CAPE Turns 10 Years Old on December 4

PART II The Beginning

CAPE began as an offshoot of the Eugene Education Association’s Human & Civil Rights Committee that was formed in the late 1980s to address social justice issues brought from member teachers to the union. In 1991 the Committee earned the statewide teachers’ union Oregon Education Association’s Presidential Citation. Larry Lewin served as the Chair; he was by followed by Roscoe Caron, and then Linda Smart. 

In early 2013 Linda reached out to her two retired predecessors to discuss expanding the Committee into a wider community-based organization to attract more members. Linda’s idea took hold, and CAPE was born with over a dozen teachers, retired teachers, and UO professors attending a founding meeting. Retired teacher Pete Mandrapa came up the name of our group - the Community Alliance for Public Education - while pondering it beach walking.

We first held exploratory meetings at The Laboratory Restaurant on Willamette Street at 26th in Eugene. Our group consisted of 10 educators who began the process of defining our purpose and identifying allies. Our Mission Statement was composed: "Educate the public about public education”

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PART III Accomplishments