Latest / The Myth of Education Podcast / Ep. 18 | David Alvarado: 2026 Grassroots Candidate for Deer Valley USD

Transcript

Ep. 18 | David Alvarado: 2026 Grassroots Candidate for Deer Valley USD · The Myth of Education Podcast

0:00
Well,
0:00
what role do you think school districts should play in the
0:03
mental health of students
0:05
The governmental school system has become a one-stop shop
0:09
approach to education.
0:11
SPEAKER_00: And that has to stop.
0:13
It's up to the parent to make the calls to help the child
0:16
outside of the school.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: But to keep it as simple as possible,
0:20
bring your kids to the school system so that we can teach them
0:24
how to read and
0:25
SPEAKER_00: write.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: Those are the things that they're going to have to take into adulthood.
0:29
And if they don't know how to do that,
0:31
then you're setting them up for failure,
0:33
right?
0:48
SPEAKER_01: You're listening to the Myth of Education podcast,
0:50
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0:53
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SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: Before we get into the broadcast, we have a disclaimer.
1:19
All views and opinions expressed by hosts and guests are their
1:22
own and do not
1:23
SPEAKER_01: reflect the views of any public or private person or entity.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: All rights are reserved.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: Today, I'm excited because I have a special guest.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: I am joined by David Alvarado.
1:36
He's a candidate for the Deer Valley Unified School District
1:38
here in Arizona.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: Take a couple of moments, David, and tell us about yourself.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Well,
1:43
SPEAKER_00: first of all,
1:43
SPEAKER_00: thank you so much,
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Tiffany,
1:45
for the opportunity to come on your podcast and tell a little
1:50
bit about myself.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: I am a child of
1:56
SPEAKER_00: Grew up in a Mexican-American family.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: Went to public schools all my life.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: Learned English in the public schools.
2:06
I had awesome parents who did whatever they could with the
2:09
little resources they had.
2:11
They sacrificed everything they could to keep us in a safe kind
2:15
of environment growing up.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't say I grew up in the hood,
2:18
but I grew up where a lot of my friends ended up going into the
2:22
gang-related scene
2:24
SPEAKER_00: and
2:25
SPEAKER_00: I was blessed to not live on that side of the tracks.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: So as we aged into the high school grade levels,
2:33
my dad moved us out of that area so that we would stay away
2:36
from that trouble.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: I went to school on a partial baseball scholarship,
2:42
SPEAKER_00: academic scholarship,
2:44
SPEAKER_00: was able to graduate from college.
2:46
And that was the last thing on my bucket list to do was to
2:50
continue going to school.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: But I think it was an ordained situation.
2:55
My mother really was the spearhead behind that to find a way
3:01
for me to get some
3:02
money to go to school because they weren't able to afford to
3:05
send us to school.
3:07
As I'm finishing off my career,
3:10
I was playing baseball at the time in college.
3:13
I felt like I needed to get serious about my life and decided I
3:18
needed to let go of
3:19
SPEAKER_00: baseball and focus on my career.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: career, which at that time decided to become a teacher.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: And that was pretty much it.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: Nobody was telling me, you need to do this, you need to do that.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: I was trying to figure things out on my own.
3:33
All my other friends were becoming doctors,
3:35
lawyers,
3:36
and other professionals.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: I was called to become a teacher.
3:41
And little did I know that 40 years later,
3:43
I'm still in the profession,
3:46
still going strong,
3:47
SPEAKER_00: And so that's a little bit about me.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: I can keep going on and on, but that gives you a little idea of who I am.
3:54
SPEAKER_01: You grew up in public school,
3:56
SPEAKER_01: played sports,
3:57
SPEAKER_01: and then you became a small business owner and then became a teacher.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: And I was just scribbling on my notepad over here.
4:04
And what I wrote down that I felt connected you throughout your
4:08
life was that you
4:09
SPEAKER_01: had good parenting.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: It seemed like you had
4:12
SPEAKER_01: the guidance and the leadership in your home,
4:16
SPEAKER_01: because you had that guidance in your life,
4:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't know,
4:19
SPEAKER_01: you made the most of every opportunity.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter that you didn't become a doctor or a lawyer.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: Everybody can't be a doctor.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: Everybody can't be a lawyer.
4:27
SPEAKER_01: That's not God's plan for everybody.
