Erin Kutnick’s Blog

Legislative Team from Capistrano Wins Another Award

By Erin Kutnick

For the second time in less than a year, the Capistrano Unified Council of PTA’s is the recipient of an advocacy award. Kim Anderson, the Legislative Chair, traveled to Washington DC last week to receive two National awards. The Legislation Team of the Capistrano Unified Council of PTSAs (CUCPTSA) which is made up of over 40 representatives from throughout the district won the Outstanding Advocacy Award for local efforts. Kim herself received the Shirley Igo Advocate of the Year Award for an individual’s contribution. These two awards came on the heels of the Legislative Team winning the California State PTA advocacy award last April.

Pam Brady, the President of the California State PTA was particularly honored to have one of its own receive the first Shirley Igo Award.

“California State PTA is so proud that the first recipient of the Shirley Igo award is from our state, and no one is more deserving than Kim Anderson,” Brady says. “Kim keeps her focus on changing outcomes while honoring everyones efforts and ideas.”

The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is the oldest and largest volunteer organization working exclusively on behalf of all children and youth.

Founded over 100 years ago, the PTA is focused on promoting the education, health, and safety of children, youth, and families. Many people are often under the impression that the PTA is about bake sales and fundraising, but that is not how the PTA began nor is it the main focus today.

The founders of the PTA, Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Alice McLellan Birney, were both very concerned about the welfare and future of the nation’s children. At that time, our country was in the midst of the Industrial Revolution and many children were forced to work in factories or mines and could not attend school. In 1895, the two women met and formulated a plan to bring their ideas to others with similar concerns.

The first PTA meeting was held on February 17, 1897 in Washington DC with over 2,000 people. Five years later, California joined the organization.

Founded on the belief that working together as a group with a common goal they could make a difference in the lives of children, the PTA is stronger than ever today with well over 1,000,000 members in California alone. Their motto “Every child, One Voice” is the epitome of advocacy and the belief that working together on behalf of all children can enact the necessary changes and philosophies to ensure the safety and success of all children.

In Capistrano Unified, each school site has their own PTA unit and each school’s unit is part of the Capistrano Unified Council of PTA’s. Our local council is extremely active with the President’s and Council board meeting each month. The Legislative Representatives from each school also meet monthly to further support and advocate on behalf of children and education.

The award was given due to the many efforts of the Legislative Team to raise awareness last year during the budget crisis. Efforts included the ‘Shock and Awe’ campaign that delivered more than 25,000 ‘pink slips’ to legislators and the governor to let them feel what it’s like to receive the pink slips like those that the teachers were receiving. The legislative team educates and empowers parents to advocate for their children in addition to meeting regularly with elected officials on matters of importance.

This advocacy will continue as PTA members remain committed to bettering the lives of children in the state and in the nation. But PTA is not just for parents and teachers. Anyone who believes in the philosophies can (and should) join. Contact

http://www.cucptsa.com to learn more. Join me next time for more Beyond the Blackboard.

Erin Kutnick is the mother of three children, active in PTA, Athletic Boosters and other community organizations.

It came as no surprise late Monday night when the board of trustees finally got up the nerve to fire the Superintendent.  The announcement was made at about 11:35 with only a handful of people still in the audience.  The board President cited “material breech” as the reason but gave no specifics.  Woodrow Carter addressed the board at 6:00 before they went into closed session and spoke about a lengthy complaint that was filed against him.  The details of that have not been made public.  About 100 parents were there and he received yet another standing ovation.

I am still waiting for the information that I requested from the district relating to the expenses of this 9 week debacle.  I am quite confident that the money (and time) spent to dig up these charges is going to be more costly than had the board just given him his severance and moved on 8 weeks ago.  The entire thing has been an embarrassment and the community (parents and teachers) are in an outrage.   So now the question is what will the trustees do if Carter sues?  Who will they ever find to be superintendent now? And how are we going to weather the worst budget crisis in district history without strong, experienced leadership?

The future outlook is bleak!