Reasons to vote for Patricia Ann Culley

By Patricia Ann "Pat" Culley

Positive Change----End to status quo. Please find a list of my accomplishments and priorities I hold for our Santa Maria high schools

POSITIVE CHANGE ---- END TO STATUS QUO

• The following is a list of my accomplishments and the priorities I hold for our Santa Maria high schools.

2. I am responsible for raising community awareness about the need for credentialed Counselors in our local high schools. I helped secure a counselor for Righetti, which brought it into compliance with the Education code [August 2000]. Most high schools in the state have one counselor for every 350-400 students. Prior to my action, Righetti had over 2000 students and no counselors, and Santa Maria had one counselor, the worst ratio of high school students to credentialed counselors in the state of California. I am still working to improve this ratio in our District, so that ALL of our children have a chance to succeed.

3. The teen pregnancy rate in our Santa Maria High Schools continues to be one of the highest in the nation. In addition, the number of cases of almost all sexually transmitted diseases[STD's] is on the rise once again, with the greatest increase occurring in the age group 15-24. It will take a combined effort from all of us, including churches, schools, and comunity organizations to face these problems and find solutions. At stake are the lives of the young people of our city.

4. I am committed to reducing class size and working with city, county and state officials to secure new school sites for our growing student population. We should never have more than 35 students in academic classrooms for any reason, under any circumstances, and no teacher should have more than 150 students total, in all of their classes, in any one day. (It is now an accepted and common practice)

5. I am dedicated to working with parents, classified, teachers and community members to ensure that all voices are heard. All professional teachers must have a substantial voice on all major issues that affect our schools-they are the ones in the trenches and are accountable for academic achievement. Currently very few of our professionals have significant input. The classroom must come first. We must support our teachers and classified in every way possible. They are the lifeblood of this organization.