Guest Opinion | Kaya Haig Plansker: A Case for Being Civically Curious

I’ll start with a confession: I did not know until very recently, what the school board did. I’m still not 100% sure where their governance ends and Pasadena Unified’s begins, nor am I sure if I’ve voted for my district area representative in the past.

Another confession: I actually have school-aged children and my kids don’t go to Pasadena Unified schools. They went to a public charter school and are now at independent schools I’d never heard of until another parent told us about their experience there. I was all too happy to do a cursory tour of the local school options and then settle on what felt like the best vibe check with each kid. Not very evidence-based.

If you’ve dismissed me by now, I get it. I’m part of the ~45% of the student population siphoned off from traditional public schools in Pasadena. And I know I’m part of the problem. But I’m also an asset.

Right now, I have a pretty decent chance of getting Wordle in under four guesses, know a heck of a lot of Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo song lyrics, and can talk your ear off about what we go through psychosocially in our elder years. That’s thanks to being the daughter of a linguist, a tween mom, and an adjunct professor.

We are all unique sources of knowledge. Our lived experience, hobbies, and professional paths fill us with expertise. But all too often, I see us challenge and judge one another on what we don’t know. A game of “gotcha” to prove we are smarter about certain things. To what end?

My gaps in knowledge are forgivable. So are yours. It’s too demanding to know everything about everything and make conscious choices all the time. Sometimes I tune out information I should know, like what’s so great about Pasadena public schools.

The other day, a candidate for PUSD’s Board of Trustees, Juan Carlos Perez, asked me what I cared about — and listened while I went off on a tangent about creating a culture of care in the community. He didn’t interrupt except to ask me more questions. He said things like, “that’s interesting,” and, “tell me more about that.” I did.

Because even though I don’t have kids in PUSD schools, I have spent a lot of time in the company of people who support the health and wellbeing of school-aged children in Pasadena and have taught me about social determinants of health. Thanks to a human development degree from Pacific Oaks College, I know the importance of scaffolding youth through early childhood into critical teen years. Thanks to my time with Leadership Pasadena, I had the opportunity to think about the lack of pathways to fulfilling and decent paying jobs for local graduates (and our history of marginalizing the socioeconomic power of nonwhites). And thanks to my work in civic leadership development, I know systems don’t change without a lot of people seeing a reason to invest in solutions over perpetuating the problems.

I’m here to tell you, you’ll get a lot more out of me if you’re curious about how to recruit me as a partner in the former versus dismissing me as the latter. Even if I don’t have kids in PUSD schools, you can ask me how I think I can contribute to every student in the district being prepared for success in life.

Thanks for asking. Here are a few ideas on how I might be of service:

I can offer my social capital to introduce a student to a community member who shares their interests. I can vote with my wallet for parcel taxes and bond measures that fund public schools. I can show up when volunteers are needed, even if it’s not my kid’s school. I can invite youth into protected adult spaces. I can see each student as worthy of learning from. And, I can fill in my knowledge gaps about PUSD so that if I’m ever in a position to share school recommendations, I can be sure to pass along the many evidence-based reasons to consider your local public school. In short, I can practice curiosity to grow into my civic responsibility. So can you.

By the way, before you go, I’m genuinely curious — what do you care about? What unique knowledge and perspectives do you hold that can benefit our community? Tell me more.

Kaya Haig Plansker is a Senior Director of Training and Programs at Coro Southern California, a civic leadership institution focused on training civic leaders in the skills they need to strengthen democracies and have positive systems impact. Kaya is a board member with Civitas and Young & Healthy Pasadena and is the former executive director of Leadership Pasadena. She lives in Pasadena Unified School District Area 2 with her two kids, two dogs, and cat.