April  2010  

Taking Don Corleone to (CUSD) School

A preview of the 2010 Elections now playing at your Local Capo. - The Teacher’s Union CAPO

Posted By CotoBlogzz 04-21-2010 | 08:00 PM Updated 04-23-2010

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA - It is an understatement to say that the teachers’ union dislikes the transformation going on in the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) aka CAPO. – What with the last three elections placing Seven Republican trustees, dubbed the Lucky Seven, on the board. On day one of the Lucky Seven, union members threatened to recall the new board members from office. Local union bosses called in reinforcements from Then California Teachers Association (CTA).  

 Representatives have traveled to CUSD where they have held meetings at each of the district's 55 schools in order to rally and organize union members in opposition to the Board, including picketing at Trustees’ homes on weekends. The union has now authorized a strike for April 22, 2010

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Like the CTA, the Italian-American Mafia is generally divided into crews, or districts, headed by a caporegime, usually shortened to just a Capo, sort of like a captain or sergeant. The titled Capo, is used for a high ranking member of a crime family who heads a crew of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization.

Sometimes a crew might specialize in certain areas like gambling, while other crews might be more involved in legitimate interests like construction. A crew might also operate in certain geographical areas. Likewise, CTA affiliates are specialist and include the California Faculty Association and the California Community College Association.

The number of Capos/crews/Districts depends on the size of a family. The Gambino family has had some 20 capos, the St. Louis crime family has had just a small number of capos. For example. The CTA on the other hand is by far the largest teachers' union in the state of California and is considered to be the most powerful union in California. About 1,100 chapters or local teachers associations are chartered as CTA affiliates.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), reported in March 2010 that the CTA had spent $211.8 million on political campaigns in California in the ten-year period beginning on January 1, 2000 and ending on December 31, 2009, more than any other union, business, organization or individual. The size of CTA's warchest in the 10-year period was nearly double that of the California State Council of Service Employees, the group that came in 2nd in the Big Money sweepstakes, according to the FPPC.

Additionally, the CTA donated $1,000,000.00 in an unsuccessful effort to derail proposition 8, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Among other things, the CTA has supported efforts to criminalize home schooling, a “No school bulling day” where everyone can look and act homosexually –exposing children to and teaching them that alternative life styles is normal – consequently removing teachers accused of sexual abuse, or incompetent for that matter, are rarely, if ever removed. The CTA has also gone to great length to accommodate Muslim students and reject Christian practices, because the first is a religion of peace, the latter preaches hate.

At roughly the same time as the release of the FPPC’s report, Maplight.Org released a study that showed that CTA gave an average of $17,800 to each California State Senator who voted against a January 2010 school reform bill that would have helped California qualify for federal "Race to the Top" funds.

After passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, the CTA and other school interests created an Education Coalition that wages constant war in political and legal arenas to protect its share of the state budget. While CTA supporters consistently argue that local school district issues are non-partisan, these supporters are either uninformed or trying to mislead: Every single school district, from San Diego County to San Francisco, is a microcosm of what is going on at the state and national level: Consider President Obama’s pledge to the SEIU: “Your agenda is MY agenda!” - yesterday, New Jersey voters sent a clear message voting on 479 public school budgets: Enough is enough. A stunning 54% of the budgets went down to defeat, the most since the recession year of 1976, siding with Governor Christie's call for fiscal restraint. The results have clear implications not only for a bitter power struggle between New Jersey GOP Governor Chris Christie and the state's powerful New Jersey Education Association, but also implication for the 2010 California elections including California’s Triple Threat: 1) Unions, 2) Lobbyists and 3) Parasitic bureaucracies. Specific to California, as, the battle for the Soul of the Republican party rages on, the question is, what about a battle against California’s Political Machine (and the CTA), supporting Gerry Brown for Governor and reelection of Ma’am Boxer.? Who is worrying about California’s Triple Threat?

Now, consider that lobbyists outnumber lawmakers in Sacramento by a ratio of 8-1, not counting tax-payer funded unregistered lobbyists. Further, the California Teachers Association is at the top of the list of the interest groups promoting its interest in Sacramento at the tune of $211,849,298, followed by the California State Council of Service Employees—$107,467,272. This type of cold cash can send shills down spineless politicians, drowns out the voices of average voters, and intimidates political opponents and elected officials alike.

The same dynamics played out over the last 30 years in the Raise and Fall of the Detroit Empire: As the unions lobbied lawmakers for more protection and more entitlements, efficiency went down, and you know the rest of the story.

Allegations of corruption within the ranks of the CUSD public employee union leadership not withstanding, you can read a similar story written on the California Wall for the last 30 years:

As the union continued to accumulate political power in Sacramento, the quality of education in the state has dropped further than the devalued Green Buck: Wit the significant difference in quality of education between public schools and private schools. Or even public universities and for profit universities. At this time, the government should get out of the business of offering undergraduate and graduate level liberal arts education and leave it to for-profit universities, for example.

Heading into the 2010 election season, the CTA has targeted the paycheck protection act and a proposed public pension reform act, attempting to cut off the source of funds of the sponsoring organizations by filing measures that would repeal $2 billion in state tax breaks for business,  enacted last February, virtually prohibit corporate political contributions and sharply raise property taxes on business. And just like the Capos demand for protection money, the CTA provides protection for for businesses and politicos: The CTA’s goal is to submit a Don Corleone-type of proposal to major business groups and politicos in the state: An offer they cannot refuse. Or a David Stern might say: You choose your poison: – the power of persuasion, or the persuasion of power: If you back the campaigns on union political funds or pensions, you will face measures that will cost you billions of dollars in new taxes.

If you think the CUSD is a non-partisan, provincial issue, think again – think wrongly if you will, but think!

Editor's Note:  As if on queue to prove our point, today, April 23, 2010, the nurse's union protested Governor's candidate Meg Whitman at a Hollywood fundraiser

Just prior to this, the New Jersey voters sent a clear message  voting on 479 public school budgets: Enough is enough. A stunning 54% of the budgets went down to defeat, the most since the recession year of 1976. With turnout up significantly, voters were clearly responding to Governor Christie's call for voters to reject budgets in districts where teachers have not agreed to a plan of "shared sacrifice" proposed by the governor. Given the state's distress, he asked for a one-year wage freeze and teachers to contribute at least 1.5% of their salaries toward their own health benefits. The governor said the cuts were necessary in the face of a massive $11 billion budget gap.

But local school districts have balked at any changes, even though New Jersey has the fourth-highest teacher salaries in the nation. More than 80% of school budgets put before voters instead demanded property tax increases on homeowners at a time when many families are financially strapped. Few of the budgets reflected any of the shared sacrifice the governor asked for. Only 20 of the state's nearly 600 districts have so far implemented a pay freeze on teacher salaries.

In a recent visit to the Wall Street Journal, Governor Christie said he recognizes the political peril he faces because of the tough stands he's taking. "Lots of folks want me to fail so they can go back to budgets as usual," he said. "I'm here to say that's no longer possible and it's time to make tough decisions."

It looks as if New Jersey voters are both watching his back and demanding more accountability from one of the most expensive public education systems in the country.

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