Candidate for
Board Member; New Haven Unified School District

I am Atul Mitra, running for the New Haven Unified School District School Board elections on November 2, 2004. I come from a family, where both my father and mother have been long time educators. After finishing my B.S. in Civil Engineering in India, I came to this country in 1982 and finished my M.S. in Civil Engineering from Ohio State University. For the past 20 years, I have been working in the Information Technology industry. My wife is an Electrical Engineer by profession; my son is a senior at James Logan while my daughter is a 7th grader at Alvarado Middle School. We moved to California in 1996 from the East Coast to be closer to our families and have made Union City our home since 2000. I have been very active in the district affairs and in January was appointed to the Measure A Bond Oversight Committee and currently serving as the Vice-Chair and Spokesperson. In September I was elected to serve on Logan School Site Council.

The students of the New Haven Unified School District deserve to have the skills necessary for success in the 21st Century. Our children must learn job skills as well as prepare for college. We need to teach what employers and colleges expect and that includes, work habits, being responsible and being on time. While we improve New Haven's academic standards, I also believe it is important for students to learn the importance of character, honesty, respect, civility and tolerance. These are our community's values.

We all want to see small class sizes, current technology, and teachers of the highest quality. But we can't have the best if the School Board is not managing and spending district funds appropriately. If we are forced to cut the budget, we must cut bureaucracy first and classrooms last.

Teachers and parents must work together in partnership with the district to help our students. We must listen to the people closest to the students. As a hard working parent of 2 students in the New Haven Unified School District, I know that student success for my children and all the children must be the priority.