Candidate for
Board Member; East Side Union High School District

Top issues and positions:

Schools

Safety + Education will never take place if teachers and students don't feel safe at our schools. I will use every resource possible to make our High Schools safety zones within their respective communities. The zones will be similar to double-fine zones for construction areas and will provide a safety buffer from unsafe activities in the surrounding communities.

Teachers are unable to lock most classroom doors from the inside. This is a major cause for concern for the safety of the teachers and students. Providing deadbolts on classroom doors allows teachers to lock the doors from the inside and is an inexpensive way move the focus back to education.

Academics - Work with administrators, teachers, school board members, and labor unions to provide a way to insure our classrooms are staffed with the most qualified teaching talent available and that their pay is commensurate with their individual contribution and performance. The compensation ceiling must be raised for great teachers.

Institutionalize incentives for students to participate and benefit from tests that measure academic performance of the student and school but have no long-term value to the student. Work with local merchants to donate prizes, trips and other incentives for students to show up and do their best.

Overcrowding & Facilities + Schools in the Southern part of the district are quickly becoming overcrowded while schools in more mature neighborhoods are in a serious state of disrepair. Basic items such as stocking ample toilet paper in the restrooms and keeping all restroom facilities open would solve many problems at overcrowded schools.

Parental Responsibility - The district continues to experience social/economic issues that strain a family's ability to understand and participate in the educational process. One of the fundamental keys to academic success is the active and balanced participation of the student, parent and educators. I will work hard to establish and maintain this balance by using all tools that are available to a Trustee to accomplish this goal.

Board of Trustees

Top-Down Accountability and Integrity + The School Board is not accountable for decision and actions pertaining to personal use of public funds, lack of direction and leadership on the issue of school zoning, fair distribution of Bond and budget allocations, and school safety. I will work to improve the integrity and accountability of the board by setting respectable standards and by serving as an example of these standards.

Communication + Monthly board meetings should be conducted at neighborhood High Schools throughout the school year. This change will give the working parents the opportunity to participate in school governance with little personal inconvenience.

The School District and the board of Trustees continue to generate negative press. My goal is to remove the negative press and begin to rebuild the districts reputation by coming clean on these issues. . I will use local Latino, Vietnamese, and English papers to summarize board actions including: spending of bond money, safety trends, academic trends, demographic information, and budget issues.

Leadership + Make balanced and thorough decisions that treat all district schools fairly and communicate those decisions to the public even when the decisions are not popular.

Governing Structure - Insure local accountability and generate fresh ideas by applying term limits to the trustee position and change our at-large district to smaller districts. This will encourage a larger pool of qualified candidates to participate in school policy as Trustees.