Candidate for
Board Member; Gilroy Unified School District

My top concerns as a Gilroy School District Parent are:

• ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

I am committed to the virtues of a public school education but not to a system that provides a second-rate education. Academic standards in public schools should be as rigorous as those in private schools, and students who attend public schools should not be at an educational disadvantage.

I believe that the role of a school district is to focus on strong academic programs and to provide equal opportunities for excellence and rigor so that all students may reach their full potential.

• HIGHEST CLASSROOM STANDARDS

This vision encompasses:

• Curriculum

• Instructional Materials

• Teachers

• Employee Evaluation

• Teacher Support

• Student Preparedness and Conduct

• Parent Support and Input

• Academic Culture

• TEACHER SUPPORT

Teachers are given a pitiful amount of money to buy necessary supplies and materials. At Gilroy High School, for example, every teacher is given $50 to buy supplies for the entire year. Classrooms are often overcrowded, and instructional materials outdated or inadequate. The District expects our teachers to produce a superior product with mediocre tools.

The District has firmly placed the blame for low student achievement on the teachers' shoulders. I believe that this practice is unfair. All those involved in the educational process must be held equally accountable in order for true reform to happen.

Teachers are responsible for teaching their subject matter to their students.

Students are responsible for completing homework, attending class, behaving appropriately and paying close attention during instructional time.

Parents are responsible for communicating problems their children may be having to teachers, providing proper nutrition, supplying their children with school materials, creating a proper studying environment, ensuring homework is completed, and seeking out help if their students are struggling.

Administrators are responsible for communications to the student and parent community. Their schedule must be prioritized so that they are spending more time on the classroom experience and less time on committees and task forces removed from students and their needs.

School Board Trustees are ultimately responsible for the quality of education our District delivers. They must develop and implement the highest standards for our classrooms and always represent the community, not the administration, in the decision-making process.

• RESPONSIVENESS TO COMMUNITY

Outspoken parents and teachers are reluctant to voice their complaints because their thoughts have been ignored for so long, and because District leaders would rather make these individuals feel like outsiders rather than listen to their ideas. As a result, many families are sending their children to private schools and neighboring public schools. Over the years I have heard the opinion expressed by many district leaders that only well-to-do parents of high-achieving students are choosing these options. I have since found out that this is a myth. I am hearing from many parents of children with a wide range of abilities; they are holding down multiple jobs and taking out mortgages on their homes in order to avoid the public school experience.

Parents are not the only dissatisfied customers. Local businessmen and realtors site the School District's poor reputation as a major deterrent for people choosing to buy homes or accepting employment in the area.

In the 2002 Reality Check study - an annual report issued by Public Agenda and Education Week to track the nation's progress in raising academic standards in the public schools - employers and college professors gave graduating seniors fair or poor grades in writing, grammar, basic math, and work habits. The sad conclusion is that no one can assume a public high school degree means that a student is prepared for the job market or for higher education.

• RESPONSIBLE RESOURCE ALLOCATION

Public school education is one of the few enterprises that receives payment, in the form of tax dollars, but then doesn't deliver the product that the customer ordered. When customers, the parents and students, report that the product is broken, they are often told that the problem is not with the product but with them. I hope to rectify this lack of accountability by delivering to students and parents the education they expect when tax dollars are used for public schools.