Jose Moreno
Ms. Jeanette Saldivar is a parent activist from Benito Juarez Elementary School in the Anaheim City School District. She, along with a number of other Juarez parents (whom one local liberal elitist blogger denigrated as a “pitchfork-wielding mob“) has been vocal in protesting the shabby treatment of former Juarez Principal Roberto Baeza. According to numerous sources, Baeza has been a special target of ACSD Board Trustee Jose Moreno, who is now trying to move up to Anaheim City Council.
This evening, Ms. Saldivar e-mailed out this polemic entitled “Open Letter to Dr, Jose Moreno:”
To Whom It May Concern:
I am Jeanette Saldivar, one of the Juarez parents who has expressed her displeasure with how Dr. Jose Moreno, President of the Anaheim City School District Governing Board, and Dr. Linda Wagner, district superintendent, who removed Dr. Roberto Baeza from Juarez Elementary to transfer him to Palm Lane where they both said he was needed because he was the best principal in the Anaheim City School District. Not six months into his principalship at Palm Lane, where parents comment on the huge changes they noticed from day one in how things were run, he was removed for reasons no one knows. But we know he couldn’t have done something illegal or immoral because he was placed back in the classroom-with kids. Dr. Wagner has even said Dr. Baeza did nothing illegal or immoral. However, Dr. Moreno wants you to believe that there is a “little secret” that they can’t talk about because it is a personnel issue. This type of wording makes it seem like he did something that got him “fired.”
Dr. Moreno is a person who speaks in generalities and lies to make his points. On Friday, at the Los Amigos Education Committee, he lied yet again about Dr. Baeza. He said that he had received complaints that Baeza was against homework. First of all, this is a lie. Baeza always would tell us parents that homework was important in teaching responsibility, organization, and study skills. But what does it matter if Baeza was against or for homework? After all, there is a Board policy that establishes homework as a policy. So if Baeza was going against Board policy, what did Dr. Moreno do about it? Dr. Moreno either encouraged board policy to be violated or, he flat out lied about Dr. Baeza not giving homework. Which one is it, Dr. Moreno?
Dr. Moreno also stated during the Los Amigos education committee that he has tried to meet with and tried to help the Palm Lane parents. This is an extraordinary lie. Palm Lane parents have gone to the school board to plead for Dr. Baeza to return, but if that can’t happen, to please improve the quality of education, as Dr. Baeza had done first hand. Dr. Moreno had been a school board member for 8 years and not once did Dr. Moreno lift a finger for the Palm Lane parents. They always felt ignored and rejected when they spoke to Dr. Moreno during public comments, as he sat in his trustee chair, towering above us. Be honest Dr. Moreno. You abandoned Palm Lane elementary. You barely showed up for the first time in years on August 27th.
As the ACSD DELAC Vice-President, I am publicly demanding that Dr. Moreno stop lying. I do not want to have my kids’ school board trustee giving examples of how to lie. Our kids deserve better.
¡Ya basta, Moreno!
In conversations I’ve had with individuals familiar with this matter, the issue between the two men stemmed from different philosophies of what the dual-immersion program should be. Baeza philosophy was more academic, and rightly in my opinion. It’s school, after all. Moreno emphasis, on the other hand, was cultural: having the kids dancing on Dia de los Muertos, etc. One ACSD educator – Latino, bi-lingual, bi-cultural — characterized Moreno’s approach as “Mexicanizing” the students.
Regardless, the more I learn about the whole Baeza matter, the less and less the district’s official stories about his transfers add up.
It appears that Jose Moreno is having trouble convincing Latina’s to vote for him.
You didn’t blog anything about Palm Lane when it happened, only when Moreno pulled papers to run. Hallmark of an opportunist! And is Moreno polling well or something? You seem to blog about him every other day, lol!
“You didn’t blog anything about Palm Lane when it happened…”
That’s simply untrue, Gabriel – which it would have been easy for you to figure out if you had bothered.
