Street Repairs Will Have To Wait

The city recently resurfaced major portions of two streets (Trabuco and Olympiad) and applied patches on numerous others. How will city hall respond as residents add hundreds of streets to the list of those needing repair?

Drivers report that the resurfaced southbound lanes of Olympiad (between Alicia and Jeronimo) started falling apart soon after the work was finished. They say the top layer of asphalt is deteriorating from week to week. Streets with small patches are faring no better, as cracks soon develop between patches.

There are at least two reasons the city won’t adequately fix most of the streets. First, it can’t afford more than patchwork and tar for those that aren’t due for resurfacing in the next cycle. Despite all the happy talk about the city’s $30 million in “discretionary reserves,” less than $500,000 is available for discretionary spending. The rest is obligated, encumbered or needed to pay the bills. Revenue is down, and the financial picture won’t improve soon.

In good times, the number of city employees ballooned to 150-plus, and many of them are engrossed in activities unrelated to essential public services. City hall insiders have said for years that things like the character program “suck up an enormous amount of staff time.” If adequate money were spent on infrastructure – repairing roads and maintaining slopes – funds would evaporate for city staff parties, “free” meals at city hall, poorly attended events and decorative junk along roadways and trails. The city bragged about planting more than 400 trees last year – most of them along Crown Valley Parkway – while telling residents to conserve water.

City employees are busy planning the next flute concert and changing pictures on pillars along Crown Valley Parkway. Photographs in the outdoor “cabanas” at the community center were fading a bit, so new pictures had to be taken, laminated, weatherproofed and installed. And the city’s next big, yearlong anniversary party (No. 25) is only three years away.

Street repairs will have to wait.

Speed Trap Ahead

Mission Viejo drivers know when to ease off the gas pedal, particularly when driving on familiar streets. Those going south on Marguerite Pkwy near the Nadadores swim center can attest to the high number of vehicles that get stopped for speeding down the hill.

The National Speed Trap Exchange has a Website to find speed traps. In Mission Viejo, go to http://www.speedtrap.org/city/1073/Mission%20Viejo&page=2 . Some of the well known locations include La Paz and Mosquero, Vista del Lago and Marguerite, Crown Valley near Marguerite and Santa Margarita Pkwy near Pinecrest Road.

On the Website, drivers can add information, including a speed trap location and description, including times of day speeders are likely to get a ticket.

Please Support the Right to Vote

Vote “Yes” on Measure D, June 8, 2010, Election

The Mission Viejo Right to Vote gives us, the citizens of Mission Viejo, the final approval on “major” land-use changes here in our beautiful city.

Since before Mission Viejo became a city more than 20 years ago, it was designated a “Master Planned” community. This meant than when the city was laid out by the Mission Viejo Company, every parcel was designated for a specific use, such as homes, apartments, parks, commercial or light industrial use. This was done to provide a balanced community that would sustain itself by means of sales tax and property tax revenues to the city to make sure that, given prudent spending patterns, Mission Viejo would remain prosperous and beautiful for a long time to come.

Unfortunately, over the years, various Planning Commissions and City Councils disrupted that “Master Plan” by rezoning commercial property that would have provided sales taxes to the city. They replaced the commercial zoning with high-density residential zoning at least four times. In one case about 15 years ago in southern Mission Viejo, more than 700 high-density apartments were built in place of the commercial office buildings nearby residents were promised. The resulting traffic, crime and problems in the schools that were predicted by those same residents have caused many problems for the community. Several other projects have been approved and rezoned during the past five years, and will be built as soon as the economy improves, adding more traffic, crime and further overloading our schools.

The Mission Viejo Right to Vote is a very simple law that will require that citizens approve, at an election paid for by the developer of the project, any changes to land-use rules. So, if a property is zoned for open space/recreation, such as the Casta Del Sol Golf Course, then the citizens of Mission Viejo would have to approve any change, such as building housing or stores on the property.

In order to ensure that the high development standards currently in effect in Mission Viejo are maintained, a project would have to go through all the existing approval steps, including the Planning Commission and City Council, before the voters would have to approve the project, avoiding the problems caused by “ballot box zoning.”

The Mission Viejo Right to Vote does not give the state any new powers to control zoning in Mission Viejo. It does not promote any particular kind of development, but simply gives the citizens of Mission Viejo a final say on changes to our beautiful city. It will not keep people from using their property as they see fit, as long as they abide the current zoning. Businesses can expand as usual and, because more commercial sites will probably stay commercial, new jobs will be created.

For more information, call 949-360-1717 or see http://www.missionviejorighttovote.com

Class Size: How Large Is Too Large?
A Capo parent explains the cost of increased class size

With tough economic times and continuous cuts to school district budgets, the current debate in many school districts is how to keep school districts solvent. Between 80 percent and 88 percent of the total local school district’s budget pays for salaries and benefits. When cutting costs, the choice becomes reduction in employee compensation or increase in class size and loss of programs to students.

