By the California State PTA Education Commission and Legislative Advocacy Team
Every PTA should have advocacy on the agenda of their meetings—because when families know more, students receive more. That’s why the Capistrano Council of PTSAs represents 50 school communities. Each PTA unit is asked to appoint an advocacy representative who attends monthly Council Advocacy meetings and brings critical information back to their site.
Every year, our presidents and advocates travel to Sacramento with a single purpose: advocate for all children. At home, Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) staff join our monthly meetings to explain the issues that shape our schools—budget, facilities, safety, special education, and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). In order to keep our community fully informed, California State PTA and National PTA “Take Action”… Alerts are shared through email and our dedicated WhatsApp channel.
For more than two decades, CUCPTSA has built a strong, productive working partnership with CUSD leadership. The council president and council advocacy chair meet monthly with the superintendent to raise concerns early, solve problems collaboratively, and keep the focus where it belongs: students first.
During COVID, this partnership delivered real results. CUCPTSA led the push to use COVID relief funds to reduce class sizes at a time when elementary classes averaged 30:1 and secondary classes averaged 35:1. Working with the superintendent, the teachers’ union, and the classified employees’ union, we secured smaller class sizes through 2025 and added PE teachers at every elementary school, positions which did not exist previously. The outcome was unmistakable: Capistrano students avoided the deep learning loss seen across the nation and were able to catch up academically.
Each April, our Council Advocacy meeting becomes an Educational panel, bringing elected leaders directly to families. Last year we welcomed Congressman Mike Levin, former Senator Josh Newman, and Assemblywoman Laurie Davies’s Chief of Staff, Donna Cleary.
Beyond the panel, we equip our advocates with monthly local actionable items—practical questions to strengthen communication and accountability at every school site:
• How are Prop 28 funds being used at your school?
• How can students earn a Civic Engagement seal—and is that information reaching them?
• Does your school have School Site Council meetings?
To expand access to information, the Advocacy team also maintains an Instagram account, @CAPO_A_Team, where updates, resources, and action items are shared regularly.
From 2020–2022, Capistrano PTSA—together with the school district, teachers, and classified staff—launched the statewide Raise the Base campaign. The mission was simple and urgent: increase Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) base funding so every California student receives more, without raising taxes. More than 200 superintendents joined this effort. The campaign name came from one honest insight: every roadblock heard in Sacramento pointed back to Proposition 98 and the LCFF base formula: If the base is the problem, raising the base is the solution.
While the campaign has not yet produced an increase to LCFF base funding, it has succeeded in changing the conversation; It has built awareness, bringing together stakeholders and elected leaders. And that momentum continues.
Capistrano PTSA remains committed to advocating for a stronger LCFF base by eliminating categorical programs and one-time dollars, shifting those funds into stable, ongoing base funding for every student.
Because when the base rises, every child rises.