Some Los Angeles parents are putting up a fight against the city’s most progressive activist groups, with violence in the school district nearly doubling since police were removed from school campuses following the riots over George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

Maria Luisa Palma, a member of the Parents Advisory Committee in Los Angeles, organized an independent petition in February calling for the return of police on school campuses as district data revealed that violent incidents rose from 2,315 in the 2018-2019 school year to 4,569 in 2022-2023.

“We’ve seen a huge increase from our kids,” Palma told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We hear constantly how there are fights and open drug use in the bathrooms. We see the proof in the data … so we have more clear information. This is out of control as we hear from our kids.”

Palma’s petition has gotten more than 2,500 signatures so far from parents from over 300 schools and all seven board districts. She said “the more, the better.” There is no cap on signatures.

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In 2021, Students Deserve, a progressive grassroots student organization advocating for the abolition of police in schools, pressured the LAUSD and the school board to divest money from the Los Angeles School District Police. 

The group argued the presence of police officers on school campuses often led to the criminalization of students, particularly those from Black and brown communities, and contributed to a hostile and intimidating environment that hindered learning.

“We want schools to divest from criminalization and policing,” the Students Deserve website states. “We want schools to invest in us as Black, Muslim, undocumented, indigenous, and queer youth in poor and working class communities of color. We follow the lead of Black Lives Matter in demanding that our schools defund the police and defend Black life.”

Students Deserve, closely partnered with Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and the California Teacher’s Association, was successful in getting the school district to reevaluate its budget priorities and reallocate $25 million from school police to alternative support services, such as counselors, mental health professionals and restorative justice programs.

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A BLM protester projects a “defund the police” message on an Oakland Police Department wall Jan. 29, 2023.  (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Many Students Deserve representatives will appear at board meetings, Palma said, and urge members not to invest funds in the school’s police department. 

“They were the group that helped to create the situation in the first place,” Palma said. “They are the group that the board listens to, and so they continue to oppose what the parents want.”

The school board voted unanimously in February 2021 to do away with officers stationed in schools and already rejected a resolution in September 2021 that would have reinstated police.

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A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department vehicle (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)

“This is not a question of whether or not the district has funds to fully fund a functioning police department to safely patrol our schools and to have officers assigned on our campuses,” Palma said. “It is a political statement to appease the defund the police movement.”

The LAUSD school board is developing a new safety plan. However, the board hasn’t indicated whether the plan includes a return of police officers to schools.

As a proud member of the Vietnamese American community and the California Assembly, I was deeply disappointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ designation of April 30 as “Jane Fonda Day” last week. This decision on a day that holds sacred significance for much of the Vietnamese community was insensitive and hurtful.

April 30 is widely recognized as the painful anniversary of the 1975 fall of Saigon, a day that marks the emotional closing chapter of the Vietnam War. Known in the Vietnamese community as “Black April,” it is a day of remembrance when we honor the sacrifices of some 250,000 South Vietnamese and 60,000 American soldiers who gave everything to their cause.

After the fall of Saigon, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled the brutal communist regime, many resorting to risky boat journeys and ultimately finding sanctuary and a new home in Southern California. Many settled just across the border from Los Angeles County in Orange County’s Little Saigon community, which has grown to become the largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam.

Each year, the Little Saigon community gathers on April 30 to commemorate the fall of Saigon. The city of Westminster held a solemn ceremony last week to reflect on the 49th anniversary of Black April and the enduring effects of the Vietnam War. A wreath was laid at the city’s Vietnamese-American War Memorial to honor American, Vietnamese and allied soldiers and the resilience of the Vietnamese people in the face of horrible trials.

While Vietnamese and American soldiers fought bravely, Jane Fonda actively participated in North Vietnamese government propaganda. Called “Hanoi Jane” for her controversial activities during the war, the actress infamously posed on a North Vietnamese antiaircraft gun that was used to target American pilots. This was deeply offensive to those who fled persecution and lost loved ones seeking freedom and democracy.

By honoring Fonda on Black April, the supervisors disregarded the Vietnamese American community, America’s Vietnam veterans and countless others, aggravating wounds that have yet to heal. To have this solemn day overshadowed by the celebration of an individual who openly sympathized with the regime responsible for so much suffering is an insult to the memory of those who perished and those who continue to live with the scars of war. This decision demonstrates a lack of empathy for the Vietnamese diaspora and highlights a need for greater cultural awareness.

I urge the supervisors to reconsider this decision, work closely with the Vietnamese American community to understand the pain they’ve caused, and remember this day with the solemnity and respect it deserves.

Tri Ta is a Republican Assembly member representing Orange County.