REPRINT
From The Fullerton Observer
by Saskia Kennedy

November 12, 2022
10/27/2022: UPDATED WITH CANDIDATE RESPONSE.
11/11/2022: UPDATED WITH REQUEST FOR CORRECTIONS BY HILLSDALE COLLEGE IN MICHIGAN AND SASKIA KENNEDY’S RESPONSE AT END OF ARTICLE.
“Education is the key to personal development and the future of societies. It unlocks opportunities and narrows inequalities. It is the bedrock of informed, tolerant societies, and a primary driver of sustainable development,”
–UN Secretary General António Guterres, August of 2020
According to their own websites, Fullerton Joint Union High School District candidate Matt Van Hook and Fullerton School District candidate Lisa Wozab are endorsed by Mari Barke. Both candidates made statements saying, “Mari Barke, OC Department of Education Trustee, has endorsed my candidacy, ” but both neglected to add her major involvement with Classical Academy Charter Schools and the Charter School PAC.
When asked if Matt Van Hook was an advocate of Charter schools and specifically OC Classical Academy he stated that, “I am a strong advocate for parent choice in education. I proudly support the Orange County Board of Education’s charters for the Orange County Classical Academy (OCCA) as well as the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA). I fully support OCCA’s partnership with Hillsdale College—a national leader in providing outstanding civics curricula from the top scholars in the fields of American political thought. I am proud to be endorsed by Mari Barke who has twice served as president of the OC Board of Education and who has been a strong advocate for listening to parents and students.”
When asked if Lisa Wozab was an advocate of Charter schools and specifically OC Classical Academy she stated, “Thank you for the opportunity to respond and clarify my support of public education and the Fullerton School District where I, and my son, received an excellent education. I have no affiliation with any charter schools or their curricula, including OC Classical Academy. My children have not attended charter schools. For over 8 years I have been a committed volunteer for the Fullerton School District and as a Board of Directors Member of the Fullerton Education Foundation, raising funds for teacher grants and serving on PTA and a variety of Fullerton School District committees. As well as being endorsed by
incumbent Fullerton School District Governing Board Member for Trustee Area 4, Janny Meyer.”
Charter Schools PAC is a political group centered around Hillsdale, a small Christian college in Michigan whose mission is to replace public school education with charter schools that have a conservative agenda. The first of these charter schools in California is OC Classical Academy located in the city of Orange. That school, which opened in 2020, was co-founded by attorney Mark Bucher, CEO of California Policy Center, a rightwing think tank that aims to reduce union power and pensions, and former Los Alamitos Unified School Board member Jeff Barke who pushed creationism and climate denial.
According to a Feb 3rd article in the OC Register, Mari and Jeff Barke along with Congressional candidate Scott Baugh have plans to open a dozen more Classical Academy charters.
A step towards that goal took place on Feb. 2, 2022 when the OC Board of Education gave the go-ahead for OC Classical Academy charter schools using Hillsdale 1776 curriculum to locate county-wide based upon local district school board approvals. The vote was 3 to 1 with Tim Shaw, Lisa Sparks and Ken Williams voting yes and Beckie Gomez voting no. Due to her involvement, Mari Barke recused herself from the vote. Mari Barke along with candidates Tim Shaw and Lisa Sparks are running for re-election on the OC Board of Education and are each supported by contributions of $75K from Charter Schools PAC. (Williams 2020 campaign was funded by over $100,000 from Charter Schools PAC and $35,000 loan from
Bucher) (See https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/)
Barke won her first campaign for OC Board of Education in 2018 funded by Charter Public Schools and Bucher’s California Policy Center. After winning her seat, she became a director at CPC. Her husband, Jeff Barke, as well as being co-founder of OC Classical Charter, is a physician in Newport who attacked public health experts like Dr. Fauci, the CDC, and the Surgeon General on social media and news broadcasts. He, as one of “America’s Frontline Doctors” was denounced for spreading misinformation on Covid-19 and treatments. According to its 2020 tax exempt application the group is a project of the Free Speech (aka Common Sense) Foundation with fiscal sponsorship of the Tea Party Patriots Foundation.
Hillsdale college promotes its curricula which Trump’s 1776 Commission report is based on. Formed by executive order, the commission was announced in a speech on September 17, 2020 with Trump saying that “the lie of systemic racism was being taught in U.S. schools.” The commission’s stated mission was to increase national patriotism and end the teaching of a ”radicalized view of American history.” The American Historical Association saw the report differently characterizing it as “a form of government indoctrination of American students,” and “an apparent attempt to reject recent efforts to understand the multiple ways the institution of slavery shaped our nation’s history.”
Even though the Commission was disbanded when President Biden took office, it continues to insert its agenda across the nation including here in Orange County through the spread of Classical Academy Charter Schools from a base at Hillsdale College.