Once class sizes are increased and programs are lost, they don’t come back. How many students in a classroom is too many students: 36, 40, 50 or 100? The line in the sand has been drawn and you MUST decide which side you will stand on. Your kids, our kids, want you to stand on their side. The choice is yours.

CUSD class sizes have been increased four times since 1999, setting the current average size at:
K= 30.5 students
1st = 25 students
2nd-5th = 31.5 students
6th-8th = 32.5 students *
9th-12th = 34.5 students *
* In 07/08, CUSD began staffing 6th-12th grade based on average daily attendance instead of actual enrollment (like overbooking an airline, CUSD is overbooking classrooms).

Currently, there is discussion between the district and the teacher’s union about increasing the number of students in grades K-12 by two (2) students as a way to balance the CUSD budget and minimize the impact on employees’ salaries. What will this mean to the students of CUSD? 

CUSD class sizes in grades K-8 are currently at the maximum allowed by law, without a state waiver (See Appendix A below).

CUSD class sizes are larger than the California statewide average in all grades: http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/Navigation/fsTwoPanel.asp?bottom=%2Fprofile.asp%3Flevel%3D04%26reportNumber%3D16

California has the largest class sizes in the country. “Small class sizes are key to improving student learning. California Teacher Association (CTA) believes that small class sizes, particularly in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, allow for the optimum development of a student’s potential and ensure individual attention to each student.

A reasonable goal for California’s class size is a program that places California in the upper quartile of low class sizes in the United States. Right now, California has the largest class sizes in the country.” http://www.cta.org/Issues-and-Action/Class-Size-Reduction/Index.aspx

CUSD has some of the largest classes in the Nation!

An increase in class size will result in:

1. Some of our youngest and best teachers will lose their jobs – larger classes means less teachers will be needed.
2. Unsafe number of students will be placed in many classrooms (See Appendix B below).
3. More students sitting on the floor during school, as many classrooms do not have the space for more desks.
4. Loss of quality education for students (See Appendix C below).
5. Loss of programs at the secondary school level – for every class that is under the average class size another class must be over the average class size. The more programs a school offers, the number of large classes increases. What are some of the potential lost programs? International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement classes, and elective classes, to name a few (See Appendix D below).
6. A greater student-to-adult ratio (As staff is reduced, the ratio of students to adults rises. Safety at high schools with over 3,000 students is a concern now. CUSD high schools have one assistant principal per 1,000 students and approximately one academic advisor per 600 students.
7. Substitute teacher costs will rise as more classes exceed the contract size and more teachers get release days (See Appendix E below).

Appendix A

By law, CUSD cannot increase K-8 without a state waiver because Education Code 41376 and 41378 place the following restrictions on maximum class sizes:

• Kindergarten - average class size not to exceed 31 students; no classes larger than 33 students
• Grades 1-3 - average class size not to exceed 30 students; no classes larger than 32 students
• Grades 4-8 - current fiscal year average number of pupils per teacher not to exceed the greater of the statewide average number of pupils per teacher in 1964 (29.9) or the district's average number of pupils per teacher in 1964
• There is no maximum listed for 9-12

Appendix B

There are 221 high school core classes (English, math, science, social studies and foreign language) that exceed the amount allowed under the current CUEA/CUSD contract for the Spring 2010 semester:

Capo HS – 60 classes between 37-42 students

San Juan Hills HS – 52 classes ranging between 37-42 students

San Clemente HS – 41 classes between 37-41 students PLUS 4 classes that have between 43-46 students

Dana HS – 40 classes between 37-41 students

Tesoro HS - 16 classes ranging between 37-41 students

Aliso Niguel HS- 8 classes ranging between 37-41 students

Appendix C

At the 10/07 CUSD Board meeting, high school teacher William Hoffman addressed the Board regarding increased class sizes and the impact it is having on teaching, learning and the increased workload for teachers. High school teacher, Mariann Irwin addressed the Board asking that they take action to reduce class size. CUEA President Vicki Soderberg addressed the Board regarding the oversized classes and the staffing of secondary schools based on ADA rather than enrollment and the impact this has caused, thus the filing of an Unfair Practice Lawsuit against the district.

“Small class sizes are key to improving student learning. California Teacher Association (CTA) believes that small class sizes, particularly in grades pre-kindergarten through 12, allows for the optimum development of a student’s potential and ensures individual attention to each student.” http://www.cta.org/Issues-and-Action/Class-Size-Reduction/Index.aspx

Seventy-five percent of high school dropouts believe that smaller class size and more individual instruction would have improved their chance to graduate. 2006 Gates Foundation Study. “The Silent Epidemic Prospective of High School Dropouts.”

Appendix D

The more program offerings a school has and the larger the average size is, the more difficult it is to average out class size. High schools are now at the tipping point. As the average class size increases, some programs must be eliminated because for every class that is under the average another class must be over the average.

