THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR VOTER APATHY

Do your homework. There’s a lot at stake.

Voter apathy has been growing for years. If ever there was a time to get out the vote that time is now. I’ve grown tired of the status quo school board at Capistrano Unified School District. How about you?  I’ve attended meetings for 3 consecutive years, speaking out for the students, parents and taxpayers. I’m a grassroots candidate not beholden to any special interests. I have fought for the taxpayers and remedied major abuses alongside my fellow taxpayers in Talega despite CUSD fighting against us. I have mobilized parents for school choice efforts that are not easy to do considering the anti-school choice climate of the current school board.
 

My opponent Ms. Holloway, who is backed and funded by the teacher’s union has been absent on the campaign trail, not engaged in CUSD issues and absent from school board meetings too. She has been involved in protecting trees in San Clemente through her foundation, not CUSD education and taxpayer issues. Trees are a noble cause, but our district has serious issues to tend to such as declining student enrollment (400 less kids this fiscal year), low math and ELA test scores, low four-year college readiness rates of 53% (should students choose this path), neglect of deferred facilities maintenance for 15+ years, and more. If you elect me, you will get an informed, passionate parent who has followed these issues, and who will be accountable to you, will bring fresh ideas and conservative fiscal leadership and who will value parents’ rights and education choices.

If you elect my opponent, you get the status quo who is running because the teacher’s union talked her into it last minute since they had no candidate and did not want me to run unchallenged.  After the August 30^th CUSD school board special meeting, Trustee Gila Jones came over to chat with me and my friends and in our conversation I asked her what made my opponent want to run for school board. Her response was that they were friends and she had applied for a vacant seat on the school board years ago. She did not get the appointment. Make no bones about it, my opponent will uphold the union’s agenda and what that means is the students will not be first priority. My opponent also supports the billion dollar bond.  

Another reason why new board leadership is necessary is the lack of sincere communication with the public. In order to build a partnership with parents and students, CUSD has to be honest and trustworthy. Just look at how CUSD currently communicates with its communities:

 

We are told by CUSD that it is the #1 performing school district in the state, when the school district, in recent years ranked around #40 out of all school districts statewide. Still not bad considering there are 900 school districts, but CUSD is not #1.
 

We are told the tax on the ballot is $889 million when it’s really going to cost taxpayers $1.8 billion.  CUSD also is not telling us that after the barrage of consultants get their fees and all the interest is paid, brick and mortar schools will only get about $500 million of this money. We will be bearing the consequences of this mega bond for 35 years, as will our children.

We are told that all schools are going to get something when some schools, possibly even many schools will get nothing at all but we will all pay the price for 35 years. Mello-Roos communities which are still paying on multiple bonds and have 15+ years before paying these off will be triple taxed and with the newer schools, will get nothing.

We are told CUSD wants to engage the community when instead they handpick agreeable people to serve on the district’s token committees, shame parents who speak out for school choice and submit charter applications, publicly berate parents who catch a board member doing something contrary to the law, threaten to sue elected officials who disagree with the board’s views and positions, and hire consultants and lawyers to fight the taxpayers when those very taxpayers discover the district hoarding and misspending millions in taxpayer dollars.

This behavior is killing the performance of our district. It is damaging the image of our district. We now have a district that shows a refusal to engage in the process of governing in the best interest of the people, and refuses to actively seek out participants in their issues so we cannot ensure that decisions are made in the best interest of the students and taxpayers who reside in the 7 cities and unincorporated communities they are elected to serve.

We want the best people to win but often we are all too busy to educate ourselves on the issues or research who is behind the candidates who are running for office. Voters should pay attention during election years—and, especially this year with billions in new tax increases on this ballot. Take some time to read and educate yourself on the issues and the candidates and only then can we ever forge real change.  The status quo has to go. We can do better!