Candidate for
Board Member; Modesto City Schools; Full Term

WHY I AM RUNNING FOR SCHOOL BOARD.

The best way to improve our community for the future is to provide a quality education for all our children today. We need to work in partnership with parents and teachers to provide students the skills and opportunities they need to compete in the modern world.

If elected, I will work to elevate the quality of the education we offer in our community. I will vigorously support a comprehensive drop out identification and prevention program. We need a program that consists of an early identification of at-risk children, and then an intervention program that targets those families before it is too late. Let's start early, and find those young people who are at risk for dropping out, and take the actions that have been proven to work, and make them work for our community.

I will work with teachers and administration in implementing the Common Core State Standards. This is a tremendous opportunity to end the cycle of teaching to the test, and allowing teachers to actually teach our children. We need to develop the in-depth learning and critical thinking that the Common Core encourages.

Our children deserve a safe, secure environment in which to learn. We as a group of conscientious parents, teachers, support staff, and administrators, need to research and implement a comprehensive school safety plan. We need to work with local law enforcement, City and County departments to develop a school safety plan.

I will work to restore services, such as art, music, sports, and vocational education, that directly impact our student's development as well rounded, insightful individuals to be able to succeed in the future. We need to offer services to our children that will interest them, and help nurture them during the time we have them in our care. Art, music, sports and Vocational Education can all help keep our children motivated to stay in school. They enrich their lives and play a valuable role in the overall development of our young people. We could have partners in local government and community groups arrange apprenticeships for students considering various careers allowing our students to discover their passions. Our young people could complete school and learn a trade, or simply gain valuable work experience during their high school years. This would benefit our schools, local businesses, and community, and our students would be prepared to succeed in college, a service, or a career.