Candidate for
Board Member; Saddleback Valley Unified School District

Suzie Swartz, current Board President, is a strong advocate for SVUSD schools on the local, state and federal levels. Throughout the financial crisis, she has worked tirelessly to provide the classroom support needed to raise student achievement and to provide safe, nurturing, learning environments.

During the past several years, Suzie's strong voice has led the way in efforts to bring more education dollars back to our neighborhood schools. She continues to be instrumental in organizing Education Coalition activities in Orange County including rallys, letter writing and phone campaigns to lobby state lawmakers to fully fund our neighborhood schools, allow for greater flexibility and more local control.

In further recognition by her colleagues for her advocacy on behalf of public schools, Suzie was elected President of the Orange County School Boards Association where she continues to serve on the Executive Board. She has also served as a California School Boards Association Federal Government Relations Chair and held various offices including President of Coastline Regional Occupational Programs.

Suzie has been honored with the Phi Delta Kappa Golden Triangle Citizen of the Year Award for her years of community service to our public schools. She has served several terms as PTA President for Del Cerro Elementary and on the Executive PTA Boards for Del Cerro and Saddleback Valley PTA Council. Suzie has also served on various parent booster boards, including music boosters, at the secondary school levels, as well as on education committies at the district, county and state levels. She is proud to be a founding member of Developmental Asset Building Communities for Kids in South Orange County, and has been a presenter at Positive Youth Development Conferences.

As a school board member and teacher, Suzie Swartz knows how to build consensus among various partners to create positive results. She has a reputation for being accessible and a considerate listener who weighs issues thoroughly, looks at the big picture and offers reasoned, thoughtful responses. Suzie understands the importance of fostering an environment that values high expectations, encourages parental involvement, promotes accessibility of teachers, administrators and school board members, and emphasizes mutual respect.

Suzie is married and has two sons. Both her sons are SVUSD graduates. One attends San Diego State University and the other, a graduate of Boston University, lives and works in Los Angeles.