Candidate for
Member, Board of Education; Mount Vernon City School District

I am running because I am passionate about education and making sure our children, teachers, and parents have an equal voice in a childs education. Too often, one or more of these voices are ignored. I'm running to restore fairness and equity to the process.

I am qualified because I've been a Community / Parent Activist & Student Advocate for over 15 years, a School Board Committee Member for over 10 years, a "Compact" team member which does the hiring and interviewing of teachers for 6 years, sat on the Special-Ed committee as a Parent Advocate for 4 years, and a Parent, Homeowner & Taxpayer for over 20 years who knows what impact the spending of the School District has on the community in which we all live.

I believe in the following:

• Responsible Spending & Public Accountability
• Increase High School Graduation & School Retention Rates
• Decrease in Violence Involving our Youth
• Look at ways to reduce the contracting-out costs by using existing staff and resources
• Negotiate with vendors and consolidate purchases with other school districts
• Ensure that the building plants are properly maintained to prevent excesive fuel consumption during periods of use
• Explore the use of 'green technology' to reduce utility costs by using the school district as a model for the rest of the country, working in concert with 'green technology' firms
• Explore all opportunities for increasing the revenue stream through partnerships, sponsorships, and increasing our existing alliances with higher eduction institutions

We need to maintain essential personnel such as our math, speech, special education, and reading specialists on the various grades to keep our children up to standards. Too often, these qualified professionals are the first ones to go whenever the school budget gets tight.

It is essential that we ensure that a sports program is always provided for, since this is a critical component for education and an outlet for our youth. It serves as a bridge to college for many of our youth. Remember the "4-R's": Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic, and Recrecreation. :)