Greg Goodlander is in his sixth year as president of the Orange Unified Education Association (OUEA).  On behalf of his teachers’ union, he accepted the “Organizing of the Year Award” from the Orange County Labor Federation at its 24 Annual Solidarity Awards Gala after being introduced by California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.

 His union, with the support and solidarity of parents, students, and everyday citizens organized, and won, the recall of two far-right, pro-charter, anti-teacher, anti-public ed, anti-union members of the Orange Unified School District.  Recalls are notoriously hard to pull off, but this union and its community coalition did it. I know, having been part of not one, but two failed (!) efforts to remove a Holocaust denier (!) from the South Orange County Community College District, no kidding. 

Goodlander’s acceptance speech, below, is short and sweet.  After sharing it with Citric Acid, Goodlander wrote: “Let me know if you need anything else.”

I think they call that a mic drop.

Citric Acid also shares here the laudatory summary of OUEA’s amazing work printed in the Gala’s program notes.  --- The Editors

Superintendent Thurmond, thank you so much for the introduction and the presentation of this award. I am Greg Goodlander, the proud president of the Orange Unified Education Association. I accept this award on behalf of all the educators, parents, and community members of Orange. Through the chaos of 2023, OUEA members mobilized and organized, in partnership with parents. Our organizing led to forming and strengthening partnerships with other local labor unions. We found a home with the Orange County Labor Federation. It is through joining forces collectively that we can win. We successfully recalled two of the four really bad school board members and just this week, we learned that the remaining two decided to not run again! They saw the writing on the wall and knew that we are well organized and ready to fight. Can you believe it? We got rid of four bad school board members within a year through our collective strength. Thank you again for this recognition.

Organizing of the Year Award: Orange Unified Education Association

The Orange Unified Education Association (OUEA) is a union of educators including teachers, school psychologists, speech pathologists, media specialists, nurses, and counselors within the orange Unified School District. We are approximately 1,300 members who serve nearly 26,000 students and their families in central Orange County, primarily in the city of Orange and Villa Park, but also parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Garden Grove.

In early 2023 the school board of Orange Unified School District changed to an extreme- right reactionary majority that began turmoil and threatening public education and our mission as a union. Over the course of 2023, the new board fired the Superintendent, costing the district a half a million dollars, passed a “Parent Bill of Rights,” temporarily banned a digital library, and passed a forced-outing policy targeting LGBTQ+ students. School board meetings were chaotic, scary, and hindered the democratic spirit of community engagement as outside agitators assumed control of the rooms. Throughout all of this, OUEA collaborated with parents and community organizers to initiate a recall of two board members.

Rising in opposition to this attack on public education, a parent-led coalition with OUEA organized and worked on the recall. Over the summer of 2023, OUEA members walked door to door with parents and volunteers to collect signatures to qualify for a recall special election. The Recall movement needed 13,000 signatures for each of the two targeted board members, and they succeeded in obtaining over 18,000 in record time. Throughout this process, OUEA was targeted on social media and in the public by supporters of the ultra-right board members, but OUEA didn't back down. In fact, other unions stepped up their support through donations and endorsements, including OCLF. OCLF endorsements and support in member-to-member canvassing helped achieve the goal --- a successful recall election in March of 2024!

Through this experience, OUEA members are more connected to each other and their community. OUEA also found the value of collaboration with our brothers and sisters in OCLF and decided to join us full members. Through this valued mutual support, OUEA and Santa Ana Educators’ Association have shared the vision and helped other local teacher unions to see the value of OCLF membership. Recently, the Tustin Educators Association, the Orange County Schools Educators Association, and the Association of Placentia-Linda Educators have joined OUEA in partnering with OCLF to work toward a more unified labor movement for a stronger community in Orange County.

Greg Goodlander has for worked twenty-five years in education, including as a French teacher at Orange High School, eleven years in the Columbus, Ohio city schools as a sixth-grade math teacher, and at the Diocese of Orange Rosary Academy. He earned a BA in French and History from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and an MA in Education from Concordia University Irvine in Curriculum and Instruction.