Candidate for
Board Member; Sacramento City Unified School District; 4 Year Term

My political philosophy is aligned with the statement made by Cesar Chavez, "the end of all education should surely be service to others." I believe that those of us fortunate to have received an education have a duty and a privilege to serve our community.

This is a belief that former Mayor Serna instilled in students at Sacramento State University. I was fortunate to have been a student of Professor Serna's and I learned to become involved in both community boards and commissions, as well as to become active in choosing our local elected leaders. I saw that the quality of leaders does make a huge difference in the quality of life for the Sacramento community.

If re-elected, my plans for the future are:

• Improve student learning. While significant educational improvements have taken place already, we need to continue to improve the elementary and middle schools, and accelerate improvements at the high school level through the establishment and refinement of small learning communities at each school.
• Attract and retain quality teachers. Teachers are the most important persons in the life of young people outside of the young persons own family. We must pay the highest salary possible and create working conditions that make it attractive for qualified people to enter and stay in the teaching profession.
• Assure students have quality textbooks. A few years ago, there was a terrible shortage of textbooks for students. The result was poor student learning and parental disbelief. We now provide sufficient textbooks for students to take them home to study, and we provide textbooks that are aligned to state standards.
• Improve parent partnerships. It is known that schools that perform at high levels are ones in which parents are welcomed and in which they become an integral part of the student learning (both at school and at home). The goal of creating a great parent-school partnership is one that I firmly believe will help improve instruction in our district.