303
We also have probably more teachers than we needed for every single child that was now enrolled.
00:39:52.190 --> 00:39:54.721
We don't want to lay people off. We don't want to let go of folks.
00:39:54.913 --> 00:39:59.205
But if we can encourage them by what we did is we met the gap between if they
00:39:59.205 --> 00:40:04.465
retire now, we make sure that they have the health care coverage they need before Medicare kicks in.
00:40:05.005 --> 00:40:08.445
So we said, if you retire now, there was some additional money that was available
00:40:08.445 --> 00:40:13.100
for basically a bonus for the one time for all of the staff to enjoy.
00:40:13.576 --> 00:40:17.075
And we made sure that they had the medical coverage they needed to get to that
00:40:17.075 --> 00:40:19.242
place where they could enjoy all the retirement benefits.
00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:25.625
So that encouraged up, I think it was 40 teachers and more than a dozen classified
00:40:25.625 --> 00:40:28.735
staff to retire a little bit early. Maybe they were old enough,
00:40:28.735 --> 00:40:30.641
but just thought, oh, maybe I'll hang on a little bit longer.
00:40:30.897 --> 00:40:34.072
Or they're a few years shy and this was the bonus, the opportunity that they wanted.
00:40:34.333 --> 00:40:38.295
So that meant that we kind of have a reset and we're able to hire the appropriate
00:40:38.295 --> 00:40:42.175
number of teachers we need, but not have to let extra teachers go.
00:40:42.175 --> 00:40:45.398
That's a nice way of doing it. Absolutely. Yeah, that's really nice. That's good.
00:40:45.787 --> 00:40:48.614
So talking about teachers, there's been quite a lot of, again,
00:40:48.898 --> 00:40:52.095
controversy in the news about how difficult it is for teachers,
00:40:52.095 --> 00:40:55.591
wages, salaries, teachers' aides, all the rest of things.
00:40:56.065 --> 00:41:01.048
Obviously, being on the board there, that comes across your desks all the time.
00:41:01.765 --> 00:41:04.299
What's going on in your life? What do you see that's going on?
00:41:04.908 --> 00:41:08.734
Yeah. I mean, teachers are definitely underpaid.
00:41:09.332 --> 00:41:13.135
I wish, as a society, we don't value our teachers enough and we don't pay them
00:41:13.135 --> 00:41:14.335
appropriately for the hard work
00:41:14.335 --> 00:41:17.916
that they do every single day and the importance of the work that they do.
00:41:19.257 --> 00:41:23.665
But again, our funding comes from the state. And, you know, California is better
00:41:23.665 --> 00:41:26.192
than most. But, you know.