Day Care Hearing Ends in Protest
About 60 teachers and parents walked out angrily Wednesday after an hourlong public hearing on the Orange County Board of Education’s plan to close 13 child development centers by Dec. 15.
“We’re tired of the rhetoric,” said Mike Perez, a teacher who helped organize the protest. “They’ve been giving us the same rhetoric for two months and are ignoring our concerns. We recognized it from day one, and not a word has changed.”
The walkout began abruptly as board president Sheila Meyers made closing remarks. “We will do everything that we possibly can to make any transition easy for you . . .,” Meyers began.
“I’m out of here!” Perez shouted as he and the others stormed from the room. They marched peacefully for another hour in the parking lot of the county education department’s Costa Mesa headquarters.
Earlier during a hearing called by the board in response to teachers’ and parents’ concerns about the closures, about 30 speakers had argued, some passionately, against the plan.
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