Candidate for
Governing Board Member; El Monte City Elementary School District

From Jennifer Cobian --- Candidate for El Monte City School District Governing Board

I want to be on the El Monte City School Board because I believe my skills and experience will make me an effective advocate for all the students in the El Monte City School District. I am the only candidate who has been both a teacher in this district and is a current parent in the district.

I am currently a full-time mother of four with my two oldest children attending Rio Hondo Elementary. My youngest is just three years old, so I will be a parent in this district for many years to come. I have a vested interest in the long term success of our schools.

Before my kids were born, I was a teacher here in the El Monte City School District. I taught full-time at Columbia School and was a substitute at every school in the district. This gave me a good sense of the scope of serving the varying needs of all the students of this district.

Prior to teaching, I was a speechwriter for the Governor of California, and I also interned in the White House. From those experiences, I developed an understanding the politics that are sometimes necessary for good policy making. Additionally, much of my life has been connected to supporting public education. My mother is a retired public school teacher and my father is one of the leading education policy makers in the state. He helped to write the Local Control Funding Formula which will soon be providing our district with additional resources. I have unique access to understanding our current situation and the direction our state is headed with education policies.

I also married into a long-time El Monte family. My husband Roger Cobian, a Sergeant with El Monte Police Department, is a product of El Monte Schools. I know how vital our schools are to the future of our community. We are all stakeholders in our children's education. The kids in school today are our future civic leaders, business owners or teachers. They are the future of our community.

I know that education is the key to opportunity. I received my Bachelors Degree from UC Santa Cruz and my Masters Degree from the University of Chicago. I got my teaching credential from CSU Los Angeles. While I am not in a position to be in the classroom as a teacher, being on the School Board is a way for me to continue to help our students in El Monte have the best we can give them.

As a school board member I intend to be a visible member of the community. I see my job as being a liaison between the administration, teachers, staff, students and parents, and the community as a whole. My top priorities will be reducing class sizes, supporting teachers and staff, keeping students healthy and safe, and adding new technology and resources in a responsible way, targeted at improving student achievement.

With the new state funding and the implementation of the common Core Standards, there is an opportunity to shape the direction of our schools for years to come. I believe my skills and experience make me the right person to make those decisions in a way that will move our district forward and best serve the diverse needs of our students.