Candidate Statement

By Joel Diaz

I have a vision where our schools go from good to great very quickly - and they become a model of excellence. I believe that many of us would enjoy that vision, a vision that has profound meaning, it's the kind of vision that makes your heart pound and it's something we can all get behind.

My goal is to foster a collaborative culture that is passionate for robust learning, teaching strategies and instructional leadership. I'm hoping to create a culture that strategically gives to the children and the teachers. I want to find out what our schools need, and then focus on giving it to them.

We can create a friendly +no shame, no blame - framework to address the problems that exist. We can guide a more focused systematic improvement of instruction and leadership through collaborative groups.

In order to make this happen I believe we must work together as a team. It takes a united effort involving everyone - teachers, principals, superintendents, school board members, parents, and the community.

One of the first challenges I believe we need to focus on is to improve reading proficiency rates - sometimes referred to as literacy rates. We have a high number of children who struggle to read, and by focusing on helping them, we will ultimately prepare more students for absorbing the Common Core as well as prepare them to succeed in school once they leave our protective district.

We have the building blocks within our schools, that with a few modifications, will help to continually improve student achievement and ensure fiscal solvency for the school district. I'd like to use my relationships and organizations to fuel more funds to our schools through higher academic scores and higher real estate values.

We live in an ever changing knowledge based society and economy where we need to make our schools more adaptive for the future. I am a candidate for change.

I respectfully ask for your vote November 4th.

Joel Diaz