Goals and Vision

By Raquella Thaman

I will advocate for students and teachers first. The fiscal policy of the district must make the educational and safety needs of students the top priority. Without experienced and enthusiastic teachers, those educational needs will not be met.

I will work to reduce the discrepancies between schools in the district. If we want to narrow the gap between schools in wealthier areas and those in poor neighborhoods, we have to bring in the support of the entire community. People have to see that deteriorating schools affect everyone in the larger area, not just those families whose children attend them.

I will work to increase the transparency of, and access to, the decision making process If all people feel ownership of their schools, if they are true investors, they will always demand accountability. I want to help give the community that ownership. I intend to develop a concrete spending criteria that ensures students and teachers will be the last ones to be directly impacted by cuts. This will help transform the decision making process into one that is transparent and consistent.

I want the pay of educational consultants to be capped at a rate no higher than the highest paid teacher. When highly paid consultants are paid to do the job of skilled teachers, the district loses the opportunity to build a strong and qualified teaching force for itself. Money should be spent by the district on training teachers and attracting highly skilled or specialized teachers into its ranks. Those teachers will be far more valuable to our children than many, often transient, consultants can ever be.