Pair Hoping to Unseat Trustees, Shift Majority

Seeking to form a more conservative majority on the Orange County Board of Education, two candidates have joined forces to challenge two trustees who are seeking reelection June 2.

Irvine business lawyer Donald P. Wagner and Cypress music teacher Alexandria Coronado criticize the incumbents as old-timers who support social and federally funded programs that the challengers say have no place in schools.

But the incumbents, Elizabeth Parker of Costa Mesa and Sheila Meyers of Huntington Beach, say their challengers don’t know what they’re talking about.

Wagner and Coronado support “traditional” school programs that focus on the basics and English-only instruction. The challengers also oppose social and vocational projects, such as the federally funded school-to-work program that offers students hands-on job experience.

“I don’t like educational fads,” said Wagner, 37. “I object to the principle that school-to-work is changing our schools from educational to vocational training.”

Under the banner of maintaining local school control, Coronado, 30, who is challenging Meyers for the Area 2 seat, said accepting funds from the U.S. Department of Education is like succumbing to a “federal takeover.”

But Meyers, 63, who has been on the board for 14 years, said federal funds support many of the county’s educational programs, such as special education services and free and reduced lunches.

“Have they ever wondered where the money for schools comes from?” she said.

Wagner, who is seeking the Area 5 seat, criticized incumbent Parker for supporting abortion counseling in schools and for being “a tax-and-spend lap dog” whose board lost money in the bankruptcy.

Parker, 38, a 16-year veteran of the board now serving as its president, said state law requires the education department to abide by county investment decisions.

“We must invest in the county pool, and we are still investing in the county pool,” said Parker, president of a Costa Mesa software company. “My opponent obviously has not taken the time to learn the laws of the land.”

Wagner and Coronado have been endorsed by the conservative Education Alliance, a Garden Grove political action committee that has received funding from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and conservative Christian activist Howard F. Ahmanson III.

The five-member board governs the Orange County Department of Education, which provides services to 27 local school districts and runs special education programs and schools for at-risk students.