Parent Union hosts special event with Kirk Cameron on America's homeschool awakening.

CPC’s Parent Union hosted a special event with award-winning actor Kirk Cameron this week to celebrate his new documentary “Homeschool Awakening.” The film spotlights real families who homeschool their children and answers the ins, outs and most frequently asked questions about homeschooling. 

Hundreds of families and CPC supporters gathered in Huntington Beach to hear from Cameron, who discussed his experience producing the documentary about the diverse families in the film that are passionate about homeschooling being the best choice for their children’s education.

“We were honored to have Kirk speak to parents about the growing homeschool movement and his experience homeschooling his own children,” said Rebecca Holz, director of CPC’s Parent Union, who spoke at the event. “As a homeschool mom, I’ve seen firsthand that children succeed when the people who know their kids best are able to guide them in learning about the world — and the joy that comes from homeschooling as a family.” 

California saw a rapid spike in families choosing to homeschool in the wake of the teacher unions' insistence on extended school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many parents across diverse demographics lost faith in California's public schools as school administrators, school boards and politicians put the teacher unions' demands before the needs of California’s kids. 
 

Not surprisingly, the number of American families homeschooling at least one child increased from 5.4% in spring 2020 to 11.1% in fall 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. The number of Black families choosing to homeschool grew from 3.3% to a whopping 16.1% during that same time. 

“Parents are opting out of the train wreck that is the teacher unions’ agenda,” said Holz.

CPC’s CLEO releases new candidate training academy ahead of November elections.

CPC’s California Local Elected Officials (CLEO) is celebrating the Fourth of July by empowering any parent to run for their local school board. After spending several months providing training to parent advocacy groups throughout the state leading into the June Primary Election, CLEO released its new Candidate Academy online training series this week, aimed at helping parents and concerned citizens run for their local school board and other local offices ahead of the November 2022 election.

The eight-part online series streamlines and simplifies a complicated candidate process and covers the nuts and bolts of running for local office from a non-partisan point of view. Each module addresses different aspects of becoming a candidate, from deciding if running for office is a good fit for you and your family to how to file the right paperwork and launch a campaign. 

The Candidate Academy series is led by CPC staff, including Mari Barke, director of CLEO and president of the Orange County Board of Education; Lance Christensen, CPC’s Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs and candidate for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Jackson Reese, CPC’s Vice President and previous political campaign consultant. 

“All eyes are on school board races this year,” said Mari Barke. “People who are concerned about our education system are very motivated to step into the role of public service. They want to serve to make sure students and parents come first in our schools, not teachers’ unions.”

While candidates for a number of offices were voted on in the June primary, thousands of local offices are still up for grabs in November. The CLEO training is a powerful tool for any potential candidate for school board as well as county supervisor, city council, mayor or the State Assembly. 

The filing period for school board and other local offices opens July 18th and closes August 12, 2022.

The training is available for free to CLEO members. CPC supporters are also invited to unlock the candidate training for free using the access code “CPCFREE” after enrolling in the Candidate Academy at calelecteds.org.

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