Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Bonita Unified School District

My wife and I grew up in the San Dimas/La Verne area, attended schools in the Bonita Unified School District, graduated from San Dimas High School, and moved back to La Verne after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona. We knew that we wanted to raise our family here, as did our parents. Our son, Evan Patrick, will attend elementary, middle and high school in the Bonita Unified School District. Our son and all of the children of the district deserve an education that will prepare them for a competitive future.

The basic skills needed to succeed today and in the future are steadily expanding. This is a challenge for every educator, school, district, and community. We can and must meet this challenge. We have an opportunity to realize a better future for all of our children. Our priorities, investments, and actions matter today. The future is now!

· Adequate funding must be provided for our children.

Educating our children and enabling them to be productive citizens and positive contributors in the local and global communities must be a high priority. Each dollar we spend today on our children's education is an investment in them, our communities, and our future. We must not shortchange our children, our future, or ourselves. Schools and education should be a top priority for the state and we must protect education and our children from budget cuts.

...YES, I will be an advocate for our children.

· Our children deserve well-trained and certified teachers.

Approximately 112 of 468 BUSD teachers could retire today. We must attract, support, develop, and retain the best teachers for our schools. We can only attract and retain the best when we treat our teachers professionally and pay them competitively. So, we must encourage collective bargaining agreements that treat our teachers like VIPs (Very Important Professionals), support a fair and competitive salary structure, and reward teachers for their individual and collective contributions to the district's success.

All our teachers deserve ongoing professional support and development. In addition to intensive and continuous development for our teachers in the curriculum they teach, we must also support and encourage our teachers to integrate the use of technology into the classroom when it offers the opportunity to enhance the teaching and learning experience.

...YES, I will be an advocate for the best teachers.

· Our children need small classes with skilled teachers.

Teachers educate, inspire and engage students. Unfortunately, we put our teachers and students at a disadvantage when we rank 49 out of 50 states. It would be more effective to engage every student if class sizes were smaller. We can and must reduce the size of our classes and enable our teachers to intellectually engage every student.

...YES, I will be an advocate for small classes.

· Our children deserve safe, modern, and well-equipped schools.

The passage of Measure C in March 2004 demonstrated the fact that the great communities of La Verne and San Dimas value safe, modern, and well-equipped schools. With the matching funds generated from this effort the district will ultimately be responsible for investing approximately $88 million in repairs and upgrades. Now is the time to make sure we deliver on the expectations of the residents of La Verne and San Dimas.

...YES, I will be an advocate for safe, modern, and well-equipped schools.

It would be an honor to be elected to the Bonita Unified School Board. On November 8, 2005 vote for Matthew Lyons for Bonita Unified School District and I will be an advocate for our children, for the best teachers, for small classes, and for safe, modern, and well-equipped schools.