After Orange County Department of Education Superintendent Al Mijares retired for health reasons in April 2024, the board tapped Stefan Bean, the head of the Irvine International Academy, a charter school, as his replacement. Mijares died of cancer the next January.<\/p>\n
Bean is running for a full term on the June 2 ballot and is unopposed. He has<\/a> a Ph.D. from Cal State Fullerton and teaches at Cal State Dominguez Hills. His department oversees and supplements O.C.\u2019s 28 local school districts. In 2022, he lost<\/a> a challenge to Mijares, 55% to 45%.<\/p>\n Now in the role and set to continue, I interviewed Bean to get his thoughts on the job at hand.<\/p>\n With the economy strained from higher fuel prices from the Iran War, I asked Bean how he was dealing with rising costs for buses and other vehicles. \u201cThat means we need to be really prudent in other areas,\u201d he said. \u201cWe take a look at areas that we can cut, to offset, to make sure that our kids can get fed.\u201d<\/p>\n I checked his department\u2019s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report<\/a> for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. For the unrestricted net position, a key number, Mijares left behind a positive $228 million, which was excellent. Bean improved it to $259 million.<\/p>\n The Register has championed charter schools since the Legislature authorized them with the Charter Schools Act of 1992<\/a>. These are alternative public schools providing parental choice, as well as needed competition for traditional schools.<\/p>\n \u201cI really do believe charters play a role in providing options for families,\u201d charter veteran Bean said. \u201cMy position at the same time is that accountability and transparency are central\u201d for parents to make informed choices. Indeed, bad charters ought to be closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n One recent scandal involved North Valley Military Institute in Los Angeles, shuttered in 2023 due to \u201calleged misappropriation of funds, unqualified teachers and insufficient services for students with disabilities,\u201d according<\/a> to EdSource. But I would add, it\u2019s a lot easier to close troubled charters than traditional schools.<\/p>\n Another concern is low statewide test results, despite spending $27,418 per pupil, per Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s budget proposal<\/a> for fiscal year 2026-27, up 60% from before he took office. At least that\u2019s not as much a problem here compared to the state average.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re proud in Orange County we outperform our contiguous counties in English Language Arts and math,\u201d Bean said.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress tests from last October, students in L.A. County scored<\/a> 50.5% proficient in ELA and 39.3% in math. For Orange County<\/a>, it was 59.9% proficient in ELA and 49.2% in math. That\u2019s about 10 points higher in each. But room for improvement.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been fighting for 39 years in these pages to get rid of the \u201cwhole language gimmick<\/a>,\u201d which teaches reading by \u201csight\u201d memory of words, instead of phonics, which teaches kids to learn letters and sound them out into syllables. Finally, last year the Legislature passed\u00a0<\/p>\n