Candidate for
Board Member; Saddleback Valley Unified School District

Maintain High Standards and Levels of Support for Schools

SVUSD is one of California's highest achieving school districts with more California Distinguished Schools and National Blue Ribbon Schools than any other district in Orange County and boasts one of the eight Highest Achieving Charter Schools nationally to be recognized by the US Dept. of Education. Maintaining these high standards and levels of support for our neighborhood schools takes a collaborative effort among school board members, teachers, parents, administrators, community members and students alike. It is imperative that our district stay focused on our students to ensure that all students - struggling students, high achieving students and all students in between - receive the help and tools they need to succeed. We must continue to put the money in our classrooms and secure grant funding to provide the needed levels of support for our students and our schools.

Pursue State Funding to Lower Class Sizes, and Restore Music and Science Programs, and Attract and Retain High Caliber Teachers

It is critical that we continue to aggressively pursue additional funding from the State, federal government and private sources along with advocating for greater flexibility and local control of our education dollars. We must continue to fight to change California's archaic, unequal funding formula (SVUSD currently receives less than the state average in per pupil funding) and Special Education funding to bring our fair share of education dollars back to our neighborhood schools. Our children and teachers deserve manageable class sizes and the added benefit of enriched music and science programs. We must continue to be able to attract and retain the highest caliber teachers. We absolutely need to make our voices heard not only locally, but in Sacramento and Washington DC to bring our tax dollars back to our community for the benefit of our children.

Maintain Fiscal Responsibility

It is not enough to just keep a close eye on the budget. The state fiscal crisis is far from over and there are still tough decisions to be made. In addition to advocating for local control and aggressively pursuing funding, it is critical that our school district stay focused on directing resources where they will have the greatest benefit for our students - our children's educational future depends on it.