4:30
SPEAKER_01: But when you look out over the landscape now of K-12 education,
4:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm obviously,
4:37
SPEAKER_01: I'm pro-parent in everything that I do,
4:40
SPEAKER_01: but I'm not one of those that thinks that parents are perfect.
4:43
SPEAKER_01: Kids can do no wrong, but I am going to be pro-parent.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: So when you look out over the landscape of K-12 education now,
4:50
SPEAKER_01: do you see that there is a lack of parenting with the way the culture is
4:55
SPEAKER_01: influencing the children?
4:56
SPEAKER_01: And it seems like parents are having a hard time redirecting,
5:00
SPEAKER_01: especially in the realm of morality.
5:01
how I was parented and how I parented my own children versus
5:05
what I see happening
5:06
SPEAKER_00: today are so different.
5:08
In our culture today,
5:09
I see parents that were raised in the everybody gets a trophy
5:17
kind of scenario now trying to impose that on their own child
5:21
and it's not working.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: It's actually confusing the child because children need structure.
5:27
We need ready to call them out on their bad self and point out
5:32
the good things that they do.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: But it's almost lopsided.
5:35
It's like they continue to push that their kid is better and
5:40
better and better.
5:40
And they ignore the things that their kid needs help in because
5:46
then they feel like
5:47
SPEAKER_00: they're not doing their job as a parent.
5:50
And so they don't want to acknowledge those weak areas that
5:53
need to be addressed.
5:55
So I see that coming as a teacher in the classroom and kids
5:59
want to push that kind of
6:02
SPEAKER_00: boundary with me.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: I say I'm old school.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: I could be your grandpa.
6:06
And I know some of you have grandfathers that are like grumpy
6:10
and all that stuff.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
6:12
SPEAKER_00: That's me.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: And you're going to have to get used to that, right?
6:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to be your friend,
6:16
SPEAKER_00: but I'm going to be there for you because I care about you,
6:19
SPEAKER_00: right?
6:20
So parents today,
6:21
you know,
6:22
when I sit down with them during like parent-teacher
6:24
conferences,
6:26
It's interesting because they're really trying to search for a
6:32
way to help their child.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: And it goes back to basic, just kind of basic stuff.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: What are they doing at home?
6:39
SPEAKER_00: Do you have them doing too many things?
6:42
SPEAKER_00: extracurricular.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we need to back off of that.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: What are you feeding them, right?
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Are you in a hurry and just giving them processed foods?
6:50
Because a lot of that affects that child's metabolism,
6:54
affects their whole mental state.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: So it's got to come back to,
6:59
we need to almost teach parents on how to do the best thing for
7:04
their kid,
7:06
SPEAKER_00: for the mental health of that child,
7:07
SPEAKER_00: for the mental health of themselves.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: But they're so busy, they don't know when to take time to do that.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: And then here comes the weekend, and guess what?
7:16
SPEAKER_00: They got them involved in sports.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: And so there's never any rest time.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: And I see that's huge.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: That rest is so important for kids.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: And if they're not being guided to rest,
7:31
SPEAKER_00: but they keep going,
7:32
SPEAKER_00: going,
7:33
SPEAKER_00: going,
7:33
SPEAKER_00: it's almost counter-effective.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: So parenting today, the parents are parenting.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: But they're not parenting to get the maximum out of their child.
7:43
The child needs to understand that there's certain things that
7:46
they need to get good at.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: And that's being accountable, being responsible for their actions.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: And then there's consequences behind it.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: And parents are afraid to do that.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: I used to tell them, hey, you got to be tough.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: You're the parent.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: You got to make those tough decisions.
8:02
Well,
8:02
what role do you think school districts should play in the
8:06
mental health of students?
8:07
SPEAKER_00: Well,
8:08
SPEAKER_00: I think to keep things as simple as possible,
8:12
the public school governmental school system has become like a
8:16
one-stop shop kind
8:18
SPEAKER_00: of approach to education.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: And that has to stop.
8:22
Public school teachers,
8:24
administrators cannot provide that one-stop shop kind of
8:28
mentality.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: They can maybe resource that out,
8:32
but then that gets a little iffy too because you don't know who
8:35
you're resourcing
8:36
SPEAKER_00: it out to.
8:37
So it's up to the parent to really make the calls to help their
8:42
child outside of the school.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: But keep it as simple as possible.
