WEBVTT - Sonja Shaw is running for Superintendent of Schools 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.040 And we continue at one oh five in the afternoon 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.400 on the John Phillips Show, mister Randy Wings in Culver City. 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:09.000 John, we are six days away from the end of 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.440 the June primary and the state of California has about 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:16.200 a ten percent ballot return rate. In the city of Oakland, 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:19.240 that return rate is seven percent. 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.200 I said, hell no, baby boy, let me get up 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:22.800 on out of here. 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:27.159 Eight hundred two two two five two two two is 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.520 Jellphone number one. Eight hundred two two two five two 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.120 two two. It is our pleasure to welcome our next 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.840 guest to the program. She is a candidate for state 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.680 Superintendent of Public Instruction. You can get her online at 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:44.040 shawforca dot com. Sonya Shaw, Welcome. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:46.680 Thank you, thank you for having me. I'm excited to 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:47.880 be here with you guys today. 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.840 Why should you be the next state Superintendent of Public Instruction? 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:56.760 Do we have enough time? I'm just kidding me. Look 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:00.279 at the results of the current system we have and 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.640 fifty billion dollars being spent and kids are only at 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.600 forty seven percent for reading at grade level thirty seven 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:11.000 for math. You have the state fighting parents for you know, parents' 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:14.199 constitutional rights. You have boys and girls sports and locker rooms. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.000 You have the kids entering the UC system that need 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:21.759 remedial math because you know they have they're so far behind. 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:24.200 I mean, I can go on and on why me, 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:26.959 but we do have the blueprint and Chino Valley I 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.039 got into this fight six years ago. I've been the 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.760 board president for Chino for four years. We have a 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:35.160 five member board now that focuses on education. And we've 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:39.520 also been identified in California even as a recovery model 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.440 since COVID, so we have I have the you know, 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.360 proven results. I'm a fighter. I dope back down from 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.760 a fight when it comes to protecting our kids. And 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:49.960 a nutshell, that's why you need me as the one 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.640 leading the charge here in California. 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.840 California ranks near the bottom of the nation in just 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:00.520 about every category. And when you look at Southern states 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:04.120 that people typically from places like this look down their nose, 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:08.520 Yet their reading scores are starting to pop places like 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:13.640 Mississippi and Alabama in part because they have fully embraced phonics. 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:18.560 In California. For whatever reason, phonics has become a lightning 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:22.639 rod issue where there are institutional forces that have been 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.440 fighting that for years. Why is it that phonics are 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.760 so controversial when we know that it works. 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.720 Because it's simple, it's common sense. They fight against anything 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:36.560 that's common sense, and it's not giving these third party 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.640 a special interest groups money to try a program and 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.320 continuously having our kids as an experimental, you know, plan 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.480 for them. So truly it's something that works, it has 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:50.120 the research. But we know that. You know, California, unfortunately, 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:53.360 the majority of the legislators and those elected are in 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.560 the pockets of those that are their donors, and this 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.560 is phonics isn't one of them. So they try all 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.040 these other things and have all these other people's hands 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.079 into our kids. And the education system and the unions, 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:08.760 I mean, they fight us relentlessly against these things, even 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:12.160 in our own district. But fortunately we have enough of 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:14.200 at least in our own district, the majority of great 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:17.839 educators that have jumped on board, and you know, they're 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.200 willing to do everything possible to get our kids up 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.760 to par. But I would also say again it's the 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:28.560 unions that fight relentlessly against common sense thinks here in California. Unfortunately. 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:34.279 What's wild to me is that the university systems in California, 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:36.839 the community college is although there's fraud going on there 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:41.640 with phantom students that has been exposed. But by and large, 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.880 our universities are pretty good. UCLA, you see Berkeley, world 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.000 class institutions. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:48.640 You see San Francisco, the. 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:53.360 Medical school, the law schools at Bolt and Hastings. People 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.600 from all over the globe want to go to these universities. 0:03:56.680 --> 0:04:00.520 I graduated from cal State Fullerton. I received an excellent 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:05.880 education there, and it was priced quite competitively, I mean 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.440 compared to what people pay in other states for in 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:13.040 state tuition. My Battery's degree was pretty cheap. Yet K 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.359 through twelve I don't know of anyone, anyone in my 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:20.000 own social network who lives in a big city, whether 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:24.200 it be La or San Francisco, or Oakland or San Diego, 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.839 who's willing to send their kids to the public school system. 