Candidate for
Board Member; Campbell Union High School District

Goals

My Top Three Priorities

• The Fiscal Health of the District Now and into the Future. Over the years, the Campbell Community has given very generously to support our programs and improve our schools. Our new Performing Arts Centers are state-of-the-art facilities that will enrich the quality of the high school experience

for many years to come. I often ask students, "Do you know why this exists?
It is because our citizens, people who have never seen or met you, voted to tax
themselves to provide this gift--because they believe in you." I honor the
giving spirit of the people of Campbell and will work to maintain the fiscal health
of the District. I will do all in my power to help pass legislation that will provide
stable school funding. I am optimistic that Propositions 30 and/or 38 will be
supported by voters, and I am hopeful that we will be able to renew the Parcel Tax.
Consistent, predictable funding has been lacking in education for far too long.

• 21st Century Technology Technology can help us address the different learning styles of our students and allow them to move forward at their own pace. In the absence of adequate funding, we will need to rely on grants and community partnerships to become and remain current in this area. It is absolutely critical that we do so.

• Closing the Achievement Gap and Increasing Parent Involvement
  This challenge is closely linked to the difficulty many student have in making the

transition from middle school to the 9th grade. We need improved interaction with our
feeder schools, and not just between teachers and administrators. We need to bring
together students who can share their experiences. A 9th grader telling a 7th grader
about the skills he or she will need has power and credibility. Along the same lines, we
could bring in some of our graduates who are now local community college students to
visit classes and share actual assignments. Our students could then see in very
real terms the skills they will need to acquire for post-high school success.

We must also provide students with a vision for the future that they can believe in. Many of our freshmen see no clear relationship between what they do in school and the very real chance to lead lives of pride and economic independence. We must continue an emphasis on classroom strategies that address a variety of learning styles and assess individual student needs so that our students can experience many small successes. Del Mar High School is currently seeing improvement as the result of organizing students into small learning communities. We should expand after school programs and increase support for those reading below grade level. We must step-up outreach to parents and to our feeder schools, and utilize more volunteers. "Adopt a student," and "Grammar Grannies" are two programs that have worked well in my home state.

With particular regard to parents, I believe we can do more to make them feel welcome at school and to guide them in supporting their children's academic success. School Loop has been a great beginning in terms of providing parents with critical information, but face-to-face encounters are more effective in establishing ongoing parent-teacher relationships.

Also Critical

• Support of Ongoing Professional Development for Teachers. The District has a highly motivated staff that has made great strides in working collaboratively to improve instruction. I know the power of teachers helping teachers to implement lessons and procedures they know will help our kids. We have the talent and expertise within our own education community to continue this process without taxing the budget, and we can do it in a way that is uniquely tailored to meet the needs of our particular students and school sites. And, across the globe, teachers are sharing best practices online for us to view and evaluate.

• Support Functional Class Sizes Class size is always dependent on adequate funding, but when class size reduction is possible, it should be a priority.

• Ensure Academic Excellence and Challenge ALL Learners Our daily goal must be an exciting, stimulating and rigorous curriculum that will enable all students to utilize their talents and reach their potential. We must have high expectations of our students while providing them with the support and tools they need to experience the pride of real achievement and confidence in their ability to meet the next challenge. All graduates must have the opportunity to become competitive college applicants if that is their career path. That means access to electives and enrichment programs. We must also work to retain and expand electives that offer an introduction to real job skills such as culinary arts, digital photography and theatre tech.

• Promote Community Partnerships

We need to partner with area businesses to update our technology and obtain
technical training for teachers. We must seek grants from foundations and
corporations and employ every means available to help students succeed in a 21st
century environment. We must provide equitable access to current technology for
all students.

Community partnerships can also be vital to students who are not college bound.
Vocational training is expensive because it often involves equipment that must
replicate what is in current use in the workplace. Otherwise, the training loses
value for prospective employers. For that reason, apprenticeships and summer
internships should be sought to augment the current offerings of CCOC.

• Safeguard Student Safety School must be a safe haven for students, both physically and emotionally. We need programs to prevent bullying and to help students cope with the stresses in their lives. I would like to see the return on all campuses of a strong peer counseling and support group program. At one time we offered support for students in small groups addressing such topics as anger management, substance abuse, time management and stress reduction, and healthy relationships. A strong health education program is also important.

• Encourage Communication! Nothing is achieved without bridge-building. As a Board Member, I will attend PTA and Booster Club meetings and a wide sampling of student events at all school sites. I will reach out to teachers through regularly scheduled school site visits. I will also plan regular appearances at the downtown Campbell Farmer's Market to hear concerns from the wider community. As far as legal guidelines allow, Board decisions should be forthright and transparent, and pending decisions should be announced with plenty of time for stakeholders to give input. I will be accessible to all by email at lindagoytia@yahoo.com and to many by phone as part of my ongoing commitment to the youth of the Campbell Union High School District.

• Develop an Academic Code of Conduct There is currently no consistent District-wide code in place. We also need to take steps to ensure that our curriculum at each school site gives students sufficient training in identifying and avoiding plagiarism and in the uses of academic search engines available through college and university libraries. This is currently being done to some degree, but we need to know without a doubt that these expectations are clear to each and every student.

• Ensure Valid Assessments We need to be sure that the balance between "testing time" and "instructional time" is appropriate and that assessments are useful and valid. Good assessments inform instruction, but some assessments merely take time away from teaching. School Boards should also be more vocal in holding testing companies accountable for their product in terms of accurate and meaningful test content and timeliness of scoring. Data has much more value for teachers and meaning for students when it is not excessively delayed.

• Continue to Value the Arts.

We now have a body of research showing that different types of learning support
each other. There is strong evidence that music enhances performance in
mathematics and that memorization (of music or lines in theatre) helps to develop
short term memory and elevates IQ scores. Recently, the emphasis has been on learning how to access information (rather than memorization) and that is very important, but, as it turns out, so is the brain exercise of focusing attention and retaining information.

Part of closing the achievement gap involves encouraging students to interact with peers from all backgrounds. Students with varied academic skills mingle in a choir, play or art class. Struggling students need to see themselves as an integral part of their school. They must feel they have a contribution to make, and arts programs open that door. Kids are more likely to stay in school if there is something that excites them about being there; something that yields a sense of capability, satisfaction and belonging.

As regards preparation for the workforce, if teamwork is a core value, it is certainly the basis for all performing arts. In the area of the visual arts, classes in digital media can open the door to careers in graphic design and film production. Art and design will always be essential in a multitude of fields: everything from fashion design to architecture.

Much is made of the role of freedom of speech in a democracy. I submit that students should be introduced to the joy of self-expression through the arts. When other avenues have been closed, people from the dawn of time have expressed themselves through art.

• Keep Kids in School! I support discipline strategies that serve as alternatives to school or class suspension. Suspensions create stress for families as the student often lacks adequate supervision during that time, and the simple fact is that precious instructional time is lost. We need an in-house program that has academic merit as a response to discipline issues that might otherwise trigger a suspension. This, of course, requires funding, but it is something we should seriously consider.

• Practice Integrity. A Board Member should gather as much information as possible from as many stakeholders as possible and then vote conviction rather than consensus. I believe that it is not only possible but absolutely necessary to vote one's conviction and still have pleasant relations with those whose convictions led them to a different conclusion. Such things are not and should not be personal. Once a decision has been reached, that is the time for all to come together to make it a success.