Political Philosophy for John P. Cruger-Hansen

Candidate for
Trustee; West Contra Costa Unified School District

IF WE LEARN TO CARE, THE CHILDREN WILL CARE TO LEARN

People, working together as a team, can achieve undreamed of results. By adopting this philosophy, we can together better our schools. We can increase teacher satisfaction and increase student achievement. We can not do it alone however. Everyone needs to ask how he or she can help our Public Schools, and we must welcome and encourage this help. From my experience, the best learning takes place when there is a trusting partnership among four parties - a willing student, a caring parent, a compassionate competent teacher, and a supportive community. Take any partner out and education suffers. Therefore, if we are to deliver educational excellence, we need to capture the imagination and energy of our teachers. We need to earn the respect of our parents. We need to reach out to the broader community and invite everyone to the table. And we need to open our minds, work together, test theories, and try alternative methods. Together we will succeed.