Candidate for
Board Member; Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District

I believe in inclusive leadership. Diverse viewpoints - students, families, teachers, the community at large - should be taken into account, even though it may take more time and can get a little messy -- better decisions are made & greater community investment result when that time is taken. If elected, I would advocate sending notice to the school community about the key decisions being considered at upcoming board meetings. I am also in favor of webcasting Board Meetings and if elected will ask the Board to revisit that decision.

This transparency and inclusion is particularly important in the annual budget process. A budget conveys the priorities and the values of the district - reaching out to the public to request input to the budget process is one way to develop community-wide support for its goals. The budget process should be transparent and have strong community input, perhaps through the board hosting annual budget workshops with an invitation to the public to attend. It is not enough to achieve fiscal stability and effective stewardship of the public's dollars, we also need to make the budget something the community "owns."

I also believe every student matters and every student, with the right support, can be successful in learning and on a track for college and career. While the district has made significant progress in closing the achievement gap, I feel a sense of urgency about those students who are in the gap right now. I believe we can close the gap more quickly by growing programs that are achieving success. We need to expand programs such as AVID that create a cohort of students who support each other and have relationships with teachers who see their promise.