Why I want to be a School Board Member.

By Linda "Locke" (Locke) Locke

Why I want to be a member of the Antioch School Board and what I hope to accomplish.

I am not afraid to seek answers? I have faced many young people who lacked sufficient education to secure a living in our society. In an effort to prevent such tragedies, I am an advocate for more comprehensive vocational and technical education in the high schools. Almost 70% of our students do not go on to college.

Lack of a trade or apprenticeships often doom them and their children to a life of poverty. I hope to facilitate cooperation between local trades, business, and LMC for training for these students. It costs $4700 to educate a child for a year. The cost is almost $35,000 for incarceration. Prisons are one of California's biggest businesses. What a waste of resources.

1. How do you propose to tackle the current fiscal climate facing the district? I will accept no salary or benefits. I would ask, if I cannot waive the fees, that they be paid in a separate account and then I will donate the funds to the Antioch Scholarship Foundation to be divided between the two high school seniors for scholarships.

2. How would you propose to tackle the current fiscal climate facing the district? I would actively urge the board to seek funding from outside sources for the schools and needs. I would seek state funding from the Cal Works program, if applicable, for vocational training and technical classes. I would also suggest the classes themselves can raise funds. Example: A class in construction building a shed, car repair, dry wall, or plumbing could sell the completed product to offset cost. Such things are possible.

3. Beyond the budget, what do you see as the biggest issue facing the district now? How would you address it? I feel the animosity between the board and the unions is one of the most critical issues. The teachers are valued district employees we trust with the education of that which we hold dearest, our children. Yet from one board meetings I attended, I found that the hostility is great between the two groups. I feel the teachers need more respect from the board. It is the Union's job to ask for benefits. It is the job of the board to maintain costs to that which we as a community can pay for. It is the job of the board to maintain the balance without alienating the valued teachers. Line teachers should be elected to interact with the board on benefits and costs.

4. How do you plan to balance what is necessary for the district as a whole versus what students, parents, and teachers want?

I would ask each PTA, teachers, bargaining unit, and student council to start a program to elect representatives to meet regularly with the board so that the board can be aware of their concerns. In that way the board would have more feedback from the consumer groups of parents and students. Employee groups would also have greater access and perhaps conflicts could be avoided.

5. What do you think of the current board and the job they are doing? How would you improve or maintain? I think they are good people, but they have endorsed deficit spending for the last three years. To put my concerns in simple metaphor; if I fail to make my PG and E payments the lights go out. We cannot borrow from one source to cover the cost of another without catastrophic consequences. That is what has happened for the last few years, and it is detrimental to the schools and the teachers entrusted with the students education. An additional problem is that state funding is a mystery to the Board. They must guess what the funding will be. The state mandated unfunded programs and entail the funds. This leaves the board with no clear idea of what they can spend for the school year. An example of this is ADA funding. The School Board must guess at what the "average daily attendance" will be. If they are short, the board doesn't get enough money to operate. If the board makes too high a guess, the state demands a refund. I observe that there should be a qualification of "Swami" in order to be a School Board Member.

Linda Locke