Larry Arnn, chair of the now defunct 1776 Commission, is president of Hillsdale College. He made statements about public education in July of 2022 that were condemned by his own faculty, students and alumni, including the following: “The teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country….You will see how education destroys generations of people….It’s devastating. It’s like the plague. We are going to try to demonstrate that you don’t have to be an expert to educate a child because basically anybody can do it.”
Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative provides the 1776 curriculum to charters and homeschools and assists in founding charter schools across the nation. Currently there are 22 member academies and 44 private charter schools using the curriculum nationwide. The curriculum gets its name from the idea that American history began in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. Classical schools also provide coursework in Latin, Greek, music, ancient literature, Singapore math, grammar, principles of moral character, civic virtue and patriotism with a focus on history and cultural
achievements of Western civilization.
Things they list to consider when thinking about opening a school in a district include:
“•How much funding is available per pupil?
•How much flexibility do charter schools have in hiring teachers and administrators? How much flexibility in paying them? •What are the state’s curriculum standards, and how will these influence the ability to select curriculum?”
Our local school board positions are non-partisan however, former California Republican Party Chair Shawn Steele is promoting “Parent Revolt,” a program created by Steele within the California Republican Party, focused on recruiting and supporting candidates to run for local education offices. It’s website claims that schools are failing because “Powerful interest groups decide everything: When schools are open. Whether they must be masked. What they should believe about race, sex, and politics.”
What powerful interests are they talking about? What is the Republican Party’s real purpose in creating “Parent Revolt”? Steele said on California Insider’s May 22, 2022 broadcast that “in order to overthrow the progressive agenda you’ve got to start someplace – get those local elections – get a thousand new school board members who will have great influence in their communities and out of that you’ll get new leadership…that can rule that territory forever… The first step after winning elections the new board members should fire the lawyers and superintendent who control the curriculum. “We can help you with replacements,” he said.
Who voters elect in the Nov. election will determine if the 1776 model of charter school is allowed to flourish with taxpayer funding in the public school districts of Orange County (though such schools could still locate as a private alternative). There are some wonderful charter schools, just pay attention to who is backing the candidates and what is being taught. After all, the young minds of today will be the leaders of tomorrow.
————–CORRECTION REQUESTED BY HILLSDALE AND AUTHOR’S RESPONSE—————
Hillsdale College Request for Corrections: Good morning. I write regarding the October 25 Fullerton Observer article “Why everyone should care about the school board candidates even if you don’t have children.” The piece contains numerous factual errors and misleading claims that inaccurately represent Hillsdale College and its work with charter schools. We respectfully request correction of the following.
Bill Zeiser | Associate Director of Media Relations & Communications
President’s Office | Hillsdale College
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
“Charter Schools PAC is a political group centered around Hillsdale, a small Christian college in Michigan….”
• This sentence should be removed.
• Hillsdale College is not affiliated in any way with Charter Schools PAC. To hear that it is “centered” around Hillsdale is a surprise, as Hillsdale was, before this article, unaware of its existence and work.
AUTHORS CORRECTION: Sorry for this error and thank you for the correction. Charter Schools PAC is not “centered” around Hillsdale, however the PAC does fund campaigns of candidates who support locating the Hillsdale 1776 Classical Charter School model in our area (such as Hillsdale member school OC Classical Academy Charter in Orange).
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
“…whose mission is to replace public school education with charter schools that have a conservative agenda.”
• This sentence should say something like: “When it comes to K-12 education, Hillsdale College’s mission is to help local founding groups establish charter schools that emphasize civic and liberal arts education in their local communities.”
• Replacing public schools is not Hillsdale College’s mission. If you insist on that narrative, it should be presented as conjecture, not fact, because it certainly is not fact.
AUTHOR’S CONJECTURE: As demonstrated by Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn’s own comments on public education and those of speakers and financial supporters of the college – replacing public schools does seem to be a goal. Under “Teaching for Virtue” section of the Hillsdale website, major donor and former Trump Administration Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, speaking at the college, clearly lays out the plan.
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
“Hillsdale College promotes its curricula based on Trump’s 1776 Commission report. Formed by executive order, the commission was announced in a speech on September 17, 2020 with Trump saying that ‘the lie of systemic racism was being taught in U.S. schools.’ The commission’s stated mission was to increase national patriotism and end the teaching of a ‘radicalized view of American history.’”
• “This sentence should be removed or seriously altered because it is factually untrue.
• No formal. Connection exists between the former president’s 1776 Commission or the 1776 Report and Hillsdale 1776 Curriculum. The foundation of the Hillside 1776 Curriculum long predates the 1776 Commission/Report and represents decades of forming and honing. Curricula Hillsdale College and its associated K-12 schools.”
