Why am I in the race?

By Bob Ferrando

A belief that parents and students should have educational opportunities available that fit their needs.

1. A concern that the vacated positions would be filled by someone satisfied with the status quo.

2. A desire to identify, by campus and District office, where the budget is spent.

3. To insure all students in the district have educational choices that meet their needs.

Top priorities if elected:

1. Financial. Identify budgets by school and District office. Rationalize expenditures to minimize charges to reserves.

2. Charter schools. Advocate for better communication between the district and district charter schools. More constructive dialogue and cooperation is need between all District campuses.

3. Implementing Career Technical Education with rigorous educational requirements. We need to meet employer demands for a well educated labor force.

Budgets by campus and District office are needed:

1. The District budget for next year is $100 million + more than many companies' annual budgets.

2. Summary expenditures do not provide the transparency expected by taxpayers.

3. Identifying where funds are spent should be a minimum expectation; next step is an assessment of how effectively and efficiently money is used to create transparency and maximize dollars funding dollars.

Charter schools benefit the District:

1. Public charter schools provide choice for all students in the District some of whom do not want or will not thrive in the large traditional schools and have demonstrated the ability to provide educational excellence at a lower cost for the District.

2. The charter schools teach college prep curriculum so every student takes the same classes to prepare ALL students to meet rigorous UC/CSU requirements regardless of preparation or ethnicity which matches the diversity mix of the District.

3. API results for Summit Preparatory Charter School over the last 2 years indicates the strongest performance of any school (charter or non-charter) in the district, with Summit Prep also ranked #118 in a recent Newsweek ranking of 1,500 US high schools.

4. Charter schools are advocated by both President Obama and Governor Schwarzenegger

Charter school costs, admissions and governance:

1. Public records indicate the average cost to educate a charter student is approximately $7,800 per student while non-charter student cost is approximately $11,800.

2. Charter schools pay an assessment to the District for overhead/oversight administrative expenses.

3. As public schools with no entrance requirements and open to application for all district students, a lottery is used to determine new students for Summit and Everest due to demand consistently exceeding capacity in the charter schools.

4. Charters must comply with stringent California Board of Education regulations; unlike the district schools, charter reviews are performed every 5 years to ensure compliance.

Investing District funds wisely to provide choices to all students:

1. School funding in our district is based on tax dollars on a per student basis - funds for charter schools, as well all other high schools in the District, follow students. As such students have the legal right for funds to be spent on their educational choice in the District whether large school or charter school.

2. Career Technical Education provides an excellent option for students not on a college track if it rigorous enough to allow a student to be prepared for college in the event of a career choice change.

District budget and performance priorities in the context of State education cuts:

1. All expenditures urgently need to be reviewed and rationalized at campus and administrative levels. Redundant expenditures must be consolidated or eliminated. Stakeholders must be accountable for performance.

2. There is no guarantee the economy will bring relief in the near future - property values have been lowered and jobs are leaving the District and state; taking years to rebound while in the meantime there are 8,000 students in the pipeline expecting the Board to support their educational needs.

3. While the District API trend is marginally improving, the achievement gap is too wide. Stakeholders from all schools, working as a team to share best practices would help accelerate the process while holding leaders accountable for performance is critical.