More on the Discussion About CUSD

This is another e-mail that is circulating around and was sent to me...

Dear Friends,

Wishing you a Happy New Year.  As the new year begins, I would like to take a moment of your time to let you in on an important story that needs to be shared and investigated.  While you may have read some of the information that has floated through the newspapers regarding Capistrano Unified School District in South Orange County, it is important that people are truly aware of what is happening in CUSD. The belief is that many of our current trustees have lost focus on what matters.  As parents and community members become more aware they too see, as teachers have tried to share, that the district is in CRISIS.

The turmoil is not about pay cuts for teachers, as the CUSD Board of Trustees would like the public to believe.  Teachers are willing to do their part to help balance the budget.  It's really about respect for public education and the current fiscal crisis is being used as a smoke screen to portray teachers in a greedy light while hiding other political agendas; specifically, the

CUSD Recall group (http://www.cusdrecall.com/) and

Education Alliance  (http://www.education-alliance.org/index.cfm/about_us.htm).

These are two organizations that are supporting this board’s current political agenda. Please view their websites to see for yourself, what these two organizations are doing to dismantle public education.

We are asking for your support.  Asking the community to please come to the CUSD Board Meetings, to see the Trustees in action, and to see what is truly occurring in CUSD.  The money that is being siphoned from the classroom and spent on legal fees and consultants is astronomical.  People are wondering about the special election in June, to vote by district, which could cost the district close to a half a million dollars.

What is the reason for the June Special Election?     This special election is designed to fulfill the campaign promise made by the current board members to ask for by-area voting (i.e. San Clemente votes only for the San Clemente board member, Dana Point for Dana Point...etc).  Not surprisingly, once they were voted into office - by the current at-large system where thousands of voters are confronted by a myriad of unknown names - they have changed their tune to keep their seats.  It's expensive to run a campaign of that size. Their financial supporters, including members of the Education Alliance and the CUSD Recall group, are counting on the voting process to remain status quo so they can keep their seats.

On November 19, 2009,the CUSD Recall Committee demanded the Orange County Committee on School District Organization to rescind their September 30, 2009 decision to call a special election on June 8, 2009 for the Capistrano Unified School District; The committee upheld their decision and on December 17, 2009 CUSD Board of Trustees moved forward in filing a lawsuit against the Orange County Department of Education, the Orange County Committee on School District Organization and the Orange County Registrar of Voters. Again, more money taken away from the classroom.

The board is calling this an unnecessarily expensive election - these, the same people, who thought nothing of an expensive recall election several years ago to oust board members who had only four more months on their terms.  It appears to be a double standard.

If they feel the June special election is so expensive, why not save the district money and ask for the free state-approved by-area voting waiver (that other districts have requested and received)? Their concern is if they fulfill their campaign promise, they might not be re-elected.  Is their lawsuit for the good of the people or for the good of the board? These by-area-election waivers have been granted at other districts around the state.  See the links below for additional information:

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1686595.html

http://www.csba.org/NewsAndMedia/Publications/CASchoolsMagazine/2009/Spring/Departments/AsISeeItVotingRightsAct.aspx

 

 

Parents and community members are working together to insure the appropriate educational priorities are maintained by the Board of Trustees and are working to insure that every dollar spent is in the best of interest of our students.  For more information on Capistrano Unified Children First and to become involved, see the link below:

http://www.capounifiedchildrenfirst.org/

An additional, on going valuable source of information on what is happening within CUSD can be found on Beyond the Blackboard:

http://capistranoinsider.typepad.com/beyond_the_blackboard/

 

As any realtor will tell you, home values are tied into a school district’s performance and its quality.   Capistrano Unified has one of the highest API Scores in California due to the dedication of its quality teachers and administrators.  A mass exodus of top quality administrators has already occurred within the last year. With the potential of a permanent 10% pay cut for CUSD teachers, it will be difficult to recruit and keep high caliber teachers in the district, as this pay decrease will make CUSD one of the lowest paying districts in Orange County. For more information on negotiations and what teachers are willing to do please visit:

http://www.cuea.org/index2.shtml

Take this opportunity to get involved and to truly make a difference in your community. Please forward this to five or more people along with talking to your friends and neighbors.  With your help we can inform the public and preserve the pride in CUSD.

Thank you!

Comments

[Uncover, Discover, and Discard]

WOW!! Excellent post and completely accurate and spot on information!

We need to remove these imposters from their positions. By RECALL, Election or through their resignations! They lied to get into office, they are lying now that they are in office and their supporters are lying to keep them in office. This is government and "representation" at its most rotten example.