For instance, at an average class size of 36.5 students, what will be done if 50 students need/want to study 4th year French? (Keep in mind they have already completed years 1 through 3 and the colleges are getting competitive and want to see four years of the same language.) Will the school create two classes with 25 students each or one class with 50 students or will they create one class with 37 students and tell the other 13 students they can’t complete their studies?

What happens when only 20 students want to take AP Government? Should the school drop the class or should they increase another class by 17 students? 

With increase in class size, choices for students are eliminated. As the economic crisis continues, what will happen next year when additional cuts are needed or 5 years? Or 10 years? Just how many programs should be eliminated and how large should class sizes grow? How many compromises should we make in our children’s education?

Appendix E

For every class that exceeds the union contracted student enrollment, a teacher gets one release per month to grade papers in grades K-5 and one day per semester, per class in grades 6-12. For example, a 4th grade teacher that teaches more than 33 students in class, gets one day per month to grade papers and a substitute is hired at the district’s expense.

Per the CUEA (Capistrano Unified Education Association) contract, teachers get one release day per section when enrollment exceeds the contracted number of students in a class in grades 6-12 and one day per month for grades K-5) (CUEA/CUSD contracted enrollment numbers are K=32; 1-5 = 33; 6-8= 35 and 9-12=36). If class size were to increase by two students, the number of classes that exceed the contract enrollment would increase and the number of subs required would increase. http://www.cuea.org/index2.shtml . In fact the average class size in 9-12 would become 36.5 and would actually surpass the 36-student rate that triggers a substitute allowance.

Currently, in high school only, the number of release days for the spring 2010 semester is 221 days (per the contract). The CUSD substitute rate is $90 per day; however, education code 44956(5) requires that that districts offer substitute positions to district teachers who have been let go in the past 36 months. Those previously employed teachers are to be paid at the daily rate they were making when they lost their jobs. Per the CUSD salary chart, the minimum daily rate for a one-year teacher with a BA degree is $271.66 per day or $48,899 for 180 days. (See salary schedule http://www.cuea.org/index2.shtml

CUEA/CUSD Contract language reads:

“8.5.1 If at any time after the 15th student day of the school year, a class size maximum is exceeded in grades K-5, the teacher shall receive one full-day release per month by a substitute for every month that the class exceeds the above-stated maximum.

8.5.2 If at any time after the 15th student day of the school year, a class size maximum is exceeded in grades 6-12 in the following academic classes: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Languages, the teacher shall receive a full-day release by a substitute per semester per class that exceeds the above-stated maximum. One period of release time will accrue monthly from September through January and February through June for each class section that exceeds the stated maximum. The release time must be provided by a district substitute, rather than a unit member.”

At the secondary level, these maximums apply only to core academic classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language):
Kindergarten 32 students to 1 teacher
Grades 1-5 33 students to 1 teacher
Grades 6-8 35 students to 1 teacher
Grades 9-12 36 students to 1 teacher

The Buzz

TEA Party patriots will host a reunion rally on “tax day,” Thurs., April 15. Saddleback Republican Assembly invites everyone to join the peaceful protest on the corners of La Paz and Marguerite Parkway from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Signs will be available for participants to hold, but everyone is encouraged to make a sign and/or bring an American flag to wave.

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The Mission Viejo Chapter of ACT for America will meet on Mon., April 12. Doors open at 6:45 p.m., and the meeting will run from 7:30 to 9:30. Guest speaker Roz Rothstein’s topic will be “The New Battlefront for Anti-Semitism: America’s College Campus.”

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The 12th annual Fun With Chalk Street Painting Festival will be held on April 24-25 in Mission Viejo. The parking lot at the community center will be transformed into hundreds of squares of varying sizes. Professional and amateur artists will create works of art on the asphalt. To join in as a sponsor, artist or volunteer worker for the event, call 1.877.932.4255 or email fdlphd@gmail.com.

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Fifth District County Supervisor Pat Bates will be the guest speaker for the April 22 meeting of Aliso Viejo Republican Women Federated. The group holds a dinner meeting each month at The Hills Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn), 5 Freeway and La Paz Road, Laguna Hills. Call 949.859.5607 for information.

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From the California Family Council: April 15 is being celebrated as a Day of Truth, now a project of Exodus International. The purpose is to provide an option for students to exercise their First Amendment right to freely express the truth about faith, sexuality and relationships. It is designed to promote authentic diversity and dialogue among peers on campus in order to foster honest communication and answers. Launched by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) in 2005, Focus on the Family and Exodus International joined the project two years later to provide expertise, information and support regarding the theological, social and religious issues central to the topic. On April 16, the pro-homosexual alternative Day of Silence, students are encouraged to take a vow of silence throughout the day. A SVUSD parent said, “Families need to know about this.”