2005 Press Releases

For Immediate Release:
Oct. 3, 2005

Campaign Support Our Schools to hold public forum

The coalition, made up of superintendents, school board members and leaders of teacher and classified worker organizations from several school districts will present the realities of funding for local schools, and the promise of additional cuts if the governor's ballot initiatives are successful.

Public participation will be encouraged.

Topics to be discussed include:

• A summary of the propositions that threaten public schools
• Schwarzenegger's broken promise to education
• The ongoing 27-year crisis in education funding
• The importance of voting in the November 8 election

Pre-event coverage is good in the days leading up to the event. Fliers are being distributed to schools in several districts and in businesses in Downtown Santa Cruz. KUSP radio has created a :15 second PSA which they are giving priority to programmers. The Watsonville Register-Pajaronian ran a 150-word story in a prominent position in their Thursday edition. Metro Santa Cruz informed forum organizers their intention to cover the event. Other print media are expected to respond similarly. Santa Cruz Community Television is bringing a two-camera crew to the event and will broadcast on tape delay on one or more of their public access stations. Other opportunities for pre- and post-event coverage are being pursued.

CampaignSOS, led by Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee Sandra Nichols, was formed in January to raise public awareness by encouraging state legislators and local media to support increased funding for California public schools.

For additional information, contact Sandra Nichols at 763-1895.

For Immediate Release:
May 11, 2005

CampaignSOS Meets Santa Cruz Sentinel Editorial Board
and Assembly Member Simon Salinas

A coalition of Santa Cruz County education leaders, from three districts, organized as "Campaign: Support Our Schools," made presentations Friday, May 6 to the Editorial Board of the Santa Cruz Sentinel and to District 28 Assembly Member Simon Salinas. During each of the one-hour meetings, the group's message was clear. The governor broke his promise to the people of California and more funding is needed for schools, not less funding.

Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee and CampaignSOS Chair Sandra Nichols presented a graphic display of the governor's promise to restore education funding. And Santa Cruz City Schools Board President John Collins discussed the recent Rand Report showing California near the bottom in per-pupil spending. Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers President Carolyn Savino re-calculated the governor's proposed seven- percent increase to education to be far less.

"California has neglected education for decades," Nichols said. "We are trying to rally support so that public schools will have a future in the state of California."

Joining in the presentations were: SCCS Superintendent Alan Pagano, PVUSD Board President Rhea DeHart and Watsonville High Student Trustee Danny Rico, Live Oak Elementary School's California Teachers Association Representative Jackie Tuttle, SCCS Trustee Rachel Dewey Thorsett, Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers Co-presidents George Martinez and Barry Kirschen, Council of Classified School Employees Coordinator Robert Chacanaca,

The coalition organized in January and has met with Assembly Members Salinas and John Laird, State Senator Joe Simitian, as well as the editorial boards of the Sentinel and the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian. They encourage others throughout the state to form their own coalition, using their model, and have created a web site, www.CampaignSOS.org, to help coordinate that effort.

For Immediate Release:
April 7, 2005

Local education coalition launches new website

A coalition of Santa Cruz County educators and school employees, organized in February to promote adequate funding for public education, announced the launch of a new website to help others form similar coalitions and to provide a communication link connecting groups from around the state.

The website, www.CampaignSOS.org, is the initial offering of a new and broader organization, Campaign: Support Our Schools. Organizers hope to support grass-roots efforts on behalf of education around the state by serving as an umbrella organization for groups advocating greater school funding.

"It's time to harness the anger at our governor's broken promises and the energy action in school districts around the state," said Sandra Nichols, Santa Cruz Education Coalition Chair and campaign organizer. "With CampaignSOS.org, we now have a way for educators throughout the state to connect, share experiences, and work together."

The website offers the local group's model for forming an education coalition. On a page titled "How to Build a Coalition," it provides step-by-step instructions for organizing education leaders, making appointments with legislators, and creating a powerful presentation. It provides sample emails, a sample agenda, talking points, a sample school board resolution, and sample letters-to-the-editor. The site features links to relevant government and education web pages as well as recent studies showing the state significantly lagging in funding for education.

According to Nichols, the local coalition was energized following recent meetings with Assembly Budget Committee Chairman John Laird and State Senator Joe Simitian and was motivated to spread its message. In addition, the coalition gained star power when County Superintendent of Schools Diane Siri joined.

"We're not a special interest group," said Nichols. "But we do have special interests ‹ over six million of them in fact. And it's up to us to see that each one gets an excellent education so that California's future can be as bright as its past."

For Immediate Release:
March 13, 2005

Santa Cruz Educators unite for school funding

An education mini-coalition organized by Pajaro Valley Unified School District Trustee and Santa Cruz City Schools Speech and Language Specialist Sandra Nichols met with State Assemblyman John Laird Friday to express outrage at Governor Schwarzenegger's broken promises and threat of future school funding cuts.

The group of 12 educators and school employees representing three Santa Cruz County school districts included PVUSD Board President Rhea DeHart, Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers President Carolyn Savino, local California School Employees Association President Elsa Silva and political action coordinators Robert Chacanaca and Robin Butterworth; SCCS Superintendent Alan Pagano, Board President John Collins and Trustee Rachel Dewey Thorsett; Greater Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers co-presidents George Martinez and Barry Kirschen; and Live Oak Elementary Schools California Teachers Association representative Jackie Tuttle.

"As a group, we're outraged at the governor's broken promises, and we want to turn the tide of 27 years of neglect of our public schools," Nichols said. "California has the world's fifth largest economy, yet we can barely compete with Mississippi and Alabama when it comes to per-pupil spending on education."