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:30.960 They all send their kids to private schools. They lie 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.279 about their address, and they send their kids to a 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.920 suburban school district that still functions. But no one is 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:40.400 willing in my network to send their kids to LAUSD, 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.719 for example. Why is it that we have these world 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:49.040 class institutions for higher education and our K through twelve 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:54.039 system is trash. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.280 I mean pretty much because of what's going on with 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:59.120 the unions and pushing this into the university's even the 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:03.359 curriculum is that way. So I mean, for me, I 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.080 see the fraud and the abuse and the mismanagement of money. 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:11.520 L EOSD San Diego. They're both in deficits. We continuously 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:16.000 see this, but unfortunately the universities aren't what right now 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.599 currently aren't what you experienced back when you were in 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:22.799 the university system as well. I mean again, we did 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.000 you know? I was on Fox recently and one in 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.400 eight of our students are needing remedial maths because of 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:32.440 what is being happened in the K through twelve system. Honestly, 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.920 it's just the failure of everybody involved. And we've seen it. 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.880 I've seen it six years ago. We're sounding the alarm, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.520 we're trying to fix it, but we're being fought against relentlessly. 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:45.440 One of my opponents comes from San Diego Unified, and 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:48.880 he claims that his district, San Diego Unified, is the best, 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:51.440 and he even says best one of the best in 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:54.200 the nation. You're telling me your friends and colleagues and 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.320 circles have taken their kids out of, you know, places 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.960 like San Diego Unified. It's because they continue to gat 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.159 fight those people that you know and tell them it's 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.400 the best when we've seen the results. I mean, unfortunately, 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:07.920 these kids are coming out of the system and they 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:10.800 don't even know how to read. So again, I just 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.240 see it as a continuous downhill spiral unless we get 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.640 involved and we get and we get people in there 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:19.080 that are willing to get their hands, you know, in 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.760 there and change these things and fight against the machine 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.600 that has been built to, you know, bring upon this 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:28.400 felure upon our kids. But unfortunately, not all kids have 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.120 that benefit as well as parents being able to pull 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.560 their kids out. I pulled my kids out six years 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:35.960 ago for a brief time until I went back in 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:39.480 high school. We changed our school board. But it's really hard. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:41.760 I mean, I'm still trying to wake up people in 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:44.159 our own community and tell them not to trust, and 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.880 also to tell them to have those dinner table conversations. 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:48.840 So we can't fix it with those people that are 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.320 willing to fix it. But again, I think people are 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.880 so busy that they don't even see exactly what's going 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.400 on in their children's education every day until it's too late. 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:00.600 Here's what I don't know understand. 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.200 And I understand that unions exist to get more money 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:06.719 for their members, better benefits for their members, and that's 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:09.520 why they're here, and that's what they care about. But 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:13.360 is there just no pride at all that exists in 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:17.760 those circles. Because if I were a union leader and 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:22.040 I understood that everyone in my district, every parent that 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:26.200 lives in my community of means opts out of the 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.160 system because the product is so bad and the only 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.480 population that is left are people who have no other options, 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:41.000 whether it be because of economic circumstances or whatever. I 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:44.400 would be embarrassed. I wouldn't want to show my face 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:47.520 in public. But they just don't seem to care at all. 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:50.280 They don't care because at the end of the day, 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.200 they're getting more money for failure. You see it, All 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.119 the districts that are failing kids continuously get more money. 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:58.920 It's in the legislation as well, I mean in the 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:01.040 funding models. We just Ian knew some you know, he's 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.200 even withholding some of our Prop ninety eight promised money. 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.400 But at the same token, you see that all these 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:10.240 grants are set up for districts that fail. They have 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.440 no incentive to actually push kids in the right direction 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.400 unless they're morally right, which we know look at the 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:21.440 results of California. That's not by means anywhere near where 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.480 we need to be here in California. I believe that 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:27.240 as long as they get the money, they don't care. 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:29.800 I mean, they're out loud and proud. They're taking kids 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:33.640 for goodness States, even our vulnerable population, even our special 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:35.800 needs kids, out to the picket lines to do dirty 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:39.800 work of adults. This is just by design. I don't 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.920 think that they care about the pride the results are there. 