Candidate for
Board Member; San Mateo County Community College District

Tom Mohr - an Experienced Educator It would be an honor to serve as a Trustee on the San Mateo County Community College District Board. It took only a few days of being present to the work of a community college to understand that what happens there is transformative, that lives are changed, that great teaching and opportunity to learn inspires individuals to become all they can be. This was an especially fulfilling experience for me because it connected with all the values, ideals and aspirations I had at the beginning of a career that caused me to become teacher. It was for me, a sort of found "Ithaca", a journey I need to continue.

One cannot overstate the importance of the three community colleges to the destiny of the county and to its people. They are the places where the majority of youth engage in higher education and prepare themselves to transfer to the universities, or receive career and technical training and then become gainfully employed. They are today, for most families of the county, the major avenue to affordable education. For so many of the people the colleges serve, they are the lone, available opportunity they have to advance the quality of their lives, to set goals and eventually join the ranks of those who compete successfully in a very challenging and dynamic economy. Without affordable education and training, provided in top quality, state of the art institutions of teaching and learning, the economy of the county itself becomes seriously restrained in the ongoing effort to maintain its prominence in quality of life and economic opportunity and the ideals of a democratic society become impaired.

I devoted my career to educating the youth of San Mateo County and preparing them for successful futures. I've been a science teacher, high school Principal, school district Superintendent, and President of Caņada College. I've educated students from Daly City to San Mateo to Redwood City. As a Community College President and as High School District Superintendent, academics and test scores improved and graduation and college transfer rates increased markedly for students of all demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Indeed, the college became a state leader in rates of transfer to universities. I partnered with faculty and staff in creating a new vision and strategic plan to create the curriculum and programs necessary to connect with a global economy. We founded the University Center so that Baccalaureate Degrees could be earned through San Francisco State University and CSU East Bay. The College received more than 15 million dollars in grants, a good share of those grants for advancing programs and graduates in engineering and mathematics and for helping underrepresented students stay engaged and be successful in their college experience. We made great strides in integrating the college effectively into the life of the peninsula community and the south county neighborhoods and earned a reputation for effective, personalized teaching and systems of student support.

I have an extraordinary understanding of the issues facing the College District and its students and hope to be provided the opportunity to apply what I have learned, through policy and practice, to all three unique colleges, Skyline College, College of San Mateo, and Caņada College, Our community college students need the best educational preparation to enter America's best universities and innovative career technical programs that connect them to highly skilled jobs and promising futures. My vision is always to find new and creative ways to get this done, to lead towards new educational horizons.