8:46
Bring your kids to the school system so that we can teach them
8:50
how to read or write
8:51
SPEAKER_00: properly,
8:52
SPEAKER_00: put a sentence together,
8:54
SPEAKER_00: put a paragraph together,
8:55
SPEAKER_00: learn how to express themselves,
8:58
SPEAKER_00: right?
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Those are the things that they're going to have to take into adulthood.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: And if they don't know how to do that,
9:03
SPEAKER_00: then it's almost like you're sending them up for failure,
9:07
SPEAKER_00: right?
9:08
SPEAKER_00: The simplest approach is the best approach.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Keep it simple.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: Once we master that,
9:14
then we can build on top of that with things that could be more
9:19
valuable to them
9:20
SPEAKER_00: going forward.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: But it's like they get bombarded with all this other extraneous stuff,
9:27
SPEAKER_00: ideology,
9:28
SPEAKER_00: indoctrination,
9:29
SPEAKER_00: and what's left is very little time to educate them,
9:33
SPEAKER_00: right?
9:34
SPEAKER_00: When I say educate them, I'm talking about literacy.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: The literacy rate is even lower and lower.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: And you're going, why is that happening?
9:43
Well,
9:43
teachers aren't spending the time they need to spend in the
9:46
classroom
9:47
because they're pulled out or they have too many assemblies for
9:51
something.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of disruptions during the day for activity.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: If I'm a school administrator, I would say, we need to stop.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: We just need to stop all that stuff and keep it simple.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Kids are brought up to our school.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: We need to teach them.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: Let's just teach them.
10:06
You make a good point because there's very little time for
10:11
actual education.
10:13
SPEAKER_01: And this kind of leads into the next topic that I wanted to cover.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: We both attended Deer Valley Unified School Board meeting.
10:22
I'm always on social media,
10:25
daring all of the keyboard warriors to come out and sit with
10:28
me.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm glad you came.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: But what we both were noticing,
10:32
SPEAKER_01: we said this at the end,
10:34
there was no time spent in a discussion on anything academic
10:39
related in that
10:39
SPEAKER_01: meeting.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: There was a lot of discussion about salaries, about wasteful spending.
10:44
And I can tell the administrators in DVUSD are very
10:47
happy-go-lucky to spend that
10:49
SPEAKER_01: money because you guys approved that 15% M&O.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: Topic for another time.
10:55
But what we both noticed was that there was very little,
10:58
if any,
10:59
discussion about academics.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: Of course, there's that dog and pony show.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: Let me not call it that.
11:04
SPEAKER_01: That might be rude.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: Those kids do deserve recognition.
11:08
I know that there are administrators and teachers that do work
11:11
hard,
11:12
maybe on the site level.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: But from the district level, the corporate level is what I'll call it.
11:18
Their focus doesn't seem to be about academics,
11:20
about the students,
11:21
about involving the parents.
11:23
The discussion that happens at a school board meeting is absent
11:26
of all the things
11:27
that make a school district a school district because you're
11:30
running for a school
11:31
SPEAKER_01: board.
11:31
Elaborate on what you would do to shift that conversation back
11:35
to what a school
11:36
SPEAKER_01: district is really about.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to the beginning of that.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Before the board meeting started, they had
11:43
SPEAKER_00: a session where they're recognizing students for their achievements.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: I'm not against any of that,
11:49
SPEAKER_00: but what I feel needs to happen,
11:54
SPEAKER_00: I would keep it as short and sweet as possible.
11:57
I would eliminate almost some of those sessions at the
12:01
beginning and send it to the
12:03
high schools and the middle schools to recognize these students
12:07
because that's
12:08
SPEAKER_00: where they're performing at.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: They're not performing
12:11
SPEAKER_00: at the district level.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: They're doing it at the high school level, at the middle school level.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: And let them be recognized there, right?
12:18
SPEAKER_00: On top of that,
12:19
I met with a few of the parents afterwards while waiting for
12:23
the board meeting to
12:24
SPEAKER_00: start.
12:25
And I was asking them,
12:28
I noticed you all have achieved great success with your
12:34
children.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: How did you do that?
12:36
SPEAKER_00: They said, well, we had kids go to basic schools
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And then they transferred to the DVUSD schools.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: I said, why would you do that if they were highly successful already?
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Well, they said, our kids need more variety.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And so we want them to get their best education at basic schools.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: And then when they get to the public schools,
13:01
they don't have to worry about if they're going to learn
13:04
anymore because they
13:04
SPEAKER_00: learned everything.