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:46.280 I mean, wouldn't you be embarrassed. Unfortunately, we are losing 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.199 a lot of great teachers, and we're also losing the 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.680 opportunity for a lot of great potential teachers to sign 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.200 up for this profession. And that's why you see the 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.679 teacher shortage, because there is people that don't want part 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:58.920 of it. My sixteen year old included grew you know, 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.400 she she was growing up, she always wanted to be 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:03.480 a teacher, and now she's like, mom, I don't want 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.600 to be anywhere near being a teacher. And it breaks 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.160 my heart because we would need people like her. But unfortunately, 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:11.920 they see what's going on in the classrooms. They see 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:15.000 the results of this generation that's growing up to hate America, 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.000 and they're being pushed by the activists. What I call 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.720 activists in the classroom. I don't call these educators. I 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.240 call them activists in the classroom. This is by design. 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:28.880 They're excited for this, and they again it deepening their pockets. 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.079 It seems like we've jumped the shark to the point 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:35.240 to where these districts are about the employees and the 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.839 kids don't matter, and the kids are an afterthought, and 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.680 the quality of education that they receive is something that's 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:45.360 not particularly relevant. It's just making sure that we have 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:47.680 the money to pay the salaries, that we have the 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.080 money for the benefits, we have the money for new contracts, 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.240 and as long as that happens, then everyone's happy and 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:58.160 we're fine. But the districts are about the employees and 0:09:58.280 --> 0:09:58.960 not the kids. 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:00.960 No. 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.800 I see that too, and you know it's top down, unfortunately, 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:09.080 and you see even with them wanting the pay the benefits, 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:11.480 the ones that tenure, the ones that are you know, 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.080 already cemented in there, they're getting this. But unfortunately, again 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:17.720 we're going to not being able to retain our great 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:21.439 newer teachers because they're being chopped off. We see districts 0:10:21.520 --> 0:10:25.160 all over California laying people off. I mean we see 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.280 the sheets going through right now all the districts when 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.680 they're doing their budgets for this next coming school year. 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.199 It's absolutely horrifying. So at the end of the day, 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:35.520 they're getting paid more, but how many teachers are they 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:38.680 being able to retain? Not very many. I mean I saw, 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.000 you know, LA Unified on the picket lines, one of 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.520 the teachers saying he has forty two kids in the class. Well, 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:46.600 they just gave a huge raise with you know, not 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.560 living within their means, and guess what they're doing. They're 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:54.080 laying off teachers. So you're creating that problem by continuously 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.719 just feeding into the cycles. So you have those that 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:58.959 are getting their pay, but you also have those that 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.160 are being chopped off that are needed in the classroom, 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.840 and the money, unfortunately, isn't going into the classroom. You 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.920 have very little districts, you know, including ours, gratefully they're 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:11.439 trying to do with what we have. But then again 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:13.840 you have the bigger districts, you know, sucking it all 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.800 up and asking for more money and then getting us 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.880 the results that they do, requiring classes that have nothing 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.640 to do with reading, writing, a math, and pathways to 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.920 success as well. And that's where you know, we have 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.360 people that are gratefully waking up. But I think it's 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:32.320 almost at the point where we need a mass majority 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:34.640 to wake up and stop voting in the same things. 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.920 I mean, the union they put in what four point 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.080 one million dollars in counting already into the selection. They 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.720 want to buy every seat our school board seats are 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.240 bought to by the unions, hundreds and thousands per seat. 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.120 Parents need to wake up and demand that they get 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.840 this voice at the table. Otherwise they're really just handing 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:54.320 their kids over to a system that's created to fail them. 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:56.800 I'll tell you what it reminds me of. 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:00.160 It reminds me of the bullet train, because people say, oh, okay, 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.920 the bullet train's a boondoggle, it's a failure because there 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:07.120 is no train, and Newsome and his press team snap 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.120 at anyone who says that. They go, oh no, it's 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.640 wildly successful. Look at all the people we've hired, look 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:15.680 at all the jobs that we've created, and it's like, okay, 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.760 but no one can use it because it doesn't exist, 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:21.640 but from their point of view, it's just about the 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.680 employees and just about making sure that people get paid, 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:28.000 and whether or not the public can use it is 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:29.960 just not something that's relevant. 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:31.480 And that's how I see this. 