Over the years, conservative and “old Guard” Democrats have blamed the lack of Latino elected officials in Anaheim on the fact that progressives in the Latino community have not stepped up to run for office. Unfortunately that is not the case. Many have run and have been met with little enthusiasm or support from the very people who should be helping their run. They have often turned to moving Democrats in or even supporting the Republican. Well this year, many Democrats have stepped forward to run for the various City Council and school boards seats in Anaheim, many of them Latino. But some of our readers have suggested that you wouldn’t know it reading this blog recently. We heard the concern and that is now about to change.
This is the first part in a series spotlighting the various Democrats running for office in Anaheim, with an emphasis on the Latino candidates. We begin with Anaheim City School District candidate Ryan Anthony Ruelas. This year, the ACSD has three open seats and only one incumbent running for re-election. There are six candidates seeking three seats.
Ryan Anthony Ruelas is a lifelong Anaheim resident. He was born and raised in this community, attending Benito Juarez Elementary School, South Junior High School and Katella High School. In 1999 he left Anaheim briefly after getting accepted into UC Santa Cruz, where he majored in Political Science. During that time he helped get Mike Honda elected to Congress in 2000, helping flip the district from red to blue. After college, he returned to his hometown and began a teaching credential and Masters program at Cal State Fullerton.
After earning the credential and masters degree, Ryan was hired by the school district where he was educated and has taught at Anaheim High School ever since. Ryan currently teaches United States History, World History, Advanced Placement European History and Psychology. In the 2011-2012 school year, Ryan was awarded Teacher of the Year for the entire AUHSD district and was a semi-finalist for Orange County’s Teacher of the Year. It was also recently announced that Ryan will be the Apple of Gold honoree for Excellence in Teaching for Orange County’s Hispanic Education Endowment Fund.
Ryan Ruelas truly has an inspirational story and he has used that story to help reach out to students at Anaheim High School, which is located in one of the most working class areas of Orange County. Ryan Ruelas is also the founder and advisor of Anaheim BROS, a student run organization that focuses on increasing the amount of Chicano/Latino male students at the university level. With his involvement with BROS, Ryan has worked with hundreds of young men, educating them about the importance of taking rigorous courses to prepare them for college. They are also involved in community oriented projects such as Senator Lou Correa’s “paint your heart out.” Ryan Ruelas has been endorsed by many progressive organization and elected officials including Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, current ACSD Trustee Dr. Jose Moreno, the Democratic Party of Orange County, Democratic Foundation of Orange County and the Orange County Labor Federation.
Clearly Ryan is a solid progressive who deserves support and he reflects the changing demographic in Anaheim. We had some questions for Ryan and here is what he has to say:
- What inspired you to run for the Anaheim City School District?
I am running for Trustee to the Anaheim City School District because I have the experience and leadership qualities to ensure communication and collaboration takes place between schools in the Anaheim City School District and schools in the Anaheim Union High School District they feed into. By working together, teachers can ensure the success of the children that we serve and I believe, as a teacher and California Teachers Association State Delegate, I can be that bridge the links these two districts together. Furthermore, I am a product of the Anaheim City School District, the Anaheim Union High School District, and have taught at Anaheim High School for the last 11 years. I have lived in Anaheim my whole life and am from the community the students in ACSD are also from; I know the community well and want nothing more than to be an advocate for students and to ensure they receive a top-notch education that is meaningful and relevant to the day and age we live in.
- What are your top priorities if you are elected?
If elected, the most important issues I intend to address include the following:
- Teacher created and driven professional development that addresses Common Core and project-based learning. As we continue this transition to Common Core, we need professional development that is relevant to the student population that it serves. Teachers know what skills are lacking and what skills need to be further developed; teachers are the ones who work with these students on a regular basis. As a result, professional development should not be top-down, dictated by the District Office who hires an outside agency to come into the school district and “magically” make everything all better. This is a waste of money, resources, and insulting to the very foundation of public education, teachers. Teachers need to be given the opportunity to collaborate with one another, create a plan, and talk with the high school district students will eventually feed into, in order to create a learning environment that is relevant to the needs of the community and well thought out.
- Increase parental support. Often times, the parents of our students do not understand the rights they have in their child’s education. They do not understand the importance of events like Back to School Night, Open House, parent conferences, etc. nor do they understand what goes on in the classroom. It is true that a large portion of this stems from different upbringings in a different country. Parents need to be welcomed into the school setting; they need to be well informed about what is going on in their child’s education on a regular basis, in the language that they speak. Classroom walkthroughs should take place, where parents are given an opportunity to see what happens on a day-to-day basis in their child’s classroom; this will also allow them to see the various opportunities they have to volunteer and play a more active role in their child’s education. Parenting classes should be established, where parents learn about the importance of college, A-G classes, and the various programs their child can be a part of to ensure their success in school. We need to create a college going culture at the elementary school level, with parents playing a significant role in this learning environment.
