In its daily news roundup on October 21st, the California School Boards Association (CSBA) of all places shared the story regarding CFER’s recent victory in prompting the removal of a race-based scholarship at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The message was sent to all school board members in California. I hope that announcing the case to the large community of school board trustees serves as a wakeup call to all of them to strictly observe the law and safeguard equal protection. You can help drive this important point home by reminding your local school board of our win during the public-comments session at upcoming meetings!

It is crucial that we share our wins with school board members, some of whom may not understand important issues, such as differences between equal opportunity and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). It's equally important to consistently support those brave school board members who take bold actions to protect students and advance educational excellence.

On October 14th, the Palomar College Governing Board voted 3-2 to delete Board Policy 3000 – an antiracism and equity policy adopted by the previous board in 2021. Although the local teachers’ union and other progressive establishment interests organized a fierce campaign of faculty members, administrators and students giving public comments against the decision, the board, with a slight conservative majority unbeholden to the establishment values, withheld the pressure and pushed through.

CFER president and Palomar local resident Frank Xu had been attending Palomar’s board meetings. On the night when BP 3000 was voted out, Frank was the lone voice in support. The local newspaper noted:

"Only one audience member, former Governing Board candidate Frank Xu, applauded the decision, while others left the room chanting 'vote them out.' 'I hope the board will vote to remove that board policy. And in the meantime, keep fighting discrimination inside the campus and make sure every student and every faculty got the same equal treatment, equal opportunity without regard of their race or ethnicity or skin color,' Xu said."

Participating at these board meetings, often marked by organized hostilities from union activists and ideologues, is a test of wills. We have been called names. We have been shouted down. We have been condemned. So have Palomar’s three conservative trustees. Courageous and resolved, the trustees delivered on their promise to the entire community to do away with counterproductive, discriminatory indoctrination. A good win indeed!

On a related note, CFER team has received a threatening cease and desist letter just because we have advocated for equal justices with success recently. While the allegations in the letter are baseless and the demands are unreasonable, I believe such a reaction only demonstrates the effectiveness of our work.

We want to use these developments as a strong encouragement to you. With persistence, strategy and proactive advocacy, we can score for equality even in the most unlikely place like California. We also must stand strong in the face of pushbacks and smears.

You can also check out more progress CFER has achieved this year by reviewing our annual report here.

The dust has not settled. We still have a nation and our future generations to save, and we can do it one community, one school district, one legal case at a time. If you are encouraged and reassured, may we humbly ask you for a kind donation to CFER to help us carry on?

Thank you sincerely!