Candidate for
Trustee; Capistrano Unified School District; Trustee Area 6

Why am I running for School Board?

I am a native Californian. I was born and raised in Eureka - about 250 miles north of San Franciso on the coast. I am a product of public education - Eureka City Schools - in the 60's. Back when California was a leader in public education. I went through a Gifted Children's Program in elementary school . We had field trips, we had mandatory music classes, we had assistant principals, we had free school busses, we had inter-school football, baseball, softball, basketball, even track and wrestling - in Junior High.

Fast forward about 30 years to when I registered my daughter for Kindergarten at George White Elementary, and was given a suggested school supply list. This was my first awareness that California public schools had changed - now you have to bring your own crayons to Kindergarten!

That's when I really started to learn about how public education works in California. The first thing I did was sign up to volunteer in my child's class room. The second thing I did was join the local PTA. I have learned that an individual student's success is directly proportional to the parental involvement in their education. I have also learned that parent volunteers are vital to the successful operation of many of our classrooms, campuses, and the district as a whole.

My view widened as I learned more about how California funds education - about Serrano v. Priest, Prop 98 minimum funding guarantee, revenue limits, and equalization, and how Prop 13 in 1976 switched the primary funding for education from the local property tax revenue to state funding. I was amazed to learn how federal mandates for special education are funded at only a fraction of their actual cost, and that those costs come straight out of the district's general funds - a situation known as encroachment - that costs us millions of dollars a year.

Both of my children were fortunate enough to have benefited from the 20-to-1 Class Size Reduction incentive program in grades 1 - 3; and I also chaired the district-wide parent million dollar fundraising campaign to save 20-to-1 in third grade. Ten years ago I coordinated parent support of a joint-use agreement between the City of Laguna Niguel and CUSD to revitalize the playing fields at George White, and for the city to improve and maintain a trail through the open space behind George White to provide a safe route to school and alleviate traffic congestion.

I have been to Sacramento to lobby our legislators for less categorical funding for education, and more local control. I have helped coordinate letter writing campaigns to our federal representatives to fully fund IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and to adopt a more improvement-based model for No Child Left Behind.

I have served on several district Attendance Boundary Committees when new schools were built to accommodate our growing student population, and faced the passion of parents who realize that new schools are necessary to alleviate over-crowding, but don¡¯t want to move their children away from the comfort of their neighborhood school. I have been a parent representative on the district's Calendar Committee, and realized that there is a lot more to it than just picking a start date and adding 180 days. I have been a member of the Superintendent's Parent Advisory Council, and have been able to provide input on proposed budget cuts. I have served on school site councils and participated in site-based facilities assessments. I understand the difference between capital budget and operating budget, and why you can't use money from one to pay for the other - why you can't lay-off administrators and use the money to replace a building, or delay school construction to save librarians jobs.

I have been a Team Mom for soccer and baseball. I have been PTA President at George White Elementary and Niguel Hills Middle School, and am currently Executive Vice President of Dana Hills PTSA, and have served on the Capistrano Council of PTSA's. I am involved in athletic and music booster clubs, and have been on the Dana Hills Grad Nite committee for 5 years. I have survived combination classes, fundraising to save 20-to-1, no airport at El Toro, SAT study guides, college applications, failing AP classes, silent auctions, league championships, and varsity letters. I have attended more school board meetings than I can count.

I am an engineer with a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Stanford University, and over 35 years in real-world engineering. I am good at technical analysis and a logical approach to problem solving. And I have formal training as a parliamentarian.

I tell you all of this because I am not an accountant. I am not looking at the students in our district from the outside, as items on a balance sheet. I am not a politician or a puppet of outside interests.

I am a knowledgeable, involved parent who wants to bring this district back to focus on our children and their educational achievement. Please help me by voting for Martha McNicholas for CUSD, Trustee Area 6, on Nov. 2.