Cajon Valley Schools v. Other Education Options

By Ken Jensen

We need to market what we do well and provide more opportunties to increase community confidence in our schools.

For many reasons, enrollment has declined in Cajon Valley Schools over the last decade. Some of the reasons include things we cannot necessarily change, including changing demographics. Also some parents have more choices and chose to send their children to other schools. What we can and must change is any negative perception regarding our public schools.

I have the experience in this District to address this issue. In serving on the Learning Environment Task Force for the past three years, I have examined the data and participated in parent surveys to understand what parents in our community want in education. I have heard from teachers and parents and explored what will work to reivigorate our schools.

First, we need to improve our educational program by offering more opportunities for children at ALL schools: opportunties to learn different languages, increased science and fine art exposure. We can take advantage of the rich ethnic diversity we have in El Cajon to increase children's cultural and global awareness. All of this has the aim of preparing our children to be communicators, risk-takers and inquirers in a global economy.

Second, we can add magnets to attract more to our district. I serve on the magnet committee and know what magnets work and how to make them successful. As a result of our work,the district is moving forward with an International Baccalaureate program at both an elementary and middle school. For more information on IB programs see <http://www.ibo.org>. The district is also moving forward with a middle school fine arts magnet. We also need to explore a Science, Technology, Engineering & Math ["STEM"] magnet.

Third, we must market our accomplishments such that our schools become the choice for parents in our community. Part of this is correcting an overly negative perception that some have of public education. State test scores can only tell one narrow side of the story and many believe that the standards are increasingly unrealistic to be a true measure of success. Cajon Valley schools are not in crisis. We need to market what we are doing right as well as address the real concerns parents in the community have for their children's education.

Our community only benefits by a reputation of good public schools. Let's move forward by increasing opportunities for children.