Volume 15 Issue 3
When more than 2,000 members of the Capis¬trano Unified Education Association (CUEA) walked the picket lines in a three-day strike last April – forcing the school board’s negotiating team to back off an imposed contract and accept language promising to restore salary and benefits cuts with future new revenue – they knew it was just the first in a two-step process to restore integrity and sound management to the chaos-plagued south Orange County district.
Capturing the momentum from the strike that resulted in thousands more petition signatures than necessary to bring two adversarial board members up for recall, the broad coalition of educators, parents and community members swept those two seats for their endorsed candidates November 2, but also celebrated the election of another coalition-friendly candidate. The lone previously cooperative board member remains, so teachers now look forward to working with a positive and progressive 4-3 majority on the new school board.
In addition, the CUEA-backed Measure H passed overwhelmingly, meaning that in future board elections, candidates will have to run from the areas where they live, making it much more difficult for future “reform cabals” to coalesce for a power grab.
“Capistrano’s teachers will be forever grateful for the overwhelming support from our fellow CTA members statewide during our strike,” said CUEA President Vicki Soderberg. “There’s no doubt it helped us stay the course to elect new school board members that will bring reason and responsibility back to our schools.”