13:06
to have a great foundation so then they can do those
13:09
extracurricular things.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: And I said, that's interesting that they said that, right?
13:14
SPEAKER_00: But that makes sense, right?
13:17
SPEAKER_00: And that's sort of my philosophy for myself is let's
13:21
educate kids when they're younger to get the basic fundamentals
13:26
out of the way.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: So when they do get to the high schools,
13:29
SPEAKER_00: if they want to do other things,
13:31
SPEAKER_00: other extracurricular things,
13:32
SPEAKER_00: that they would be successful in the classroom already.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: And then it doesn't affect the extracurricular activities as well.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: But it's almost reversed in the public schools.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like they push all this extracurricular stuff
13:47
SPEAKER_00: And then the literacy academic stuff is like putting the back burner.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, we'll get around to do that.
13:54
And I know that because I have almost 30 to 40 percent of my
13:59
own students.
14:01
They're so involved in other curricular things that when it's
14:05
time to turn in their
14:06
SPEAKER_00: homework,
14:07
SPEAKER_00: they go,
14:07
SPEAKER_00: oh,
14:07
SPEAKER_00: wow,
14:07
SPEAKER_00: I was busy last night.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: I said, hey, this is your job.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Your job is to get this stuff done.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: What are your parents doing?
14:16
SPEAKER_00: They're not even helping you to get your stuff done.
14:18
And so for me,
14:20
it's almost counterproductive what our public schools are
14:24
teaching our kids.
14:26
And I think the school board needs to recognize that we need to
14:29
get back to those
14:31
basics and stick with them until our test scores can reflect
14:36
what our community
14:37
SPEAKER_00: wants from them.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is embarrassing when you think about it objectively.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:44
SPEAKER_01: And you put it in the broader context of what we should be looking at,
14:48
SPEAKER_01: not just the individual school itself,
14:52
SPEAKER_01: but how you're performing as a district that also matters.
14:56
It's misleading to constantly tell people that you have so many
15:00
A-rated schools.
15:02
When you can see,
15:03
if you go to Arizona Report Card,
15:05
just how many students really are
15:08
SPEAKER_01: falling between the cracks,
15:09
SPEAKER_01: if I can say it that way,
15:11
of a public education system that is kind of glossing over what
15:15
the students really
15:16
SPEAKER_01: need in order to be able to learn.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: There are things that are going to affect them personally.
15:21
SPEAKER_01: We talked about the mental health thing earlier,
15:24
but then there are things that are going to affect them just in
15:26
the immediate
15:26
SPEAKER_01: environment.
15:27
SPEAKER_01: And those are the things that I feel like
15:30
SPEAKER_01: Policy should be geared towards the curriculum that you're using.
15:34
It should all be geared towards creating an environment that is
15:37
going to be the
15:38
SPEAKER_01: conducive to learning,
15:39
SPEAKER_01: like at the highest performance level.
15:42
The problem with our public education system is that it is kind
15:44
of a one size fits all.
15:46
I know that a lot of teachers are under pressure for attendance
15:50
and to make sure
15:51
SPEAKER_01: that the kids can pass certain state testing.
15:54
Somehow that all comes back on the teachers to make sure that
15:57
they're hitting all these numbers.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: The expectation, I think, is skewed.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: If we want to get back to academics,
16:04
SPEAKER_01: what we're probably going to have to do is get rid of this factory line.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you with Deer Valley, your administration is very bloated.
16:12
SPEAKER_01: Lots of deputy this and assistant that.
16:15
Having to do so much business to take care of so many employees
16:20
in all these
16:20
SPEAKER_01: different places,
16:22
it really doesn't leave a lot of room in your budget to care
16:25
about the students.
16:26
And we're going to go back to moving money around,
16:28
making sure that certain people get raises.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: You know,
16:31
the teachers come in and make public comments at the school
16:33
board meeting asking
16:34
SPEAKER_01: for raises and more money.
16:36
It just doesn't seem like it's a prayer or a request that's
16:38
ever going to be
16:39
SPEAKER_01: answered or responded to.
16:41
So what are your thoughts about the fact that so many teachers
16:45
are speaking out
16:46
SPEAKER_01: about feeling overworked,
16:49
SPEAKER_01: underpaid,
16:50
and not having what they need to do well with the kids in their
16:53
classroom?
