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Hold CUSD Accountable FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 8, 2012 PARENTS AND TAXPAYERS JOIN FORCES TO DEMAND SOLUTIONS FOR STUDENTS & ACCOUNTABILITY IN CAPISTRANO UNIFIED Parents and taxpayers throughout Capistrano Unified School District (“CUSD”) have united to form “Hold CUSD Accountable” – a new organization opposed to current plans to further increase class sizes, shorten the school year and otherwise diminish the educational opportunities provided to students. Wayne Tate, Spokesperson for Hold CUSD Accountable, described the mission of the organization, “This is a well-organized, grassroots effort by parents, taxpayers and concerned community members to oppose the actions of a school board majority with misplaced priorities that will hurt students and taxpayers — they’re planning to protect the pay and benefits for the public employees by sacrificing our children and their education.” Faced with the prospect of additional drastic cuts in consecutive years, the community has lost confidence in the current district leadership which has continually favored employee compensation over student needs. Hold CUSD Accountable is bringing parents, community members, business leaders and taxpayers together to demand fiscal responsibility in an effort to preserve quality public education for students. Details of an emerging agreement between the majority school board and the Capistrano Unified Educator’s Association (CUEA), the teacher’s union were made public this week. The CUSD board of trustees has never shared its plans with the public, but the teachers union has provided their members with the details of these secret negotiations. CUSD is facing a $51 million shortfall. To cover this deficit, union leaders and the board majority are planning to further cut school programs, eliminate three weeks of instruction, dramatically increase class sizes in all grades and restrict parent access to teachers – while at the same time making no cuts to employee pay and benefits. In fact, employee salaries can actually increase under this plan. Wayne Tate concluded, “This is wrong – and it is unacceptable.” Hold CUSD Accountable plans to inform voters on these issues and others relevant to the November election, at which time four seats on the seven member school board will be contested. More information can be found at the organization’s website: http://HoldCUSDAccountable.org |
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