Candidate for
Trustee; Capistrano Unified School District; Trustee Area 4

For the past four years, as Trustee and President of the Capistrano Unified Board of Education, I have fought tirelessly to defend the best interests of taxpayers, parents, and the children who represent our future.

I stand for:

QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION

I believe it is imperative that we provide our children with the finest education possible within our means, that parents must be involved, and that parents and taxpayers deserve a seat at the table. Parents must be heard!

SCHOOLS RUN FOR THE SAKE OF STUDENTS

I have always had the deepest respect for our hard-working and accomplished teachers, but we now have to decide if our schools are going to be run for the benefit of our students, or for the benefit of the teachers' union. Students come first!

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Times are tough for everyone, which means that we need leaders who know how to get the most out of every budget dollar. I have extensive financial experience and have worked with budgets for various organizations for years.

With the reform board, I led the effort to bring a budget that was in deficit back into balance. I will watch every penny of taxpayers' money & use it to advance student learning!

You elected me four years ago to restore honesty, integrity, accountability, and conservative fiscal policy.

I was voted in as part of an upsurge of concerned parents and taxpayers that completely removed the old board. The new Reform board has accomplished much:

• Balanced the budget;
• Stopped deficit spending;
• Refused to increase taxes;
• Reduced bloated administration;
• Posted checkbook, budget online;
• Fought to keep smaller class sizes;
• Repaired buildings and removed old portables;
• Promoted classroom discipline and parental rights.

Having been CEO of a software technology firm, I'm a careful steward of your tax dollars -- and I promise voters to keep our District solvent.

To serve as a Trustree of Capistrano Unified, an individual needs experience, good judgment, and dedication. I have shown that I have these qualities.

We have to live within our budgetary means and monitor spending closely. All spending should be justified in terms of its contribution to student learning in the classroom. Money per se is not the key to school success; wise spending is.

STATE BUDGET CRISIS LEADS TO STRIKE

Salaries and benefits are 85% of our budget. Hit by the state's budget crisis, we reduced administrative salary expenses 10% last year -- this year, we needed to reduce similarly the costs of our union contract.

Sadly, union leaders refused to be a part of the solution. They called a union strike.

This unnecessary strike deprived our children of three days of normal classes, disrupted lives, and needlessly destroyed goodwill -- for no positive purpose. Nonetheless, my words throughout the strike sought to bring us all back together.

THE ROAD AHEAD

With your vote, I will continue working tirelessly to guard against tax hikes and to advance student learning. Together, we must:

1. Close the Latino learning gap.

2. Bring math achievement levels closer to achievement levels in East Asian "tiger" countries.

3. Guard against neglecting the students in the middle of the pack.

4. Raise reading comprehension levels. Increase student knowledge of background information as a basis for reading comprehension.

5. Keep class-sizes manageable.

6. Make the best use possible of our new Facilities Master Plan; continue to remove portable classrooms that are unsafe or unsuitable learning environments and replace them with safe and clean classrooms and toilet facilities.

7. Not let union preferences get in the way of student learning. For example, in the face of what the union wants, maintain our policy of not firing teachers who aren't the most senior, but who have been specially trained to turn around low-performing schools.

8. Defend a rigorous course of study. Do not let the Obama administration's push for national standards and tests reduce expectations for South Orange County students. Seek the most effective curriculum and teaching methods.

9. Maintain school safety and classroom discipline. These are prerequisites of effective teaching and learning.

10. Acknowledge and honor hard-working and high-performing students, teachers and principals.

I would also consult my advisers:

EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Bill Evers, Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution; Former U.S. Asst. Secretary of Education; California Academic Standards Commissioner; Former Santa Clara County School Board Trustee.

Jay P. Greene, University of Arkansas School of Education Professor & Department.Chairman

Eric A. Hanushek, Stanford School of Education Professor; Member of California Governor Schwarzenegger's Education Excellence Committee.

Lance T. Izumi, Senior Fellow at the Pacific Research Institute; President, Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges

Paul E. Peterson, Harvard Professor; Editor-in-Chief of "Education Next" Magazine.

ARTS EDUCATION ADVISER

Lynne Munson, Former Deputy Chairwoman, National Endowment for the Humanities

TAXING, SPENDING, & PENSIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform; Member of Board of Directors, National Rifle Association; Former Executive Director, National Taxpayers Union; creator of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge

Peter C. Foy, California Chairman, Americans for Prosperity; Ventura County Supervisor

Jack Dean, Editor & Publisher, PensionTsunami.com; Vice President, California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility (CaliforniaPensionReform.com)

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PARENTAL RIGHTS & ON FEDERAL-LOCAL RELATIONS

Edwin Meese III, President Reagan's Attorney General; Former Rector of the Board of Overseers (chairman of the governing board) George Mason University, Virginia; Founder and Former Professor, University of San Diego Law School

John C. Eastman, Former Dean & Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law, Chapman University Law School