New PAC helps fund conservative candidates in unusually partisan race
By Natalie Hanson | Posted October 14, 2022
photo by Karen Laslo
CUSD school board candidates in hotly-contested races for three seats answered questions at a September forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
A trio of candidates — two of whom are challenging incumbents — are backed by a new, conservative political action committee that has raised an unusually large amount of money that is filtering into the races for three hotly contested seats on the Chico Unified School District (CUSD) Board of Trustees.
The candidates -– Rebecca Konkin in District 1, Matt Tennis in District 4 and Logan Wilson in District 5 -– are funded in part by Chico Parents for In-Person Learning, and the three have raised far more than their opponents. The Chico Parents group formed a political action committee (PAC) in March 2021 as it unsuccessfully attempted to recall every CUSD board member, except for the group’s co-founder, Tennis.read more
Parents demonstrate for equity outside a Board of Education meeting after the suspension of Rosedale equity lead Joana Campos Castańeda.
While Chico Unified’s school board finalizes a budget for the coming year, it also has approved a plan for using state funds to address academic achievement gaps.
Parents and educators, however, said as recently as school board meetings in late June that their requests for improving the district’s approach to equity for all students have gone unanswered.
The board approved an adjusted plan for the 2021-2022 academic year to address gaps in reading and writing among students of color, particularly English learners, at all grade levels, as part of the Local Control Accountability Plan process. (The LCAP involves the district’s plan for using state funding to identify areas of need and tackle learning obstacles.) The school board agreed to designate a so-called “equity lead” on every campus to handle diversity events and discussions.read more
Joana Campos Castańeda, known as Joana Campos at Rosedale, was placed on leave last month and alleged she was told that her methods as an assigned equity lead were not appropriate for the school.
Since the decision, many parents and some Chico State educators have stepped forward to rally on Castańeda’s behalf and petition district leaders to commit to furthuring equity. A Chico State attorney has filed a complaint against the district on behalf of his Rosedale child, arguing that CUSD lacks “clearly defined procedures with respect to equity programs.”read more
