Candidate for
Board Member; Natomas Unified School District

My name is Ryan Herche, and I'm officially announcing my candidacy for the Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustees.

I am running to promote equal and quality access to education.

This journey has been many years in the making. While I was in college I worked as a high school speech and debate coach. I worked for three years to bring accountability to our district as an education advocate. I am fighting for student achievement because the 12,415 students enrolled in our schools are counting on us to graduate, start their careers, and fulfill their dreams.

This mission is personal for me.

My wife Nkiruka attended Jefferson Elementary, Leroy Greene Middle School, and graduated from Natomas High School in 2004. Nkiruka worked hard and was blessed with great teachers and committed parents. Today, she has a Bachelor's degree from UC Davis.

Nkiruka is a Natomas success story. She is living proof that our district can help students learn, graduate, go to college, and get good jobs. Natomas holds great potential to be unlocked when parents work alongside teachers to motivate students and equip them with the tools to achieve success.

We still have some excellent teachers and parents. Unfortunately, our district is plagued by problems that start right at the top.

The board has poured millions of dollars into legal fees, consultants, and a botched land deal. This wasteful spending brought our district to the breaking point. Natomas Unified almost went bankrupt last November, and County Superintendent Dave Gordon wrote that he was "greatly concerned with the district budget situation."

In February, the district drafted a proposal to raise fees on new residential and business construction projects to the maximum level allowed by state law. A quick drive around Natomas reveals shuttered businesses and foreclosed homes. Higher fees are not the answer to our budget crisis; fiscal discipline is.

I will not hesitate to vote against the endless stream of legal and consulting fees that are draining our district's coffers. I will insist on transparency. My first action as a board member will be to introduce a measure requiring audio and video recording of board meetings to hold our elected officials accountable to the public.

The Sacramento Bee reported on a "culture of entitlement" among district employees. The article correctly identified some symptoms, but the illness stems from a higher level. Our district leadership must stop pitting school employees against each other and foster a culture of high expectations and consistently-applied standards of conduct. I will always value the input of our parents, local business owners, school employees and teachers, as well as our new Superintendent.

Our highest calling is to promote student achievement. An honest look at our test scores shows that we have a lot of work to do in this area. For instance, at one of our high schools, 80% of the 11th graders tested scored far below basic in US History, the bottommost category. This is a clear example of our schools failing these students. This will be my central focus as a board member. We need to follow the best available evidence to lift our test scores and systematically review our access, culture, expectations and strategies for success. I would vote to eliminate zero-based grading, which penalizes students who miss a single test. I would support the effort to start an International Baccalaureate program at Inderkum High School. I would strive to make our campuses more accessible to parents and teachers who want to share their time and talents.

Program improvement is a legal designation that means a school is failing to meet federal standards of adequate yearly progress. If a school stays in program improvement for five years, the district faces some tough choices: either convert the school into a public charter school; replace teachers, principals and other managers; turn the school over to private management or a partnership with private management; or hand the school over to state control.

Jefferson Elementary is in year three of program improvement and failed to make adequate yearly progress last year. 51.4% of students at American Lakes Elementary failed to score proficient or better in math, and now that school is in year one of program improvement. I could go on, but the point is clear: we need reform.

Nkiruka is a Natomas success story, but the dream is fading for too many of our students. We cannot let our students waste their formative years in failing schools. We have a moral obligation to help them. We cannot wait five years; we need to rescue them today.

I am ready to go to work, but first, we have an election to win.

I knocked on over 6,000 doors in the last election and came just 20 votes short of a seat on the board. Our campaign ran on a tight budget from my kitchen table. We shocked the political pundits, but I wasn't surprised; I had the best volunteers in the world. I am deeply grateful for their trust and tireless support. I know that with their help and a great deal of shoe leather, we can win this race and send a message to the political establishment that student achievement matters.

Let's reboot Natomas together!