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.320 And part of the problem too, to go back to 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.120 what we were talking about before, when people pull their 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.600 kids out of the public schools and they put them 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:43.880 in the private schools, the attitude is, Okay, this is 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.640 such a dumpster fire. I don't have the time or 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.120 the effort to be able to fix it. So I'm 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.760 going to vote with my feet and I'm going to 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:56.360 put my kids in a school that's actually functioning. The 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.480 problem is they still have access to your tax dollars, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.360 so they can keep failing and failing and failing. But 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:06.240 guess what, as long as they control the school boards 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.360 and as long as they control the legislature and the governor, 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.240 they're going to continue to be funded, whether or not 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.160 they spend their districts in the insolvency. I mean, take 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:20.280 Oakland Unified for example. I don't see how that district 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.240 stays out of bankruptcy because they're a district that it 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:28.160 has a declining enrollment. They have schools that probably should 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.560 be shut down because there's nobody there, and they keep 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.960 giving the teachers massive raises when there's no reason to 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.640 justify that, and they don't have the money, they don't 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.800 have the tax base, they don't have the financial support 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.680 to fulfill their obligations with these contracts, and it seems 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:50.120 like the attitude of the district and of the teachers 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:52.600 is who cares, The state will bail us out. 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:55.280 And if that's the attitude that they. 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:58.079 Have, there's no physical responsibility anywhere. 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:01.400 No, you're right, and the state has been bailing them 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:03.760 out because you'll see all these you know, fancy little 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.880 nice grants that they package up. They make them take 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:10.080 it because they need the money and that's how they 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.440 survive until the next grant comes along. Or you know, 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.040 they're passing bonds for things that they should have the 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.640 school boards of passing bonds on the onto the taxpayers 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:22.000 again asking for more money when we had enough money. 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.400 I mean, every single one of my opponents I've been 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.640 in you know, conversations, debates, different kinds of you know 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:30.960 things that we've all been on the same stage, so 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.520 to say, as and they all say we need more money, 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.520 I am mortified. That we're asking for more money for this. 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.000 We have enough money. It just needs to be stopped. 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:40.440 You know, we need to stop giving it to the 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:44.240 wrong people and also stop you know, putting it into 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:48.480 the failure continuously. You know. Again, well, I'll say that, 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:51.840 you know, districts like ours, we we utilize the money 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:54.360 that we get the right way, and we're trying to 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.200 do the best, including fighting against when the union fights 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.920 us on frivolous lawsuits for things that we were voted 0:14:59.920 --> 0:15:03.000 in and for like parents' rights, and making sure ideology 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:07.280 is taken out of the classroom. But I mean, unless 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.760 we unless we start which I am grateful that we 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.760 have a movement going, start getting people to raise up 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:15.840 and pay attention to these school board seats and the 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.720 state superintendent seat. Look, the last sixteen months, I've done 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.760 a lot of educating across California to show the importance 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:27.800 of these quote unquote nonpartisan seats. But also in those 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:30.280 rooms that I've been grateful to be in, I've gotten 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:32.000 people to say they're going to run for school board. 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.680 We need that, We need people in their own communities 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.320 to be the voice. It's going to take time. This 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:41.320 didn't happen overnight. Again, I wasn't involved in politics until 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.320 it got slammed in my face and I saw what 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.360 was happening to our kids, you know, when the schools 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.240 were shut down. But I think there's enough right now 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:50.480 where we can get people involved. We just have to, 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.360 you know, not turn a blind eye to all these things. 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.040 But you talked about private schools. Let's talk about one 0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:59.640 issue that is happening even in the private schools. First 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.640 of all, though kids are growing up in the same 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:05.320 communities and you know, prayfully it's staying in California if 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.360 we can fix and make the changes that are needed 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.800 to keep these kids here and they end up having families. 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.480 But how about sports. The private schools are having to 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:19.520 compete against the regular you know, school districts, and guess 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.720 what we're doing. We're putting boys against those kids. So 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.560 it is speeling over and people do need to realize 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.520 although you might think that your kid is safe for 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.400 a little bit of time, there's California laws that your 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:33.760 kids are still going to have to face. And when 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:35.640 they become eighteen and you know, they get a job 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:38.280 and have to pay, there's still the consequences of what's 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:41.040 happening if we don't start paying attention to what's happening 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.600 into the public school system. I truly believe if we 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:45.960 go back to the root of it, they want to 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.400 control this generation and able to control it, you have 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.400 to poison the minds of this generation, and that's what 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:55.000 they're doing. They're making social activists instead of responsible adults. 