Priorities for the County Board of Education

By Joe Ross

A plan to improve our schools

- Provide mentoring, training and support for new teachers
- Minimize overhead, so more dollars go to classrooms
- Strengthen high school preparation for college and career
- Increase investment in early childhood education

School Funding

Investing in our neighborhood schools will expand opportunity for the next generation, improve quality of life, and grow our economy.

Investing in our neighborhood schools will expand opportunity for the next generation, improve quality of California is 46th in the nation in per-pupil spending. We're 50th in adult-child ratios. There are districts without physical education departments, libraries, music programs or school buses. Money is not the only problem, but it is a problem. We need to grow a grassroots movement supporting the right level of funding for our schools. As a board trustee I will bring my nonprofit experience engaging communities to support education.

As a parent of school-age children, I will engage the K-12 parent community to think about education as a K-14 ecosystem. As a former technology company employee + I spent three years after law school working to pay down my student loans + I will engage the business community to recognize the best way to prepare workers for modern economy is to invest in schools and community colleges. As a veteran, I will engage military families to support community colleges because national security depends on education. And as a union worker's child, I will collaborate closely with unions to identify and surface the best ideas, which always come from the people working closest to the problem.

Budget Transparency

Transparent budgets are better budgets. Without transparent budgeting, it is difficult to understand the long-term costs of short-term decisions. We need to convene our county's two dozen school districts and identify ways to consolidate services to prevent waste of taxpayer dollars, ensure more resources go directly to classrooms, and improve effectiveness of operations, support, compliance and other services schools need.

College & Career Access

We need to increase high school graduation rates, and better prepare students for 21st century jobs, community colleges, and four-year universities.

Each year, California loses $40 billion in lifetime productivity from a new cohort of students dropping out of high school. High school completion of A-G requirements, and middle school success with algebra, open up pathways to success in community college, university and beyond. Because many high school graduates are not yet ready for college, less than 40% of San Mateo Community College students complete transfer requirements or obtain a certificate over six years of enrollment. We can do better, starting by convening high school districts to consider making A-G completion a graduation requirement for all students.

We also need to address the "Achievement Gap" by acknowledging and addressing an under-appreciated threshold challenge: the "Opportunity Gap." Students suffer inadequate access to enrichment and counseling, not just differing levels of academic preparation, and need positive role models in their lives to ensure they develop habits of character, such as grit and optimism, which are correlated not just with academic achievement, but life success. Students need mentors. As a board trustee I will work to engage nonprofits and the business community to support our students by encouraging increased volunteerism.