Candidate for
Member; Alameda County Board of Education; Trustee Area 3

Personal Information: Ken Berrick, age 52. Married to Jill Berrick, Professor of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley. Two children, daughter age 9 (budding artist) and son age 6 (budding basketball pro), attending an Oakland public school. B.A., Psychology, CSUS.

Professional Informmation: 1985-Present, CEO Seneca Center for Children and Families.

In 1985, I founded Seneca Center in order to create an organization that could establish an environment where children and youth were not allowed to fail. The founding premise of Seneca Center was that by combining a supportive learning environment with a comprehensive series of social supports, along with a clear message to youth and to families that they would be supported every step of the way, that any youth + even those who the larger systems had effectively given up on + could be supported and helped to succeed. Since its inception, Seneca Center has worked closely with the 18 Alameda County School districts. Today, we provide both non-public school and public school- based programs for youth from almost every district in the county.

In the past 10 years, we've expanded our partnerships to include the Alameda County Office of Education and alternative education departments of Oakland and Berkeley. We also provide comprehensive programs in partnership with the Alameda County probation department. I would encourage the endorsement board to explore Seneca's reputation with the school districts (any districts, that is, but that of my opponent's!). Through these public-private partnerships, I have helped districts bring millions of dollars of additional support to help ensure that their most vulnerable students will succeed. As I've watched those students succeed -- many of whom had given up on school, and on whom schools had given up -- I've become progressively more determined to broaden the impact of education on students' and families' lives.

The experience of managing Seneca Center has also given me a certain depth of knowledge in managing budgets and understanding finance (Seneca Center's budget, agency-wide, is now approximately $40 million), and understanding public-private partnerships and an understanding of finance through multiple sources. While it will take me some brief time to get fully up-to-speed on the specifics and complexity of comprehensive education financing, my broader knowledge of finance should serve me well as I learn the details.

I've also had the privilege of partnership with Chabot Las Positas Community College wherein we have created a $1+ million Title IV-E Training Center. I have a beginning knowledge of the community college system and its tremendous benefits both within and outside the walls of its campuses.

Prior to my work at Seneca, I had the opportunity to work as a counselor in Juvenile Hall and with the California Youth Authority. These experiences, in particular, gave me an important background and a working knowledge of ACOE's most vulnerable populations. Through my work with Seneca, I've also had significant experience in working with and understanding the tremendous challenges faced by pregnant and parenting teens and what a remarkable difference support in education can make in theirs, and their babies' lives.

I seek this office not as a stepping stone to greater political challenges, but specifically because the work of the County Office of Education allows me to have broader policy impact on many of the areas which I've been passionate about throughout my professional life.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I have observed the Board and Superintendent's operations over the last six years. While I consider myself to be an extremely independent thinker, I also believe that public life is dependent on its officials' abilities to work to achieve consensus, to listen carefully to the thoughts and ideas of others, and to act with integrity, without regard to political motivation. The job requires members to focus solely on the needs of the clients and constituents we're elected to serve. The single greatest qualification that I bring to this board will be my ability to act independently of my fellow board members and of the superintendent, while consistently working to act as a bridge between and among board members to build consensus. Fundamentally, this board and each individual on it is there to serve the students and families of ACOE, and the districts of Alameda County. I'm clear about that charge and it is a charge that is close to my heart.