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.880 But you do see people fighting. I haven't given up. 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:00.880 I'm not giving up. I know many people that aren't 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:02.880 giving up. But we do need people to start paying 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:05.080 attention and at least doing their a little bit apart. 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.400 You mentioned that you were socialized into the world of politics. 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.480 Based on the COVID nineteen shutdown of the schools, it 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.720 seems to me that the state of California has not 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.119 had the honest conversation that they need to have about 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.720 what a massive mistake that was and what do we 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:24.600 do to make sure that never happens again. 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:26.399 Yeah. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:28.840 Well, one thing we can do is vote differently. We 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.440 can't keep voting in the same people. Look the state 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.080 superintendent seat right now, they're trying to take the complete 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.480 authority away, and they have the means to take it away. 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.960 They have the ability, they have the super majority of 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:43.480 legislators that will follow along and they'll probably pass this bill. 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:46.320 But we don't need just someone in their short term 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.760 to promise all these things. You need a fighter exposing 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.320 these things so we have another awakening of parents to 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:53.840 realize their kids are in harm's way. That's what I 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:56.480 plan to do, to be honest, And with that we 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.399 can start exposing the legislators that are making the laws, 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.000 you know, that are preventing districts like ours from doing 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.800 what's right for kids. Then you'll have a state you 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.760 know voice saying hey, this is what your current legislator, 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.840 your assembly person, how about your assembly person's the burgh 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:14.840 who called parents and refer to them as Nazis because 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.119 they're protecting their daughters from wanting boys in their girls' sports. 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.280 And you know, locker rooms. How many parents know that? 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:22.840 How many parents even know boys and girls are allowed 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.600 to each other's locker rooms here in California? I can 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:29.120 guarantee you, I would say more than half don't even 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.359 know that's a law. But I really think again, you 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.360 need somebody in the communities that's loud enough and more 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.639 aggressive enough not to back down when they're threatening lawsuits. 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:41.879 I mean we've been through the lawsuits to say no, 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:43.359 we're not going to do this. We're not going to 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:47.159 harm kids. And we need a full team to start 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.119 focusing and showing these communities that they've been lied to 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:52.800 and you cannot believe these lies because look at what's 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:57.760 happening to your kids, right I honestly see hope, But 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.880 I also see that we can ease just hand it over. 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.440 If we retreat, we're in a position where people just 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:05.920 get comfortable. I don't think right now is the time 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:08.960 to get comfortable. And you know, if we don't start 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:10.960 working down ballot and we don't start working on those 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:14.480 city council and school board seats, we're in deep water. 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.320 I mean, these people know, and they've they've designed this 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.480 to put people in those you know, special interest groups 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:25.119 put people into these seats for reasons. Look at our communities. 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:28.040 I come from Chino, which used to be a dairy 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.399 cow farm land type of area. They're all gone, and 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.119 now we have a community. I mean, although I love Chino, 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.159 we want to save what's left. They're building high rises 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:40.320 in this and that and the other in our small 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.440 little community. This is what they're doing. 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:48.159 I design candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. You 0:19:48.200 --> 0:19:52.000 can get her online at shop Orca dot com. Sonya Shaw, 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:53.240 thanks so much for stopping by. 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:54.879 No thank you. 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.879 Eight hundred two two two five two two two is 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.440 cellphone number one eight hundred two two two five two 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:05.080 two tube. If you'd like to email the show, you 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:08.280 can do so. Johnny don't like show at gmail dot com. 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:12.400 That's Johnny don't like show at gmail dot com. 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:13.359 And Randy. 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.240 Now that we've passed the halfway point of today's show, 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:18.720 if you want to continue listening after we sign off 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:20.320 at three, that's easy to do. 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:23.360 All you gotta do is search for the John Phillips 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:26.439 Show wherever you get your podcasts, and that could be 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.320 the Apple Podcasts app. About a third of our listeners 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:32.400 use that. That's what I use for podcasts. About another 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:37.280 third use iHeartRadio. Some people use Spotify. A lot of 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.359 people are starting to use YouTube because YouTube is like 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.440 the place for podcasts. I watch most of my podcasts 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:44.320 on YouTube, So. 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:46.160