Candidate for
Board Member; Garden Grove Unified School District

Our responsibility is to require our students to meet strict academic challenges, prepare them for college, and educate them for a successful future.

I believe four elements are essential to the success of education - the student, the teacher, the curriculum and the parent. Each component functions best when the other three are equally focused and committed. As a parent, instilling the importance of completing your kindergarten through twelfth grade education as well as being prepared for college is a must. As a student, completing your classes and pushing yourself for the best grades possible, setting your sights on life after high school is your requirement. As a school board member, hiring strong teachers and choosing curriculum that meets or exceeds the state standards must be done.

Because of my involvement in our local schools, I know the challenges and frustrations parents and teachers feel today with our education system. California schools are facing issues that didn't exist 20 years ago. The High School Exit Exam is coming - my recently graduated college freshman was to be part of the first graduating class required to take and pass the CHSEE. The state delayed the test - but GGUSD didn't! Our district chose to reward those students who had taken and passed the test with an additional merit sticker on their diplomas last June. To recognize the achievement of our students, when the state didn't think they'd been adequately prepared to pass a tenth grade level test, proves that our program in our district is looking out for our students in ways that many other districts aren't. As a district, we have been working hard to ensure our students are ready to meet this challenge head on.