Candidate for
Superintendent; Monterey County Schools

Proudly Endorsed By:

Campaign Co-Chairs
Mae Johnson
Basil Mills

Treasurer
Warren Wayland

Campaign Committee
Dr. Ray Charlson
Brian Contreras
Susan Crisante
Kay Kuffner
Dr. Dorothy Lloyd
Phyllis Meurer
Sylvia M. Panetta
Judge John Phillips (Retired)

Elected Officials
Senator Abel Maldonado
Dr. Bill Barr - Monterey County Superintendent of Schools
Dan Albert - City of Monterey, Mayor
Fernando Armenta - Monterey County Supervisor
Janet Barnes - Salinas City Council Member
Christopher K. Bourke - Soledad City Council Member
Lou Calcagno - Monterey County Supervisor
Jim Costello - City of Pacific Grove, Mayor
Libby Downey - Monterey City Council
Matt Gourley - City of Gonzales, Mayor
Edith Johnsen - Former Monterey County Supervisor
Don Jordan - Seaside City Council Member
Mike Kanalakis - Monterey County Sheriff
Butch Lindley - Monterey County Supervisor
Jyl Lutes - Salinas City Council Member
Tom Mancini - Seaside City Council Member
Ila Mettee-McCutchon - City of Marina, Mayor
Richard Ortiz - City of Soledad, Mayor
Ralph Rubio - City of Seaside, Mayor
Jerry Smith - Monterey County Supervisor
Lou Solton - Monterey County Treasurer
Ken White - City of Carmel, Former Mayor

Organizations

California School Employees Association (CSEA)
California Teachers Association (CTA)
CTA Central Coast Counties Service Center Council
Monterey Bay Central Labor Council
Monterey Bay Teachers Association
Monterey County Hospitality Association
Monterey County Office of Education Teachers Association
The Monterey County Herald
Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers
Service Employee International Union(S.E.I.U.)Local No.817
United Food & Commercial Workers International Union, Local No. 1096

Education Community

Monterey County Board of Education Members
Ruth Andresen
Barbara Cornett
Warner Davis
Richard Morgantini
Harvey Kuffner, President
Judy Pennycook
Richard Tuttle, Vice President

School District Trustees

Elva Arellano - Santa Rita Union School District
Lise Belton - Spreckels Union School District
Marie Berlanga - Soledad Unified School District
Anne M. Brown - Salinas Union High School District
Lila Cann - Salinas Union High School District
Vickie Cassaca - Spreckels Union School District
Don Chapin - Lagunita School District
R. Lynn Davis - Monterey Peninsula College
Millie Dodd - King City Union High School District
Robert Eggers - Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
Amy Funt - Carmel Unified School District
Art Gilbert - Salinas Union High School District
Guadalupe Ruiz Gilpas - Alisal Union School District
Michael Harris - Salinas City School District
Dr. Dan Hightower - Carmel Unified School District
Ernest Howard - Lagunita School District
Heidi Hymovitz - Spreckels Union School District
Sonia Jaramillo - Gonzales Unified School District
Aaron Johnson - Hartnell College
Meri Keiser - Santa Rita Union School District
Dr. Bettye L. Lusk - Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
Steve McShane - Hartnell College
Carlos E. Noriega - Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
Charles Page - Monterey Peninsula College
Kathryn Ramirez - Salinas Union High School District
Jim Reavis - Salinas Union High School District
Helen Rucker - Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
Dr. Lauren Steck -Monterey Peninsula College
Dr. Jim Tunney - Monterey Peninsula College

School District/University/College Administrators

Roger Anton - Salinas Union High
Dr. Sam Bozzo - Monterey County Office of Education
Elizabeth Bozzo - Mission Union
Wayne Brown - King City Union
Dr. Diane Cordero de Noriega - California State University, Monterey Bay
Roberta Emmerson, Alisal Union (Retired)
José Luis Fernández - Hartnell College
Marsha Filbin - Lagunita
Jim Fontana - Santa Rita Union
Susan Gerard - San Antonio Union
Rosemarie Grounds - Graves Union
Tom Guajardo - Greenfield Union
Jorge Guzman - Soledad Unified
Alejandro Hogan - Salinas Union High
Dr. Harold Kahn - Spreckels Union
Dr. Bob Infelise - Monterey Peninsula Unified (Retired)
Larry Lindstrom - Monterey County Office of Education (Retired)
Laura Lee Lienk - California State University, Monterey Bay
Dr. Jack Marchi - Diocese of Monterey
John Lamb - Monterey Peninsula Unified
Yolanda LeNoble + Soledad Unified (Retired)
Mary Magaña - Chualar Union
Gene Martin - Soledad Unified (Retired)
Dr. Carrol Moran - University of California Santa Cruz
Michael W. Ottmar - Monterey County Office of Education (Retired)
Keith Parkhurst - North Monterey County Unified (Retired)
Gordon Piffero - Pacific Unified
Dr. Seth Pollack - California State University, Monterey Bay
Carolyn Post - North Monterey County Unified
Ruben Pulido - Alisal Union
Catherine N. Reimer - Bradley Union
Kathleen Rose + Hartnell College
E.J. Rossi - San Ardo Union
Theresa Rouse - San Lucas Union
Dr. Randall Schwartz - Monterey County Office of Education
Donna Alonzo Vaughan - Salinas City Union
Dr. Edward Valeau - Hartnell College
Dr. Susan Villa - San Benito County Office of Education
Ernest Zermeño - Gonzales Unified

