Cast of Clowns, Including Former Santa Ana Unified Head Al Mijares/SOCCCD Chancellor Raghu Mathur, Apply for OC Department of Ed. Head Role


Earlier this month, Superintendent of Schools at Orange County Department of Education Bill Habermehl resigned after a decade of doing shit other than promoting the Republican view of history by brainwashing kiddies. His departure from the elected position means the Orange County Board of Education must now appoint someone to fill the role, which means a cast of clowns will inevitably put forth their resume, cover letter, and letters of recommendation.

But never in a million years did I expect two disgraced former education officials in Orange County–Al Mijares, former superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD), and Raghu Mathur, former chancellor of the South Orange County Community College District (SOCCCD)–to apply for the job. And they have a cast of morons writing letters of recommendation for them, according to documents obtained by the Weekly.
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For all your Mathur news, visit the eminently quotable Dissent the Blog, which exposed Mathur for decades, back in the days before blogs. Mathur's cover letter states, in part, that he

strongly believe[s] that every student is a beautiful and important human being and he/she deserves the  opportunity and needed encouragement and support to succeed in his/her education and chosen  career, vision and goals. l would work most diligently to ensure that all students, including boys and  girls as well as students of different interests, abilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious and  ethnic diversities succeed to their optimum potential.

All the spacing and grammatical errors are his–tee-hee! Mathur also includes letters of recommendation from people who should know better–UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake–and Mathur's usual hacks: SOCCD trustee Dave Lang and former Irvine Unified School District head Patricia Clark White.

But as freaky as Mathur is, the possibility that Mijares might get the job is far scarier. Mijares presided over a school district that crumbled under his watch, not because of all the Mexi students but because Mijares was more intent in establishing a Christian theocracy than caring about education. He infamously organized Bible-study meetings during school hours, a group teachers alleged one had to join to win promotions in Santa Ana Unified.

Mijares doesn't mention this in his resumé, nor that he's part of Calvary Chapel and takes life lessons from Chuck Smith–grounds enough for any employer to stay the hell away from him. Unfortunately for OC kiddies, that type of resumé–plus the fact that he's Mexican–ensures Mijares will get the position. The Republican establishment is already lining up for him–one of the letters of recommendation comes from Marian Bergeson, the Newport Beach politician who served as county supervisor, state assemblywoman and senator, and California Secretary of Education during her career.

The other applicant for the OC Department of Education position is Huntington Beach City School District superintendent Gregory Haulk, who's been on his job for only nine months. Anyone know anything about him?

Sources tell the Weekly that these are the only applications the board are considering, meaning that parents now more than ever should pull their kids from OC public schools.

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