Dear community member,
Executive orders issued this week are adding to the sense of confusion and uncertainty in the school community, and I want to take this opportunity to share my thoughts.
First and foremost, I am dismayed to see these orders issued in the first place. They are diametrically opposed to the mission of our districts and schools to create spaces of learning, safety, and belonging for all students within our community.
Fortunately, we live in a nation of checks and balances. The president is not, in fact, able to unilaterally override the laws of our land with the stroke of a pen. As the California Department of Education emphasized in a statement, federal law prohibits the White House from dictating school curricula by threatening to withhold funds. The Santa Cruz COE fully shares this position, even as we recognize we are in a moment in which these kinds of legal guardrails do not feel as reassuring as they once did (though we can perhaps take a measure of encouragement from seeing the broad federal funding freeze promptly reversed). Likewise, California law is unaffected by these federal policy changes — and continues to provide clear protections against discrimination and harassment based on gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or immigration status.
None of us can predict the future, and we will continue to carefully assess these actions and any potential impacts they may have. Regardless, the Santa Cruz COE, school districts, and our partners will continue to do what we always have done: Support a learner-centered, equitable, and innovative school system that welcomes every student and family in Santa Cruz County.
Yours in education and equity,
Dr. Faris Sabbah
County Superintendent of Schools