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In support of Speakman, Lerner and Miller I suggest bringing the issue to a vote by the citizens of Camarillo to stop all the procrastination over unification. Additionally, the Camarillo City Council, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and the Ventura County Board of Education have all passed resolutions urging this matter be put to the voters. I am asking the voters to review the education and training of all the candidates for these very responsible positions. Let's move into the 21st century and ask the citizens to choose to unify or not. My wife and I have lived here over 32 years and put three children through Camarillo and Rio Mesa high schools. We have never understood why the district wasn't unified 30 years ago!
Now it is time for us to speak up. We don't need any
more studies. We ask you to vote for Patty Lerner, Jennifer Miller and Ron
Speakman. There are many education issues to deal with in Camarillo; school district unification just happens to be the most contentious one. I have been hearing about unification since I moved here 16 years ago, and the issue has still not been resolved. No one doubts that the ongoing bickering has cost us precious funds and taken our attention from other important matters. It is foolish to think that further delays will change this. Unification needs to be put to a vote. There are costs and benefits to unification. There are also costs and benefits in keeping the status quo. Delaying the vote just adds further costs. After 20 years of discussion, we know what the issues are. Therefore, I cannot support officials that seek further delays in the decision process. It is dividing our community and hurting our children. Delaying the vote just denies us our right to be part of the process. Whether or not you support unification, you should support a public vote on it.
Patty Lerner is one of the candidates for the Pleasant
Valley School Board who supports unification. This doesn't mean that she or the
other school board members get to decide the issue. The citizens decide. She is
simply ready to bring the issue to a vote without further costly delays. Patty's
position is unambiguous, and that's why I am supporting her. As a longtime school district management employee, I believe the most damaging characteristic of a board member is to micromanage and target employees who voice opinions that differ from his/her political philosophy or who challenge the status quo. If it is the will of Camarillo's citizens to get unification to a vote, then we need a board committed to supporting that process. Unification is the single greatest issue facing the future education of our K-eight students and provides the community the best opportunity to enhance the quality of education for our students. If the community of Camarillo were to be created today, it would have a unified school district. Camarillo should have control over decisions affecting the expenditure of our education tax dollars and the education program. The community of Camarillo should be making financial and program decisions for our high school kids. Unification is a community issue. If the community wants to vote on the issue, it is incumbent upon the board to do everything it can to advance the issue so that it can be voted upon by the community. It is the responsibility of the PVSD board to provide the community with necessary information to enable them to make an informed decision and, yes, spend money as needed from the K-eight program.
I endorse Ron Speakman, Jennifer Miller and Patty
Lerner, candidates who clearly accept the responsibility of advancing the
unification issue to the community voters. With the majority of students in the Oxnard Union High School District attending schools in Oxnard, and the majority of the board of trustees representing those students in Oxnard, it's obvious that the priority of this district is to serve the students in Oxnard. I believe that most Camarillo parents feel that the needs of Camarillo high school students are not being met by the OUHSDThey want their tax dollars spent on schools and programs their children attend, and they want more voice in the administration of their schools. Because unifying the school district is the desire of most families in Camarillo, Pleasant Valley School District is doing the right thing by preparing the studies and doing what needs to be done to bring the issue of unification to the voters. It's important to support candidates that support unification, it's the opponents that are costing the district more money.
Unification is not the only issue in this campaign, but
it's the most important one at this time. Please support the candidates that
want to bring unification to the voters. Vote for Patty Lerner, Ron Speakman and
Jennifer Miller for Pleasant Valley school board. The unification of Camarillo's school district into a K-12 district is not the only issue facing our school board. However, it is the most telling with respect to how the different candidates reply to questions regarding their stances on unification. Unification is not a new, unheard of concept. The possibility of unification has been on Camarillo's political landscape for years, if not decades. When a candidate, who has direct access to the numerous studies and reports created about unification, tells the Camarillo public that he/ she is still unsure about their position, I become concerned. If a candidate replies that he/she has not been able to ascertain all the facts, I become concerned. I want school board members who have the ability to devote time to research on issues affecting Camarillo's children, the wisdom and integrity to listen to all sides of an issue, the discernment to filter out attempts to obscure the true facts and the courage to voice an opinion and publicly take a stance. I have three children: an elementary schooler and a middle schooler in the Pleasant Valley School District, and a high schooler in the Oxnard Union School District. I want my children, and all the children of Camarillo, to be provided with the best possible education.
I demand that the people governing my children's
education have the crucial characteristics of time, wisdom, integrity,
discernment and courage. I urge you to join me and vote for the candidates that
I see as exemplifying these characteristics. I will be voting for Patty Lerner,
Ron Speakman and Jennifer Miller. Ron Speakerman, Jennifer Miller and Patty Lerner are all running on a prounification platform in the Pleasant Valley School District Board of Governors election. They cite the ability of the school district to gain $6 million per year of additional state school funding to raise teacher salaries and pay for innovative educational programs that have gone unfunded due to severe budget restraints as their reason for their enthusiastic support for unifications. Unification would create a Camarillo Unified School District responsible for education in grades K through 12. Apparently the state of California makes these funds available to encourage districts to unify, as studies have shown the performance of high school students improve in unified school districts when a consistent curriculum flows from elementary and middle school into high school studies. The opposition to unification in Camarillo comes from the Oxnard Union School District Board and the teacher's union in Oxnard who are funding and supporting two opposition candidates of the PVSD board in another effort to block unification. Why? They want to control the PVSD board. At a recent candidates forum in Camarillo, neither of these opposition candidates put forward any viable funding alternatives to the more dramatic funding increased provided in the unification option. Their only ideas to improve educational funding are painful line item budget cuts, which are already reviewed on a regular basis by district staff and the PVDS board, or closing smaller neighborhood school in Camarillo, which would increase pressure at other schools and face stiff opposition from parent groups. In other words, there were no funding alternatives, just a litany of complaints about the insignificant amount of money spent to respond to the legal threats and other administrative obstacles brought against unification by OUHSD and their lawyers.
The contrast on the unification issue has never been any
clearer to me and should be for Camarillo voters. Support for Camarillo
educational excellence depends on adequate funding, not budget cuts and closing
schools. Please join me in proudly voting for Patty Lerner, Jennifer Miller and
Ron Speakerman to keep our local schools open and provide a strong foundation
for educational excellence in Camarillo. Nov. 7 is the most critical election for Camarillo voters in decades. Unification of Camarillo's schools into a single K-12 locally governed district likely will be coming to a vote within the next year-perhaps as early as the next election in March 2007. At issue in this election is whether Camarillo voters want a board of trustees united in its desire to bring the issue before the voters. I've seen and heard much misinformation about all of the candidates' positions over the past month or so. So that voters can make an informed decision when casting their ballots, Camarillo Unified, the grassroots volunteer organization dedicated to making unification happen here in Camarillo, has identified three candidates for the Pleasant Valley School Board who have a proven record of supporting the idea that Camarillo voters should decide the issue. Camarillo Unified endorses the reelection of PVSD board member Jennifer Miller and PVSD board president Ron Speakman, and the election of past PTA council president Patty Lerner for the three seats open in PVSD in this election. Each brings different strengths to the board too numerous to list. Together, they make strong advocates for Camarillo children, schools and voters. Camarillo Unified also endorses City Council candidates Mike Morgan, Jan McDonald and Charlotte Craven for reelection to the Camarillo City Council.
All of these candidates have long records of
distinguished service to our community and have demonstrated by their actions
and voting records as council members that they support putting the unification
issue before Camarillo voters. | |||||