School Teachers/Support Staff/Administrators

John Aaron
Karen Aguirre
Louie Aguirre
Jackie Anderson
Ann Beckett
Natalie Bernasconi
Donna Bessant
Diane Cadei
Marie Councilman
Linda Coyne
Paula Crivello
Ray Curtis
Bill Deeb
Tom Dietrich
Audrey Duenas
Devorah Duncan
Susana Dutro
Vicky Mora Escobar
Resa Foss
Gwenn Frindt
Eliza Gomez
Rebecca Rangel Hadley
Dr. Jack Harpster
Jeanne Herrick
Jorge Jasso
Linda Johnson
Cheryl Joseph
Gwendolyn Laster
Edward Lopez
Rosie Lopez
Anita McKean
Dr. Adrienne Meckel
Lisa Mills
Paula Motley
Steve Nejasmich
Deneen Newman
Larry Newman
Estrella Oliver
Erica Padilla-Chavez
Curtis Parker
Karen Pfeiffer
Myrna Rivas
Rosie Sanchez
Joe Sanchez
Sandra Uecker
Toni Ungs
Anne Wheelis

Community Endorsement

Diosa F. Abellana
Kathryn Aguras
Joanne Albert
Albert Amaya
Elda Amaya
Shahin Anable
Peter Anderson
Bob Antle
Cass Antle
Karen Antle
Mike Antle
Rick Antle
Sue Antle
Tonya Antle
David Armanasco
Dolores Badham
John N. Bailey
Barbara Balentine
Ted Balesteri
Juan Baltierra
Emi Balverde
Karen Barr
Tony Barrera
Jonathan Battey
Gregory P. Beardsley
Arceli Beery
Teri Belli
Bardin Bengard
David Berger
Donna Berger
Art Berlanga
Ed Boutonnet
Rosa Boutonnet
Daniel Bozzo
Judith Bradley
Nicholas Brockman
Bennett W. Brown
Ginny Brown
Johanna Brown
Morley Brown
Richard S. Brown
Tim Brown
R. Terrence Budden
Jasmin Buhay
Sue Burnham
Richard Cann
Dennis Caprara
Janice Caprara
Ogie Caunty
Lauren Cercone
Patricia Chapman
Robert Chapman
Elise Charlson
Mary Claypool
Leslie Cornett
Reed Silas Cripe
William D. Curtis
Josefina Cusung
Lydia Davis
Valarie Davis
Terri DeBono
Edelita Dela Cruz
Hector DeLaRosa
Stefanie DeLaRosa
Eric Deleissegues
Celerina Deogracias
Joe DeRuosi
Fred DeYoung
Martha DeYoung
Martha Diehl
Sally Dietrich
Jim Dobbins
Nancy Dobbins
Dennis Donohue
Joann Dost
Wayne Downey
James Eade
Sherrill Eggers
Bob Enea
Corazon Española
Dirk Tynan Etienne
Jim Fanoe
Karen Fanoe
John Felice
Eriberto Fernández
Donna Ferraro
Clarita Fontelera
Carole Forest
Virginia C. Fortin
Gretchen Fuentes
Maribel Garza
Brandon Gesicki
David Gill
Susan Gill
Kathleen Gillott
Harold Gordon
Joyce Gordon
Elizabeth Grammatico
Richard Gray
Candace Gregory
Connie Guerin
Robert Guerin
Marilynn Dunn Gustafson
Bill Gutches
Mary Gutches
Johnny Guzman
Michael Guzman
Sally Hamana
Kathryn Hannay
Ken Hardy
Stephanie Hardy
Jennifer Haro
William Hastie
Dr. Ellie Hattori
Pat Haynes
Bryan Heath
Cecilia Heath
Julia Hicks
Cindy Holaday
Nate Holaday
Claude Hoover
Melanie Horwath
Tim R. Horwath
Carol Howard
Geoff Hunziker
Tammy Hunziker
E. Walker James
David Johnson
Joanne Taylor Johnson
Ronald Johnson
Sarah Joplin
Alice Jordan
Mary Kanalakis
Brian Kelly
Marsha Kelly
Nolan Kennedy
Sally Kim
Michael Kirch
Robert C. Kramer
Dr. Peter Krasa
Tadoa Kumagai
Christian Lamonen
Melyssa Lamonen
Willie Tyrus Laster
Sam Lavorato
Shirley Lavorato
Fred Ledesma
Gloria Ledesma
Doug Lee
Wendy Lee
Yung Hee Lee
Mary Ann Leffel
William P. LeNoble
Vivien Lindley
Merrilyn Mancini
Nita Maniego
David Maradei
Barbara Marcantonio
Mary Marchi
Sandy Martin
Regina Mason
Brigid McGrath Massie
Dr. Bill Meléndez
Susan Midori-Jones
David Mills
Roger Mills
Faustino Mora
Michael Morrison
Brigga Mosca
Bob Mulford
William Murphy
Gordon Nakagawa
John Nakaoka
Leo Oliver
Daniel M. Ortega
Lori Panziera
Ron Panziera
Emily Parsons
Dave Peterson
Patti Phillips
Bruce Pierson
Seth Pollack
Lawrence Porter
Sylvia Waldrup Quarles
Ever Raneses
Gordon Ray
Manuel Real
Roselyn Real
Sally Reed
Bob Rice
George Richardson
Tom Riordan
Clyde Roberson
John Romans
Judy Rowley
Wendy Sarsfield
Dr. Bettye J. Saxon
Mickey Scornaienchi
Peter Scudder
Sharon Shaghoian
Chris Shake
James Slaten
Gordon Paul Smith
Ramona C. Smith
Sarah Stanley
Annette T.P. Yee Steck
Kenneth Steen, Jr.
Thom Steinbeck
Dean Storkin
Joanne Storkin
Melinda Tamonte
Hazel M. Tompkins
Susan Valeriano
Bill Vaughan
José Vazquez
Nick Ventimiglia
Marie Viarengo
Dan Villa
Ralph Villar
Gary Vincenz
Harry Wardwell
Charlie Watts
Bill West
Jill West
Timothy Wheelis
Jean White
Brenda Whitsett
Don Whitsett
Rhonda Williams
James Williamson

