Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Hayward Unified School District

My political philosophy is that political philosophies have become one of the great hindrances to giving our children a good education. In Hayward, we have had far too much internal politics, and I have been dismayed to learn how much external partisan party politics also inserts its ugly head into what is supposed to be a non-partisan election.

The selection of candidates for a school board should have little to do with politics, and everything to do with who will best serve our students, and who has the qualities most needed to do so. I will support any person and any policy/program that provides results and success for the students. I will oppose any that do not--our financial and human resources are too few and precious to do otherwise.

My private sector business background have given me a core philosophy that demands results. I have a bottom-line, results driven, no-excuses attitude that requires accountability and results--in this case measured by the educational success and academic acheivement of the students.

From the top and the bottom of HUSD, we must establish a culture, a mission statement and initiatives that demand selflessness in the service of education. We need a culture that does not tolerate the pursuit of personal or group self-interests over that of the students' interests. "Turf" protection, "empire building" and pandering to special interests can have no place in the education of our children. We must be undeviatingly student focused. The entire community simply must come together in this time of "financial and governance crisis" in HUSD. (See http://www.fcmat.org for the 10/14/03 Report on HUSD by the State Fiscal Crisis & Management Team (FCMAT))

We must form a partnership of all community stakeholders that subordinates self interests to that of the students. This requires greater depth and breadth of skills and experience on the school board. We have many public sector administrators, but I bring real-world business acumen, experience and leadership to the table, which is exactly what we need to tackle what FCMAT has identified as the district's greatest priority: the fiscal and governance crisis.