16:54
Well,
16:54
from the very get go,
16:56
they need to be told and it needs to be demonstrated that
17:01
If you're going into the teaching profession,
17:02
you're not in it to make a ton of money.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: They get paid well to a certain extent,
17:09
but it's not going to ever match up to raises and promotions
17:14
comparable to the
17:15
SPEAKER_00: private sector.
17:16
SPEAKER_00: That's a give it.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: The rewards as a teacher are more intrinsic.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: I saw that in some of the comments that were made.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: It takes a special person to be a teacher.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize that I would be a teacher for this long.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: But there's something that when you're called to be a teacher,
17:36
you just learn to understand and stop complaining and just
17:41
start doing the best
17:42
SPEAKER_00: that you can for as long as you can.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: Most administrators,
17:48
SPEAKER_00: they get into that profession,
17:49
SPEAKER_00: that side of education,
17:51
SPEAKER_00: and they forget what it was to be a teacher.
17:54
They wanted to get out of the classroom as soon as possible
17:57
because they knew that
17:59
SPEAKER_00: the only way to get an increase in pay was to become an administrator.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: That's the most insane thing to do.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: If you want to be the best administrator, you cannot do for the money.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: You have to do it because you are called to do that.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: Right.
18:15
I know a handful of administrators that are a teacher at heart
18:20
and they do what
18:22
SPEAKER_00: they need to do to understand a teacher.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: And so they don't go into it as a manager.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: They go in as a public servant with the servant's heart.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what teachers are.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: The good teachers are people who have a servant's heart.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: On the other side,
18:40
you have some of these teachers that get into the profession
18:45
and they lose sight of
18:46
SPEAKER_00: why they became a teacher and they go the teacher association,
18:50
SPEAKER_00: teacher union route and they become very political and
18:56
SPEAKER_00: And they don't even know that they're becoming that political.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: And then their ideology gets slanted and they forget about the kids.
19:04
And I say they forget about the kids because they're so
19:07
ingrained now into fighting
19:10
SPEAKER_00: for their rights and whatever.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: That's not a good thing.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: That's not a good combination.
19:14
And so I feel I have found a perfect balance being a teacher
19:22
and being political teachers.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: annoying my religious beliefs as well.
19:27
But a lot of teachers who have a faith that want to say
19:31
something are afraid to say anything.
19:33
And so they go through the motions and then they're all
19:37
stressed out and then they
19:38
SPEAKER_00: don't know how to handle it.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: And the next thing you know,
19:41
they think moving from one school to another school is going to
19:44
solve the problem,
19:45
SPEAKER_00: but it never does.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: It's because they haven't learned that you have rights as teachers.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: You have rights
19:52
SPEAKER_00: for yourself as a human being to be who you are, right?
19:58
SPEAKER_00: And so I think all that combined together
20:02
SPEAKER_00: Seems chaotic,
20:03
SPEAKER_00: but being in the profession this long,
20:05
SPEAKER_00: I've learned to navigate and learn to go,
20:08
SPEAKER_00: okay,
20:08
SPEAKER_00: I got to pick my battles.
20:10
But I do know when it's time to step up and say something and
20:15
actually be in the right.
20:16
And it may not be something my administrator will love about
20:21
what I say or how to
20:22
SPEAKER_00: say it,
20:23
SPEAKER_00: but they can't do anything about it.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: It's because I know I have my own protections.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, God's on my side.
20:31
SPEAKER_01: Well,
20:31
I hate the thought that teachers are living in fear or working
20:35
in fear of losing
20:37
their jobs or having their reputations ruined because you do
20:40
still have your First
20:41
SPEAKER_01: Amendment rights.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: They protect you as an individual and as a citizen.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: And I always name drop this teacher.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: She was in the Jarupa School District in California's Jessica Tapia.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: For anybody that has not looked into Jessica Tapia, you must.
20:57
I think she is an encouragement to parents and especially
20:59
teachers everywhere.
21:01
She basically was using her First Amendment right on her
21:04
personal social media account.
21:06
And some students in her PE class,
21:08
I think,
21:09
pointed it out to the district.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: Well, the district came to her and said, you need to take this down.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: This is not protocol.
21:15
SPEAKER_01: This is
21:16
SPEAKER_01: You know, we have policies in place that say you cannot say X, Y and Z.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: She's a Christian.
