Press Release: CUSD Endorsements

The California Republican Assembly has officially endorsed the entire Capistrano Unified School District Reform Slate, which includes the following:

• Support the re-election of the “ABC Reform Trustees” (Addonizio, Bryson & Christensen)
• Vote “NO” on the Recall of Mike Winsten
• Vote “NO” on the Recall of Ken Lopez-Maddox
• Vote NO on the Union’s “Measure H”

Chartered in 1934, the CRA is the state’s oldest and largest Republican volunteer organization. Earlier this year, the CRA officially commemorated its 75th Anniversary. The CRA works to support and elect candidates who stand for conservative Republican principles. The CRA is an official ancillary of the California Republican Party. President Ronald Reagan called the CRA "the conscience of the Republican Party."

Powerful union leaders and their supporters are campaigning to take control of the Capistrano Unified School District on Election Day – seeking to replace the existing conservative Reform Trustees with a new pro-union majority, and with their ballot initiative known as Measure H, to literally take away from every voter 6 of our 7 school board votes.

Unions Seeking Control of the Board
Three conservative Reform Trustees are up for re-election in November – the “ABC Reform Trustees” (Ellen Addonizio, Anna Bryson and Larry Christensen). Union sympathizers are campaigning aggressively to replace each of these well-respected trustees.

However, the union doesn’t just want to gain three seats – they want to gain control of the seven-member board in one single election.

That is why they spent months and thousands of dollars to place an early recall election on the November ballot for two more conservative Reform Trustees – CUSD Trustees Ken Lopez-Maddox and Mike Winsten.

As a result, if the union succeeds in electing at least four of their pro-union candidates to the Board, they will have effectively taken control of the school district in one election. This is bad. But it gets worse.

Measure H – Union Seeking To Take Away 6 of Your 7 Votes.
The unions also spent months working to get Measure H on the November ballot – they want to reduce the board’s accountability to voters throughout the entire school district by changing the way school board representatives are elected in the future.

Today CUSD voters get 7 votes -- 1 for each of the school board members. If the union’s Measure H passes – voters will lose 6 of their votes.

Passage of Measure H would diminish the voice of every voter and reduce board accountability – your vote will only influence 1 board member (not 7).

Voters could lose the right to vote for the trustee representing the area where their children attend school – or the area where their Mello-Roos taxes are spent (resulting in taxation without representation). 

No other Orange County school district elects their school board this way – but dysfunctional L.A. Unified does.

Local control by voters would be severely diminished – while union influence would be increased. 

Unions spend more on politics than anyone – it is not in the best interest of students or taxpayers to increase their power.

The CUSD Board Has Implemented Many Positive Reforms.
Over the past three consecutive elections, voters elected each of the seven current conservative members of the CUSD Board of Trustees to restore honesty, integrity and accountability to CUSD – and they’ve accomplished much.

Bringing reform and positive change is especially difficult in a district which spends approximately 85 percent of its budget on salaries/benefits for public employees – most of whom are represented by powerful union leaders fighting to preserve an unsustainable status quo.

Despite continuous union opposition, they have successfully balanced the budget; stopped deficit spending; refused to increase taxes; reduced bloated administration; reduced union contract expenses by 10.1 percent; enacted strong anti-nepotism policies; created a district-wide facilities assessment; promoted conservative fiscal policies and family values; and fought to keep smaller class sizes.

This year, student achievement in CUSD soared to its highest levels. In fact, this year Capistrano Unified was the State’s highest achieving large school district!

To learn more about these important issues, please visit our website at www.cusdreform.com

Committee to Reform CUSD