CUSD parents and voters please get involved! We can't afford to let these people have one more day in office. Donate your time, donate your money, donate your energy and passion. Don't hesitate! Please act now.

There is a Paypal link on the capounifiedchildrenfirst.org site and $99 or less in one year keeps your name anonymous.

Jonathon and others....be careful not to use question marks when you post (?)! Soon to be ex-Trustee Bryson has instructed us all not to question the Board of Trustees. We wouldn't want to land on someone's "enemies list". Perhaps Trustees Alexander, Beall or Beall might figure out who has the nerve to question their puppets! Remember we are no longer living in the US once you are in front of these trustees. Bryson and her cronies think this is China or Iran and they want to muzzle dissent. Act up, Act out, disrupt, remove and discard.

The education of our children is too vital to be left to these totally incompetent and dysfunctional political hacks.

[Vrhodes]

This is an excellent post but hard to read since the font color disappears into the background and makes it difficult to read - this should be widely disseminated to parents in the district!

[Sick of this board.]

Yes, hacks who have refused to attend state sponsored and paid for training. The state offers training for new judges, board members, etc., to help local and state governments run properly and efficiently. These hacks have declined this training. They appear to believe that they know it all. Clearly, they don't.

An excellent post. We teachers are willing to help out, but we won't be bullied and demonized. we aren't willing to take retroactive and permanent pay cuts, especially when the board is paying tens of thousands (and, that's being conservative) on high priced lawyers to fight the public who they are supposedly accountable to. They claimed to be fiscal conservatives, and many teachers actually voted for them on that basis. The board's actions have been anything but fiscally conservative, let alone fiscally responsible.

[shelly]

I just listened to the audio of the last board meeting. By not having the speakers speak in order that the blue cards were turned in it seems to me that the board or someone is deliberately trying to mislead the public. If you were at the meeting it was clear that the audience was overwhelmingly for waivers and teachers and certainly not the board's current fans. On the audio the initial speakers after the first break make it appear that there were many in the room that were supporting the board and this clearly was not the case. There were about 15 people. This seems like a PR move by the board and a very political move. What about listening to their constituents especially since Pres. Bryson kept saying how important it was to hear the speakers. I find this very curious and have written the board and the superintendent asking them how they chose their speakers. I have yet to recieve an answer, but I do think the answer should be made public. I find it very unfair that speakers are selected and filtered and not called in order.

Also, I found it very unbelievable and entertaining listening to Tony Bealle commend the board for rooting out nepotism after he just received a monetary settlement from CUSD from a board that he gave money to and helped elect and after he was he was one of the initial speakers CHOSEN to speak. No nepotism in CUSD? Huh?

[Teacher in the district]

Well said and accurate!

[mayo gubbins]

Wow, sign that person up. This is the type of information that needs to get to every house in the CUSD area. How do we do that?

[Leadership is Needed]

Could we please stop referring to these people as "trustees"? There is nothing trustworthy about how they conduct themselves or any of the responsibilities that have been "entrusted" to them. Trust implies ethical, upstanding moral conduct. These 7 individuals have not displayed any behavior that falls within those parameters.

[10 months and counting]

You can start by sending emails with links to this blog, the Children First website and any other info you have to everyone in your address book so that they too can see what is going on.
There is nothing like attending a board meeting to see what it's all about but let's face it, 200,000 people can't and won't so the info has to be sent to them.
Another great way is to hold a "informational coffee meeting" at your home for all your friends and neighbors. There are representatives from Children First who will come and do the speaking for you and that is another great way to spread the word. We all need to do our part. Please don't sit back and rely on others. We are fighting for our rights and we can't do it alone.

[well?]

http://www.ocregister.com/news/school-226595-county-orange.html

Even the OC Register articles and comments are starting to sound more neutral. Not the usual hate mongering of us against them attitude, it reads like people are looking for answers and questioning the methodology. I find it ironic that even though the article was not supposed to be strictly a CUSD article, the comments are only CUSD- there are some new bloggers also it appears. I haven't seen the article in print yet. Nor have I seen the article about the teachers striking in print yet.... http://www.ocregister.com/news/district-226861-teachers-strike.html

[Reality Check]

Use the OCRegister.com to promote CUCF. They manipulate public opinion and the recall supporters are all over their articles, commenting. Shut them down with the truth. Here's the article on the horizon: http://www.ocregister.com/news/district-226861-teachers-strike.html