Where in the WORLD is Dr. Miyashiro?

Last month, it was reported that the shadow government known as the “World of Work Foundation” spent over $160,000 on travel, conferences, and videos that could have been used on student success for students in Cajon Valley Union School District.

Let’s take a look at what is going on.

It is “elementary” to think our Superintendent would be in El Cajon helping his students and staff. That would be a logical assumption to think that the Cajon Valley Union School District’s Superintendent would be in the Cajon Valley vicinity. It is just simply not always the case. Since 2018, Dr. Miyashiro has traveled the world using taxpayer money. He has traveled to China, London, and across the United States to showcase what Cajon Valley is doing. He has mentioned how proud he is that so many people can pronounce the word “cajon” from different corners of the world. While parents are fighting for literacy, math efficiency, and enrichment programs for students… and our staff is fighting for a pay increase that may be anywhere from the original offer of 0.5% to a high of 3% (which is a slap in the face to educators and classified employees), the Shadow Government of CVUSD is planning an international convention and travel to further the initiative for Dr. Miyashiro to be the premier socialite and world traveler in East County. As a reminder: Dr. Miyashiro makes a little more than $9,000 a week salary.

Since Anthony Carnevale and Lily Schworm have been elected to the school board, the traveling of the Superintendent has been questioned, and oftentimes not approved. The public has come to speak out on numerous occasions to stop this wasteful spending. A microscope has also been placed on all expenditures the district was spending on World of Work (WOW) initiatives including a conference that was hosted by the World of Work Foundation in unison with the CVUSD. Many taxpayers and parents criticized the need for a conference to showcase the failed business of WOW, especially when the conference was not financially lucrative. Here is a link to the conference repayment plan where Dr. Miyashiro signed for the district and the foundation leading to confusion and questions of a conflict of interest. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wX9mF0jGSoIbysUkv5-i2AyAPqOjBGC4/view?usp=sharing

Where is DOGE when you need it?

So, it became clear that with traveling being limited and conferences being questioned that if Dr. Miyahiro still wanted to live that socialite life; the need for creativity, secrecy, and another funding source would be needed. A solution would be needed without the watchful eyes of the school board or public. A foundation would be the solution that could receive grants that most school’s use for student success, but because of the open ended nature of the wording in the funding’s purpose…would be legal… to take the impact from the classrooms and apply it to conferences and travel. It is sneaky and efficient. But, how is this helping students? If it is helping students…we haven’t seen it. We haven’t seen it with classroom supplies, test scores, or staff pay increases.

Want to dig deeper into this? Follow along...

First let's define “shadow government”: The superintendent of the Cajon Valley Union School District, along with his cabinet, has been under scrutiny for allegedly operating a "shadow government." This term refers to an unofficial and unelected group that wields significant influence over the district's decisions and resources. Critics argue that this group operates with a lack of transparency and accountability, diverting funds away from student-focused initiatives. These same people benefit from the travel expenses they approve.

So basically, Dr. Miyshiro voted to use grant money with the help of his paid cabinet (people who answer to him during their day jobs) to approve his projects of travel, conferences, and media to document it all. With NO APPROVAL OR OVERSIGHT from the school board or public. It is accused that this meeting and approval happened during school hours, another valid concern. Meaning more district resources being wasted on these endeavors.

One of the primary concerns is the allocation of resources. Last month, it was reported that the shadow government spent over $160,000 on travel, conferences, and videos. These funds, critics argue, should have been directed toward benefiting the students of the district. Instead, they were used for activities that many believe do not directly contribute to the educational mission of the schools. Teachers know how to stretch a dollar and make something out of nothing for our students. Can you imagine what our CVUSD teachers could do with $160,000? Most teachers don’t even know what this shadow government is doing. Most are not aware of the WOW foundation, what it is doing, and what it could be used for, in their classrooms. They are in the dark as well as the taxpayers and parents.

We do know that if the dedicated staff of CVUSD had access to $160,000 they would spend it on their students, as they do with their own money more often than not.

Why should the school board be involved if the WOW foundation is a separate entity? The United States has a long history of elected school boards, dating back to before 1776. The role of these boards has remained largely consistent: to act as stewards of public trust, answerable to the community, and to ensure the provision of free public education in well-maintained facilities. School board meetings are to be conducted in public, where the board allocates public funds transparently. The responsibilities of school boards in the 1600s closely mirror those of today. They were tasked with ensuring that schools were well-built, supplied, and safe for students. This sense of duty and responsibility to the community has been a cornerstone of American education for centuries. The WOW foundation has been said to be "connected" to the district. In fact, the WOW foundation phone number goes to Scott Buxbaum's office line who is the superintendent of business at CVUSD. There are millions of dollars allegedly awarded to the WOW foundation that doesn't have approval from elected officials to benefit students, the same type of grants that go to school boards for oversight.

You can check the link below to view the IRS paperwork:

https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/884173715_202306_990_2024022022291823.pdf

Basically, we want the people we elected to represent us to have the ability to say yes or no to dumb ideas like the World of Work conference and travel and give ideas on how to use that money to support students.

In Cajon Valley, the current governance structure appears to be misaligned with these principles. The superintendent, who is essentially the board's employee, is accused of redirecting district resources for personal and unrelated purposes, including travel and benefits for his associates. This shadow government operates within the district office, utilizing public resources but without proper oversight or accountability to the board or the community. The traditional hierarchy places the people at the top, followed by the school board, and then the superintendent. In Cajon Valley this hierarchy is reversed. The superintendent is seen as wielding undue influence, circumventing the board's authority and the community's oversight. This inversion of governance principles is a significant concern for those advocating for transparency and accountability.

Great. So now what?

Ask the school board to have the same oversight to the World of Work Foundation as they do any other attached non profit group. Share your concerns with the school board members. Let them know you would want to see grants go to the district to serve the students in the sunshine of transparency and not the darkness of a shadow government. Email the World of Work foundation. Ask the school board to conduct an audit of the World of Work foundation. Ask the school board to revoke the WOW foundation to operate during school hours, using taxpayer funded employees, to work on initiatives that don’t benefit students. Ask the school board to focus on academics and student success. Tell them we would rather the money go to the classrooms.

Look at the agendas and ask yourself, where in the world is Dr. Miyashiro headed next? You can do that while you are waiting in line to buy crayons for your student’s classroom or getting cash to donate to their field trip transportation. Don’t worry, your student’s teacher is also in line to buy school supplies and use their own money to cover the cost of student’s who can’t afford the field trip. This is a fight we are in together.

In Unity,

The East County Guardians

If you have any leads email us at:

eastcountyguardian@gmail.com

Emails for School Board Members:

Karen Mejia mejiak@cajonvalley.net

Lily Schworm schworme@cajonvalley.net

Jolyana Jirjees jirjeesj@cajonvalley.net

Jim Miller millerjp@cajonvalley.net

Anthony Carnevale carnevalea@cajonvalley.net

We could not locate the World of Work Foundations website anymore.

Here are the documents and minutes from the World of Work Foundation's meeting: