Candidate for
Board of Education; County of San Francisco

I am committed to public schools. I am a parent of two children in the San Francisco School District, lifetime resident of San Francisco, bilingual education teacher at City College and alumnus of the City's public schools.

There is no more important public institution than our public schools. I take it personally. I am proud of the job I have done as Chair of the Budget Committee for the School Board and on the Facilities Committee over the last four years. With the help of the community we have turned around the fiscal chaos left by the former administration. The best news is that test scores are up in every category for the second year in a row. But we are far from finished. We need your help to shape the various policies and I need your support for my candidacy as I seek reelection this November.

Four years ago I committed myself to some major objectives for our public schools; I have not wavered from the pursuit of those goals:

• Improved Fiscal Oversight. When I was first elected, the District was running in the red. Since then we have instituted an Internal Auditor to maintain constant oversight and I'm proud to say that we now have reserves consistent with the state's education codes. I advocated and established goals and timelines to assure a timely and accountable budget report to both the public and the board. I moved immediately to stop the sales of district assets as a means of raising money and initiated a best business practices performance standard in each of the departments. I have insisted on integrated data systems that provide information technology in every department because the left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing.

• Improved Parental Involvement. Parental involvement is critical to a child's education. The child's first teacher is a parent. I continue to advocate for the Parent Centers we need in every area, Centers that would be accessible to parents throughout the City. I have achieved better parental training among immigrant parents and have established improved language translation services for the parents who need it.

• Staff Development. When I began on the Board, SFUSD had no overall plan for staff development. The majority of staff lacked proper computer training or even the ability to use computers. The District's computer education program had been stalled by bureaucratic turf fights and a lack of staff training. As a result, our children lacked skills development, bilingual education suffered, teacher certification was backlogged and testing and other standard measures of educational excellence were underutilized. I am still not satisfied that we are doing the best we can for our children, and we must continue to be vigilant around these issues.

There are many other achievements that I worked for: the Teachers Office, Teddy Room at the enrollment office, better Student Health Centers, more counseling services, translation services, hiring more custodians, and partnership with NFL after school programs.

I strongly support early childhood education. The District has taken a few steps in this direction. Free child development and child care programs should be accessible throughout the City. This continues to be a major goal for me.

As the current Vice President of the Board and VP of the Asian Pacific Caucus of the California School Board Association, I will continue to make sure our schools deliver quality education for all of our children. I need your support to continue to assure that I might continue with the goals I have set for myself and for the District.

I sincerely thank you for your continuing support.