California Families Already Live Under a Parallel Mandate with Only Medical Exemptions That Are Rarely Given New York’s 2019 elimination of religious exemptions for school vaccinations has put Old Order Amish communities in direct conflict with the state. Three private, community-funded Amish schools have been fined a combined $118,000, and their legal challenge—Miller v. McDonald—is now back before the U.S. Supreme Court after lower courts sided with the state. The situation

An online MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Town Hall held Monday, April 20, 2026, brought together four candidates seeking to lead California out of its chronic disease crisis. Hosted by Jeff Dornick on the Pickax platform, the nearly 2-hr. event featured leading Republican contenders Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, along with underdog candidates Leo Zacky (R) and Lewis Herms (No Party Pref.). All four candidates expressed strong agreement on core MAHA

California operates one of the most complex K-12 systems in the nation: the state Department of Education, 58 county offices of education (including Shasta County Office of Education - SCOE), and over 1,000 local districts—many tiny and rural. In Shasta County, there are 25 independent districts, plus SCOE, that serve about 26,000–27,000 students. Despite spending $billions, students are being left behind.