21:21
And so she basically stood on her principles that she was not
21:24
going to lie to the
21:25
SPEAKER_01: students or parents about their gender.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: She was a PE teacher.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: So I'm certainly sure that Jessica would say this is a safety thing.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: We're not allowing this for the safety of the boys and the girls.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: And she got fired because she refused to take down her social media.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: And she also refused to lie to parents.
21:43
The district literally has a policy and gave her gave her a
21:46
directive to lie about
21:47
it if a parent contacted her about a student changing their
21:51
gender on school
21:51
SPEAKER_01: grounds.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: Long story short,
21:54
SPEAKER_01: she was successful in her lawsuit,
21:55
SPEAKER_01: won over a quarter million dollars,
21:57
SPEAKER_01: I think,
21:58
SPEAKER_01: and went on to start different foundations and projects she's working on.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: And so I would say that her story is a prototype.
22:06
It may not turn out like that for everybody,
22:09
but I think that the courage that she exhibited was
22:12
SPEAKER_01: And the willingness to accept the persecution for what she believed,
22:16
SPEAKER_01: whether it was to be fired or whatever the case may be,
22:19
SPEAKER_01: she was standing on the side of truth.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: And I think that that's what the quiet teachers is what I call them.
22:25
If you're going to stand on the side of truth,
22:27
you can't be quiet for long.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: And I like what you said about choosing your battles.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: You don't want to fight every battle.
22:32
Don't be a problem employee,
22:34
but be somebody that is always a voice of reason.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: and bring the objectivity to the table, bring the truth to the table.
22:42
I know that truth nowadays is a very subjective term to some
22:46
people,
22:47
but truth is objective.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: And if we're talking in terms of what's good for children,
22:52
I think that objectively what we can say is that students need
22:56
to be safe in their
22:57
SPEAKER_01: environment.
22:59
They need leadership in the classroom,
23:01
someone who enjoys their job like you do.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: And so I would also say that to teachers if you've made it
23:06
to a place in your career where you don't enjoy what you're
23:08
doing you might need to
23:10
sidestep change careers teaching is a very noble profession
23:14
unfortunately like you
23:15
said it's the political aspect that's just chipping away at it
23:20
making it a means to
23:21
some other end to achieve some other goal and it seems like to
23:25
me a lot of high
23:26
SPEAKER_00: level administrations are in on it you know piggyback on jessica
23:31
SPEAKER_00: And her story,
23:32
SPEAKER_00: when I first started teaching in California,
23:35
SPEAKER_00: I think I may have been five years in,
23:38
SPEAKER_00: and there was a situation,
23:40
SPEAKER_00: I believe,
23:41
SPEAKER_00: in the same school district,
23:43
SPEAKER_00: if not neighboring school district.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: I think it was Colorado.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
23:46
SPEAKER_00: Corona,
23:48
SPEAKER_00: California,
23:49
SPEAKER_00: where a high school teacher made a comment in the classroom about gender.
23:56
And it came out of the paper,
23:58
says,
23:58
I believe God made Adam and Eve,
24:01
not Adam and Steve,
24:02
right?
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: And he got an administrative leave for that comment.
24:07
And I said,
24:08
wow,
24:09
we've come so far the other direction where you can't make a
24:15
comment like that.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: And people just get offended so quickly.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Right.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: And so when I heard that and I said, wow, man.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Do I have to be that careful that I can't make those same comments?
24:28
SPEAKER_00: They truly don't believe that there are two sexes in the world.
24:33
And I'm getting to the point where I believe that people have
24:36
lost sight of what is
24:40
SPEAKER_00: actual truth.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: They're making up their own truth,
24:44
SPEAKER_00: which is even more confusing to everybody else around them,
24:48
SPEAKER_00: including the public school system.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: On top of that, you have a superior court
24:53
SPEAKER_00: justice that can't come up with the definition of a woman.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: We're the Twilight Zone.
25:00
Yeah,
25:00
I'm smirking about it,
25:02
but some people,
25:04
if they hear this,
25:05
they'll get offended by it.
25:07
But we're in a day and age right now where people want to know
25:11
who they're dealing with.
25:13
They don't want someone to say one thing now and then later on
25:16
change their mind.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: That's not me.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: I am who I am.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: And people...
25:22
SPEAKER_00: appreciate that, that's who you're going to vote for.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: If you don't appreciate that, then I guess you don't give my vote.
25:29
But I'm not going to be in the middle and be lukewarm,
25:32
as the Bible says,
25:33
right?
25:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to stand my ground and I'm going to try to work with whomever.