- Continue to implement and expand Dual Immersion education. In today’s day and age, it is extremely important that a child is bilingual, especially here in the state of California. But being bilingual is not enough; students should be able to have a mastery of two languages, both English and language of second choice, and be able to speak and write these languages formally, with appropriate academic vocabulary and grammar. Too often is the case that an individual can speak both English and Spanish but can only speak the latter language in an informal manner. This situation needs to be remedied and by continuing to implement Dual Immersion education, this will definitely be the case. By allowing students to have a mastery of two languages, in both the formal and academic context, will allow students to have greater opportunities in the future. This situation will also allow students to explore other cultures and traditions other than the one they are exposed to on a daily basis more regularly, since they now have mastery of the language to help them with this exploration. Dual Immersion education allows students to not be limited in their scope of the world, hindered by only speaking one language, and instead provides them with the necessary skills to be more global citizens. Furthermore, by having mastery of a second language will also help bridge any divisions in society that exist due to language barriers, thus providing for a more promising future.
- What do you feel is the best way to use LCAP money to improve district schools?
The best way to use LCAP money to improve district schools depends on the school and the student population that it serves. That is what is so great about LCFF and the LCAP; it provides the various stakeholders from those respected schools, i.e. parents, teachers, classified staff, administrators, etc. flexibility to allocate money to specific areas of their respected schools they feel needs improving. It is not a “one size fits all” model that every school in the district must follow but allows the stakeholders some degree of autonomy when making decisions about the best way to spend their money to fit their needs.
- Do you support the expansion of dual immersion education? If Yes, how would you implement the expansion?
Yes, I absolutely support the expansion of dual immersion education. And if elected, this will be one of my top priorities, to see the expansion of this program. However, in order to implement a successful expansion, careful planning must occur and it must be a gradual expansion and not all at once. This will ensure teachers are properly trained and credentialed, with the proper instructional materials written in that second language for their students. Furthermore, when creating the plan, we must be mindful of the teachers that are already at the school sites where dual immersion education would take place and make sure everyone knows about this program, what educators we would like to participate in this program, with the teachers themselves taking an active role in creating the appropriate pathway of study for these students. Once a plan is created at the elementary school about dual immersion education and the appropriate education pathway is established, we need to meet with the junior high schools and high schools in the Anaheim Union High School District students in this program will eventually attend, to ensure that these schools are equipped with the appropriately credentialed teachers, with a well thought out pathway of study for these students, with the appropriate teaching materials in that language. But it is important to note that under no circumstances, should an educator be pushed out of their respected schools and/or subject area because they are not fluent in a second language and cannot meet the needs of the students in the dual language program. Instead, I see this as a perfect opportunity to either hire additional teachers for that school to meet the needs of these students and program and/or to transfer someone else teaching in ACSD who wants to participate in this program to the school that has dual immersion education. As a result, this situation will lower class sizes and be more beneficial for students in the dual language program, since they will be taught by an educator with the appropriate credentials; other students at that grade level, since they will be in smaller class sizes and will be able to receive the necessary attention they deserve to ensure mastery of the material is taking place; and for educators and future educators, who will be able to work with classes that are smaller in size and more manageable, providing an environment that will maximize the learning that takes place.
- What are the biggest challenges currently facing the school district and how will you seek to solve them?
Parental involvement is essential in a child’s education and schools have so many different opportunities I do not think parents are aware of which need to be made more public. Parents can always be involved in their child’s education by becoming a part of PTSA, by joining School Site Council, by participating in the LCAP, by volunteering at the school their child attends, etc. This is in addition to meeting with teachers at parent conferences, Back-to-School Night, Open House, or whenever they feel necessary. However, in order to ensure parents are aware of the different ways they can become involved in their child’s education, school sites need to make sure their campus is inviting, materials are also printed in the primary language of the parents that they serve, and that parents are aware of these various opportunities they have to take on a more active role in their child’s education. Communication is key to ensuring students are in the best learning environment possible, not collecting signatures to enact a law, which places the livelihood of public schools into question if 50% of the parents at that school signs a petition. This type of power is one that is not healthy for promoting effective two-way communication between schools and parents, and instead places these two parties at odds with one another. Remember, it takes a village to raise a child; this will only happen with more parental involvement and effective communication amongst all involved in a child’s education.