Candidate for
Trustee; Fresno Unified School District; Trustee Area 6

Top three priorities:

1. Prepare kids for the real world. With excellent teachers, challenging curriculum for all students and creative vocational/technical programs, we can help students reach their potential and we can keep them in school by making school relevant in their lives. While testing is necessary to measure the children's progress as well as our own, we must also balance teaching for test results with rewarding creativity, independent thinking and leadership. As Albert Einstein once said, "Not everything that counts can be counted."

2. Dissolve the bureaucracy and restrictive culture. Where employees feel valued and respected, work product soars. I believe in giving every teacher, every employee the training and the tools they need to be successful. Over time, I believe we can turn the current top-down bureaucracy into a system with many highly successful magnet schools - autonomous neighborhood schools where principal/leaders and staffs are empowered to make decisions on budget, curriculum and methods. These schools would work with and be responsive to their neighborhoods and community.

3. Building coalitions and partnerships. First, the board must work to restore community confidence in the district's financial integrity and the board's leadership ability. Better communication on the budget and all other matters is a good place to start. I would get involved in the budget at an early stage and work to communicate the status and choices to all stakeholders. The schools did not create the difficult social conditions facing many of our children, but schools working with community partners can help children succeed in spite of them. I strongly believe in building coalitions & partnerships to allow the community to take ownership of the social problems we must all face and solve together. The successful future of Fresno depends on it.