Orange County Superintendent Al Mijares during an Orange County Board of Education meeting Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, at the Orange County Office of Education in Costa Mesa. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Orange County Schools Superintendent Al Mijares doesn't have the keys to nuclear law, but he oversees an annual budget of more than $350 million and nearly 1,500 county employees.
The president didn't learn of the recent turmoil of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's unannounced absence until four days after Austin was driven to the hospital. The public learned of his absence the next day. It was later discovered that his absence was due to complications from treatment for prostate cancer.
An expanded version of this scenario is playing out here in Orange County due to Mr. Mijares' conspicuous absence from the Orange County School Board meeting. If you watched or attended a board meeting over the past year, you would not have seen Superintendent Al Mijares in attendance. A good question is “Why?”
Austin was hospitalized for two weeks. Mijares hasn't attended an Orange County School Board meeting in more than a year — not even via Zoom.
It is unclear why Mijares has been completely absent from his position for such a long period of time, and no official statement has been made. However, like the U.S. Department of Defense, the Orange County Department of Education is not a self-driving car. Who cares about the store? We assume unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. But how can we know for sure?
Mr. Mijares' absence, like Mr. Austin's, raises the question of why such a responsible leader has not emerged. Employees in other departments would have been fired.
Orange County taxpayers pay Mijares more than $330,000 a year, plus benefits. His salary is higher than all countywide elected officials except the district attorney and higher than all statewide elected officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The Superintendent's Office oversees county education departments, including employment contracts, district budgets, and Department of Education spending. The office also provides payroll, legal and financial guidance for 28 school districts with more than 600 schools and approximately 475,000 students, including oversight of the county's continuing and charter schools. There is.
Orange County elects its superintendent, which is voted on every four years. Mijares was appointed superintendent in 2012 and ran unopposed for the superintendent position in 2014 and 2018. He was re-elected as an independent in the 2022 election, defeating his challenger Stephen Bean 55% to 45%, but suspended his public appearances almost immediately thereafter. meeting.
The campaign kicked off a tug-of-war between the separately elected school board and Mijares over ultimate policy authority over the schools and programs the district manages. Parent groups, especially those defending charter schools, opposing critical race theory instruction during the pandemic, and advocating a return to classroom learning, received a cold response from Mijares. However, Mr. Mijares did not take the students' position on these or other points. problem.
As parents, we want to be heard. We need advocates for our children. Our elected representatives need to show up to work, just like our parents do every day.
John Fleischman is the longtime publisher of the California website Flash Report and the father of school-age children. His family lives in his Linda, Yorba.
