Kurt Page, San Clemente
Steve Lang says that the days of “us against them” must end at CUSD, but if he had been living around here for more than a year, he would already know that the current school board has restored peace, calm and mutual respect for the last two years. It is Lang himself who could create an “us against them” environment if elected. For instance, he claims that the highest performing large school district in California would somehow be better if only the teachers who helped make that happen would take a massive pay cut (on top of our existing pay cuts) and work furlough days for free. That’s not what I would call a unifying policy or an educationally sound one.
On the other hand, incumbent John Alpay has helped repair the turmoil that that the previous board (now Steve Lang supporters) established and maintained through lawsuits, inflammatory rhetoric and questionable policies. Let’s not allow Steve Lang and his gang to drag us back to those days.
I think the city of San Clemente is growing a little tired of John Alpay. The facts are that he voted to increase class sizes and reduce the school year by 15 days so that the teachers would not have to concede any reductions to their pay. The “calm” that has been restored is simply a perception by this author of Trustee Alpay representing the teachers and not the students. If the teachers have the union to represent them, who do students and families have to stand up for their interests? How do we ensure that our children are well represented?
When Lang announced his bid for office, the response from Vickie Soderberg (the taxpayer funded, Union leader) was to threaten a teacher’s strike if Lang were elected. I don’t think the parents of San Clemente have any more patience after the last teacher’s strike. Just because the Union is happy doesn’t mean there is order at CUSD!
The majority of voters in CUSD seem to reject the absurd claim that teachers don’t care about students.