Lopez-Maddox, Ken
Quotes

CUSD trustee Ken Lopez-Maddox: The strike vote was politically motivated and not about the teachers’ contract at all

Apr 16, 2010
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Ken Lopez-Maddox, The Orange County Register “This has never been about the contract; the union is upset over being on the losing end of the last two elections,” said Lopez-Maddox, referring to the June 2008 and November 2008 school board races, when the teachers’ union opposed the winning candidates. “They’re hoping a strike will cause the taxpayers to turn on the board,” said Lopez-Maddox, who is being targeted in a recall attempt. “The bottom line is we’ve done everything we can. We don’t have the money to pay them what they want.”

Lopez-Maddox is one of the CUSD Reform Trustees who was elected in 2008 to bring fiscal responsibility to the school district.

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Trustee Lopez-Maddox confirms boards willingness to negotiate, but union tactics make it difficult

Apr 16, 2010
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Ken Lopez-Maddox, The Orange County Register Lopez-Maddox said it would be impractical to “begin an entire year’s worth of negotiations over now” and emphasized that the school board has tried to be responsive to teachers, despite the imposed pay cut. Just hours before approving the imposition, the school district removed a clause that was generating considerable angst among teachers, Lopez-Maddox noted. The clause stated that Capistrano Unified “reserves the right to implement further reductions, consistent with its pre-impasse offers, should the district’s fiscal outlook deteriorate beyond current budget projections.”

Also, trustees on Wednesday expressed a willingness to meet with union leaders to discuss whether the pay cut will become temporary – via a non-bargaining route known as a memorandum of understanding – although they said they would not reopen contract negotiations. “We can never make them happy no matter what we try to do,” Lopez-Maddox said. “Every time the teachers union comes to the board and asks for X, we say OK. Then they say, ‘That’s not good enough. We want you to do Y.’ They have a moving target.

Lopez-Maddox is one of the CUSD Reform Trustees who was elected in 2008 to bring fiscal responsibility to the school district.

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Trustee Lopez-Maddox says board will not accept union recommendation for more job losses and bigger classes

Apr 02, 2010
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Ken Lopez-Maddox, The Orange County Register The school board, however, insisted it would not accept a recommendation that would lead to even more job losses and bigger class sizes. "The last thing these students need is more students crammed in their classrooms," Lopez-Maddox said. "I appreciate that the situation is unpalatable. These are very, very difficult times, and there are no easy solutions. The bottom line is that the state is broke, and it's only going to get worse."

Lopez-Maddox is one of the CUSD Reform Trustees who was elected in 2008 to bring fiscal responsibility to the school district.

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Trustee Lopez-Maddox sympathizes with students’ attachment to teachers, but says disrupting studies over complex financial issues serves no purpose

Apr 02, 2010
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Ken Lopez-Maddox, The Orange County Register "I'm pleased to see our students feel close to their teachers," trustee Ken Lopez-Maddox said, "and I share their enthusiasm for the hard work provided by the faculty of CUSD ... but disrupting their studies serves no purpose. We're dealing with some pretty complex financial problems that are not easily solved." Lopez-Maddox said many of the student demonstrators might not understand that the pay cuts imposed by the school board will save dozens of teaching jobs.

Lopez-Maddox is one of the CUSD Reform Trustees who was elected in 2008 to bring fiscal responsibility to the school district.