Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Westside Union Elementary School District

I believe that individual sites should be responsible for developing the best method to implement curriculum within accepted guidelines. Teachers, site administrators, and parents know the climate and type of students that attend their school. This leaves them the best qualified people to address the particular needs of that school.

I believe that morale plays a key role in how successful a school district is. Adversarial relationships between andministrators and teachers hurt the kids that attend those schools. Administrators should be chosen on their ability to work cooperatively with staff and parents. They should be experts at building consensus.

I believe that any budget cuts made to staff need to also be made at an administrative level. For example, if travel and conferences are cut for teachers, they should also be cut for administrators and board members. The relationship between administration and all staff should be a shared one. I also believe that administrators and all other staff should share the exact same health and welfare benefits.

I believe that all school budgets should be independently audited so a full financial picture is clear. Too often numbers are skewed to a particular philosophy.

I am firmly opposed to bonuses paid to individual teachers or administrators. My philosophy is that if there is a surplus to be shared for a job well done, every person in an entire school district is part of that success. Rewarding only some of the key personnel is disheartening to all the others who played a part.

I am firmly opposed to "buying out contracts." If an administrator does not meet the expectations of the board, there should be no reward or payoff for being dismissed. I believe that reassignment to a more appropriate position is a more cost effective way of honoring an employment contract if the board and administrator cannot come to consensus.