(Partial list)

• Titles and affiliations are for identification purposes only.

Kotowski has what it takes to lead schools

Nancy Kotowski has been training for her next job her entire career and has spent the past 14 years fine-tuning her skills. She joined the county Office of Education in 1992 as a coordinator of curriculum and administration.

She moved up a year later to become assistant superintendent and was promoted again in 2003 to the No. 2 spot, associate superintendent of schools.

Now, she's more than ready for another promotion, this time via the ballot box on June 6. It's hard to imagine anyone with better credentials to replace the retiring Bill Barr as county superintendent of schools, or anyone with a better grasp of the operation and the challenges.

As testimony to her qualifications and expertise, Kotowski has been endorsed by a Who's Who of area educators and civic leaders across the political spectrum -- Sylvia Panetta, Basil Mills, the Antles, Barr, Morley Brown, Don Chapin, Brian Contreras, Dan Albert Sr., Roger Anton, Bob Enea, Sally Hamana, Bob Infelise, Mae Johnson, Phyllis Meurer, Helen Rucker, Butch Lindley, Ila Mettee-McCutchon, Bill Melendez, John Phillips, Manuel Real, Sally Reed, Lou Solton, Jerry Smith, Ed Valeau, Harry Wardwell. Get the picture? The list goes on and on.

The Office of Education is a bureaucratic oddity that generally attracts little public attention. Its roles include overseeing the finances of the various school districts in the county, serving as a pass-through agency for state and federal grants, operating special-education programs, overseeing the Headstart and migrant education programs, helping districts with training and hiring, analyzing student performance and lobbying on education issues. It is a complex operation with an annual budget of $80 million and a staff of 1,600 spread around the county.

The top job, the superintendent's position, is the only elective office for an education administrator in the county, so it's important to have a particularly well-qualified person there as a visible advocate for all things educational. Kotowski has the whole package -- advanced degrees in educational administration and educational policy, and a work history that includes stints as a teacher, principal and education policy analyst. She knows the schools, the districts and the people.

Kotowski's plan is as solid as her résumé. She wants to improve the office's financial abilities, push for better ways to train and retain teachers, and help districts improve student performance with emphasis on closing the achievement gap that separates minority youngsters from the others, especially as they reach the upper grades.

Her opponent is Ricardo Tellez, the Office of Education's Headstart administrator under Kotowski. He also has many of the right skills for the job, but he would have to go through some serious on-the-job training in areas where his boss already excels.