Raise the Bar on Education, not the Budget

By Lorraine Brovick-Kent

I don't endorse teaching to the test however, I do believe we need to raise our academic standards and the by-product will be better scores.

• Raise our school's academic standards above Calif. State Standards (STAR) testing and National Common Core State Standards. We need to become better aligned with the next tier of education - high school, college, and career-ready programs. We need to adopt a more International benchmark in education in order to better prepare our children for the competition they will face. Top students from around the world are more likely to be bilingual even tri-lingual and they are learning languages from their 1st year in school. We must resist complacency and continue to strive for excellence and continuous improvement if we are to remain competitive with other schools in the area.
• Q: Are we getting the best education for the amount of money we spend? The school board has a fiscal responsibility to all of the stakeholders to spend our money wisely. Children deserve the highest education for every educational dollar spent. Parents need us to spend our dollars on kids in the classroom, not on high administrative costs and overhead. The Community requires us to spend its more than $7,000,000 annual contribution from property taxes and fees with discipline and accountability. Teachers depend on us as the largest employer in our community to stay on solid financial ground.
• Lastly, I would like to bring back the collective voice of parents and the community. I believe that community participation, a variety of viewpoints, and transparency of operations are absolutely essential to obtaining the best outcomes from elected bodies. This means we need to have more open communication and input from all stakeholders. I know this communication requires time and effort, but it's essential in good decision-making. We have to be a school of equal opportunity for each and every student's success.