Do others need to ask your permission on what and when they may or may not blog, so as not to be attacked as an “opportunist”?
Palm Lane first showed up in this blog in late August when Gloria Romero did her thing and after Moreno did his thing at the City Clerk’s office. So…I’m right. When Baeza was demoted and parents protested, this blog was silent. And that’s a good thing, anyway! Why should they have their cause sullied by it?
I see. You’re referring not to Baeza being transferred to Palm Lane, but being demoted from principal of Palm Lane.No, I didn’t post anything. I’m not sure why, but it was not for the fantasy reasons in your head.
Are you the only one who is allowed to write about this issue, Gabriel? Should we perhaps touch on issues that you don’t report on, and speculate darkly on why that is? I could always emulate your example and just make it up. To mention just one, you’ve reported nothing on arguably the most consequential political story in Anaheim, the vigorous, orchestrated effort by labor and progressive groups (mostly funded by outside money) to re-structure how the city council is elected. You’ve been mute. Why is that?
Oh, and have you appeared again on any media outlets funded by the Venezuelan and Cuban governments?
Matt has been posting on this for over a year and it’s shocking OCWeekly and OCR continue to ignore the actions of Moreno to suppress parents and to sue the city over districts and do nothing to implement them as president of the school board at ACSD. it takes a lot of courage for these parents to stand up for their kids. Its appalling that the people who claim to champion Latino rights and services for our lowest income students stay silent. Dr. Moreno is the one who is self serving and an opportunist.
Oh, please. We broke the Moreno story before anyone else—Matt played follow-up. You can look it up!
And we can file that cry for attention under “So what?” No one has claimed the Weekly didn’t break that story.
Gustavo —
I went to Google and typed in Baeza+Anaheimblog and Baeza+OCWeekly and it appears Matt beat the Weekly to the punch on this story.
Matt’s story appears May 7, 2013: https://anaheimobserver.com/2013/05/07/why-is-benito-juarez-elementary-school-principal-being-transferred-against-parents-wishes/
GSR has a May 9, 2013 story — http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2013/05/benito_juarez_anaheim.php
and another one on May 10, 2013 — http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2013/05/benito_juarez_anaheim.php
I looked it up, as you suggested/ I don’t see any evidence that OC Weekly reported the story first. Do you have a story that pre-dates Matt’s May 7th story?
Matt’s story was no story, just a re-post of a long comment left on this blog on an unrelated post.
Good old Jeanette, my old “bilingual truthteller” friend. It’s like old home week. You got a taste of politics now and you like it! Good thing you have Matt here to get you a few more readers. I will try to find out the answers to your Baeza questions. And then things will go predictably…
Another blowhard who didn’t do any actual reporting either times!
Is acting like an adolescent a requirement of working at the Weekly?
Matt: No, it’s telling the truth.
Thanks for that, Gustavo: I like starting my day with a good laugh!
Telling the truth?! Hahaha. Are you doing standup comedy now Gustavo? Admit this truth then. Under your leadership, the Weekly has gone from bad to worse. If any of you, Moxley included, was worth a damn, you’d be somewhere else now.
Do you do any actual reporting? Or is it always opinion reported as fact
When are you going to report that Donna asked for the DPOC endorsement but didn’t get it?
Vern: The only thing you’re good at is [nasty remarks edited].
Gloria Romero, Roberto Baeza, Jeanette Saldivar, like to create faux-controversies to keep a pretty good reformer off the Anaheim council.
Matt likes to amplify those controversies. I attempt to question them. But these payasos from the Weekly, Gustavo and Gabriel, they don’t know WHAT they’re doing, except trying to look cooler than everyone else.
(I wonder how much of this will get through the filters here, I can picture it not ending up making much sense.)
The Juarez and Palm Lane incidents happened well before Moreno decided to throw his hat in the ring as council candidate. The only opportunist you can claim to have grandstanded after the fact is Romero.
Your comment is missing a key ingredient: a point.
Vern Nelson attacks the parent who stands up for kids – that is just sick!