AUTHOR’S CORRECTION: I apologize for the error that got the hierarchy reversed. Hillsdale’s 1776 Curriculum does pre-date Trump’s 1776 Commission which was based on Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative’s Hillsdale 1776 curricula. Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn was appointed by Trump as the director of the commission which was formed by executive order and announced in Trump’s September 17, 2020 speech where he said the following about public school education: “We must clear away the twisted web of lies taught in our schools and classrooms and teach our children the magnificent truth about our country…a radical movement is attempting to demolish this treasured and
precious inheritance…we can’t let that happen. Left wing mobs have torn down statues of our founders, desecrated our memorials, and carried out a campaign of violence and anarchy. Through the direct result of Left-wing indoctrination in our schools. Our children are instructed from propaganda tracks like those of Howard Zinn that try to make students ashamed of their own history . . . I am also pleased to announce that I will sign an executive order establishing a national commission to promote patriotic education . . . called the 1776 Commission … Our youth will be taught to love America with all of their heart and all of their soul, we will save this cherished inheritance for our children, their children and
every generation to come. This is a very important day.”
At a separate rally announcing the commission, Trump said, “To combat the toxic left-wing propaganda in our schools I am announcing a new pro-American lesson plan for students called 1776 Commission…What they are teaching them is a disgrace – we are ending it. We are taking school funds away from these crazy schools that are teaching horrible bad things. We will teach our children the truth about America – that we are the most exceptional nation on the face of the earth…”
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
“Even though the Commission was disbanded when President Biden took office, it continues to insert its agenda across the nation including here in Orange County through the spread of Classical Academy Charter Schools from a base at Hillsdale College.”
• This sentence should be removed or seriously altered because it is factually untrue. Again—it should be reiterated that there is no formal partnership between the work of Hillsdale College, its Office of K-12 Education, and the 1776 Commission.
AUTHOR’S CLARIFICATION: The agenda of Trump’s 1776 Commission, headed by Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, was to replace current public school history and civic curricula nationwide. The committee based its selected curriculum on Hillsdale’s 1776 curriculum which the college provides to member schools. Classical Academy Charter Schools as Hillsdale Member schools are currently seeking locations in the Orange County public school system. The first member school in California has already been located in the city of Orange.
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
“Larry Arnn, chair of the now defunct 1776 Commission, is president of Hillsdale College. He made statements about public education in July of 2022 that were condemned by his own faculty, students and alumni…”
• Dr. Arnn has since further supported and elaborated on his June comments in a several places, including “USA Today,” the “Tennessean,” and the “Washington Examiner.”
• He has stated: “I meant no disparagement of teachers. Anyone who reads my writings, or considers what I do for a living, would understand that I respect teachers and have long criticized what the education bureaucracy has done to the profession.”
AUTHOR’S CLARIFICATION: President of Hillsdale College and former chair of Trump’s 1776 Commission, Larry Arnn, in a speech at a private invitation-only event in June (see video leaked to Channel 5) speaking about public school teachers said, “The teachers are trained in the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country….You will see how education destroys generations of people….It’s devastating. It’s like the plague. We are going to try to demonstrate that you don’t have to be an expert to educate a child because basically anybody can do it.”
After being heavily criticized for his comments condemned by his own faculty, students and alumni and others, he later “clarified” them, saying he respected teachers and meant to criticize bureaucracy.
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
“Hillsdale College’s Barney Charter School Initiative provides the 1776 curriculum to charters and homeschools and assists in founding charter schools across the nation. Currently there are 22 member academies and 44 private charter schools using the curriculum nationwide.”
• Factually untrue on two fronts.
• This sentence should be revised to say: “Currently, there are 23 member schools and 48 curriculum schools using the curriculum nationwide.”
AUTHORS UPDATE: Thanks for the updated information on the increased number of schools. I wrote the 22/44 number of schools directly from the list provided on the Hillsdale website at time of print.
======================
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
“The curriculum gets its name from the idea that American history began in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence.”
• This sentence should be revised to say: “The curriculum gets its name from 1776, the year the United States declared independence from England.”
AUTHOR’S EDIT: Good edit – that is a better way of saying the same thing.
===================
HILLSDALE CORRECTION REQUEST:
• The 1619 Project claims that the United States was founded in 1619 when an English ship brought slaves to the Virginia, which was very decidedly an English colony at the time.
AUTHOR’S CLARIFICATION: Although the article in the Observer did not mention the New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project – it should be noted that authors of the 1619 project agree that the country was founded in 1776. Below is the description from the New York Times Magazine introduction to the series.
1619 PROJECT: “The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.”
Here is what Trump said about the Pulitzer-Prize winning 1619 Project in his Sept 2020 speech announcing the 1776 Commission:
“The Left has warped, distorted, and defiled the American story with deception, falsehoods and lies. There is no better example of this than the New York Times’ totally discredited 1619 project that teaches we were founded on oppression not freedom- nothing could be farther from the truth – America’s founding set in motion the unstoppable chain of events that abolished slavery, secured civil rights, defeated communism and fascism and built the most fair, equal, and prosperous nation in human history.”
Check out the original publication here.

Saskia Kennedy is the new editor of the Fullerton Observer, a 45-year-old volunteer community newspaper that her grandfather, Ralph Kennedy, started with a group of friends. She has also started a nonprofit to give high school to college students hands-on experience in journalism and podcasts called Observing Fullerton Inc.