Our students are not performing well in standardized tests compared to other districts in San Mateo County. We can do better! We must Stop Losing Teachers, Avoid Delays in State Funding because of Slow Action by our School Board, and enhance Communication. Let's take action and give our students, teachers, and staff the tools they need to succeed!
There are steps that I will take as your representative on the South San Francisco Unified School District Board of Trustees. Steps to help our children, teachers, and parents, achieve the success they deserve.
These are actions I will support so that we can begin seeing the results we all want for our students:
- STOP LOSING OUR CORE TEACHERS - We must work to retain well-trained and experienced teachers. Teachers are leaving our District. They are being lured away by more supportive and higher paying districts. We must look to the additional revenue we are receiving from all the new housing developments springing up in South San Francisco. The property tax income will have a positive affect on our school funding. I want to use that income to make our teachers' salaries competitive with other districts. Thereby, keeping consistent, talented, and experienced teachers in our children's classrooms. We also need these well-trained teachers to mentor our new teachers and help them grow in the ranks. Having consistently good teachers in our classrooms is the first step toward higher scores and better student performance!
- QUICKER ACTION - The School Board must properly implement the Master Plan for English Language Learner (ELL) students. This Master Plan should have been in place years ago. However, our current School Board waited for years until the State of California put our District on RESTRICTION. This restricted status caused the State to withhold funding until our District was back in "compliance." An ELL Master Plan was part of that lack of compliance. A Master Plan had to be hastily put together. Thanks to the dedication of our District Office staff, teachers, and parents, who worked very hard, a good plan was developed in the limited time they were given. Now, the Master Plan must also be adapted to fit the regulations of Proposition 227. Our District is still being carefully watched by the State to be sure we follow the regulations that are attached to State funds which we need in our classrooms. To succeed, the Master Plan must be PROPERLY and quickly implemented. Allow me to represent you and be sure that we no longer have delays in State funding because of slow action by our School Board, and to be sure that the Master Plan is put into place as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Of our over 10,000 students in K-12 in the SSF Unified School District, 17% are classified as LEP (Limited English Proficient). These students must be mainstreamed as effectively as possible. With experienced and teachers and competent aides in place, we should be able to bring these students up to speed more completely.
- COMMUNICATION - The lines of communication between the School Board, the classroom teachers, the students, and the parents need to improve. Parents have very little free time these days. We must be more creative in finding ways to let parents know the issues and challenges affecting their children. This way, they can know where their actions can be most productive and helpful to our teachers and staff resulting in a great benefit for our students.
Together, we can create the opportunities our students, teachers, and families can utilize on the road to SUCCESS!
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