Save Our Children from Mediocre Math (SOCMM)
Conejo Valley Unified School District
Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and Newbury Park
Conejo Valley Unified School District
CVUSD School Board Candidates
Voter Information
November 2006 Elections
CVUSD K-6 classrooms use the Everyday Math* (EM) curriculum which has been rejected twice by the State Board of Education ( SBE) for failing to meet California Math Standards. Over 220 professors of mathematics and science have publicly questioned the effectiveness of EM and other similar programs. Save Our Children from Mediocre Math (SOCMM) represents parents and voters who want a “choice” to use state approved math textbooks in CVUSD classrooms. Visit the SOCMM website to learn more about this important issue that CVUSD trustees have failed to act upon. The election of a new majority to serve on the school board will be necessary to accomplish the goal of improving the quality of academic programs offered to CVUSD students. This web page is sponsored by Save Our Children from Mediocre Math (SOCMM)

SOCMM endorses the following candidates for CVUSD school board
     John Andersen John Anderson
          Elect John Andersen 4 CVUSD school board (web site)
          Statement of support for "math choice"
     Mike Dunn
          Re-Elect Mike Dunn 4 CVUSD school board (web site)
          Statement of support for "math choice"
     Gregory Lennox
          Elect Greg Lennox 4 CVUSD school board (web site)
          Statement in support of choice

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The trustees responsible for instituting the grossly inferior Everyday Math program in CVUSD K-6 classrooms are named below. The same four trustees failed to act on parent requests for a choice to use state approved math curriculum. Save Our Children from Mediocre Math recommends that voters
DO NOT re-elect the following CVUSD trustees:
     Tim Stephens DO NOT RE ELECT
     Pat Phelps     DO NOT RE ELECT
     Dorothy Beaubien (term expires 2008)
     Dolores Didio (term expires 2008)

* Everyday Math (EM) is an expensive “whole math” curriculum** that does not require the memorization of math facts and relies on calculators as a crutch. It does not teach the standard algorithms for addition subtraction, multiplication, or division and is held in low regard by professors of mathematics and science from some of the most prestigious universities in the nation. EM encourages the use of discovery based teaching methods that leave students to invent their own scheme for solving problems. EM expects students to discover knowledge on their own through cooperative learning groups. Everyday Math is not aligned with the state standards or the annual standardized exams. This program deprives students of content and skills which are fundamental for success in algebra and calculus.

** The waiver issued by the SBE to purchase Everyday Math expired in 2004 and ended state funding for CVUSD’s K-6 math program. Questions about the impact of using district textbook funds to purchase EM (for the last 4 years of the adoption cycle which ends in 2008), remain unanswered. Taxpayers have a right to know if EM is consuming funds that could be used more effectively on other programs.

PAT PHELPS TIM STEPHENS PAT PHELPS TIM STEPHENS