25:38
But at the same time,
25:39
I want them to explain where they're coming from too.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm willing to bet if I'm a betting man,
25:45
SPEAKER_00: that most people want to return to common sense,
25:49
SPEAKER_00: basic skills,
25:51
SPEAKER_00: understanding,
25:52
SPEAKER_00: and get rid of all the confusion that's out in this world right now.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm of the mind that as long as you say it respectfully and
26:01
SPEAKER_01: then you can say anything that you need to say.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: But if you can bring up your issues to your administration,
26:07
SPEAKER_01: to your principles,
26:08
SPEAKER_01: and those who,
26:09
SPEAKER_01: quite frankly,
26:10
have a responsibility to listen to your complaints and to act
26:13
on them appropriately
26:15
SPEAKER_01: according to what policies are,
26:17
SPEAKER_01: just be respectful,
26:18
SPEAKER_01: be truthful,
26:19
SPEAKER_01: be respectful,
26:20
SPEAKER_01: and be kind.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: Kindness, though, is not the same as being nice.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: Nice will lie to you.
26:26
SPEAKER_01: Kindness will tell you the truth.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: In the gentlest way, but stand on truth.
26:30
SPEAKER_01: For a lot of these students,
26:32
they need someone to tell them the truth because quite
26:34
literally their souls are
26:36
SPEAKER_01: hanging in the balance.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: When you're saying that,
26:38
SPEAKER_00: I think about Hillary Clinton's making the comment,
26:42
SPEAKER_00: it takes a village,
26:43
SPEAKER_00: right?
26:43
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, it doesn't.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't take a village.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: It takes a parent or two parents to raise a child.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: It takes families to raise that child.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't take the school.
26:54
To tell you the truth,
26:54
teachers that I talk to,
26:55
they don't want to raise your children.
26:57
SPEAKER_00: They don't.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: They want you to raise your child.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: But when you start giving your rights over to the governmental schools,
27:07
SPEAKER_00: you're pretty much saying goodbye to your children.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: It's imperative that you become involved with your children's education.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: Get to know your teachers.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: Ask a lot of questions.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: You're in charge and you're trusting them.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: With children.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if teachers understand that.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: That's a huge responsibility.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of teachers that don't have children,
27:31
SPEAKER_00: so they don't understand what it is to raise a kid at the same time.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: So it becomes imperative, parents.
27:39
Do your job to stay connected with your child's teachers,
27:45
their administrators.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: Be there when there are meetings.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Parents, show up.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: Show up.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: Just show up.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: Because things can change.
27:54
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
27:55
SPEAKER_01: And with God, we have the majority.
27:57
So even if our numbers look few on earth,
28:00
we know who's really in control of the situation.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to reiterate, parents, you're in charge.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: school districts definitely need to know that.
28:11
SPEAKER_01: As we wrap up,
28:12
I did want to give you an opportunity to let people know how
28:15
they can get in touch
28:16
SPEAKER_01: with you,
28:17
SPEAKER_01: support your campaign,
28:18
SPEAKER_01: and volunteer.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: For those who didn't realize it at this point in the podcast,
28:22
SPEAKER_01: David Alvarado is running for Deer Valley Unified School District.
28:26
He's running for a seat on that school board and let people
28:29
know how they can get
28:29
SPEAKER_01: in touch with you.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm working on a website, but you can go to my
28:33
facebook page david alvarado at dbusd and you will find me and
28:39
then you can reach
28:40
out to me via that platform and then once i have the website up
28:45
and running i'll
28:46
post on that platform there's only two seats available for this
28:51
campaign we need
28:52
SPEAKER_00: two conservative
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Candidates to turn this board around.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to reiterate again, power to the parents.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: Parents, you have so much power that you don't even understand.
29:04
That's the number one thing that I would suggest that they
29:07
become more courageous.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: In regards to me running for the school board, I'm also for the teacher.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm a teacher at heart.
29:16
Well,
29:17
thank you so much,
29:17
David,
29:18
for coming on the Myth of Education podcast.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: We will be praying for you and the success of your campaign.
29:24
I think that the students and families and even the employees
29:29
in the Deer Valley
29:30
SPEAKER_01: School District could use an advocate like you on the board.
29:33
I'm praying that happens and I appreciate the time to spend
29:36
with you,
29:37
Tiffany.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
29:43
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29:45
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29:46
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30:02
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30:03
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30:07
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