Candidate for
Board Member; Carmel Unified School District

To Whom It Concerns:

I endorse Richard Kreitman in his candidacy for the Carmel Unified School Board.

School boards, in today's world, need to move beyond generalists concerning themselves exclusively with codes of conduct, hiring, and building programs, something that many good people can provide. They need to concentrate on what really matters in education: turning out capable and productive young citizens who can contribute to the regional and national economy and can provide a good living for themselves in a very unpredictable world.

Our schools are simply not doing well enough academically. They are not meeting the local or national need to build a 21st Century workforce. Carmel Unified is now concentrating on academics and is adding this concentration to its well-rounded athletics and arts programs. As this transition occurs across the District's schools, the District needs board members who can provide specialized service to back up the building of an academic culture in the schools and an administrative practice that can produce increasingly higher performing students.

Richard Kreitman brings some very specialized skills to the Board and brings years of personal experience with the schools through his care and concern over his second and seventh grade sons who attend the District's schools. As a financial consultant, Richard is responsible for managing the assets of his clients and analyzing the market forces that affect those clients.

What brought Richard into his run for the board was his astute analysis of the performance data of the Carmel schools. He pointed out to the District administration and the current Board shortcomings in focus and analysis on what is important + how our students are performing. He then became the persuasive force that encouraged the District to form a committee to focus on academic improvement. His hard work paid off and helped pave the way to a renewed commitment to academics by the District.

To continue this good work, I strongly believe Richard should be elevated to a Board seat so that what he has done as a concerned and capable parent can be turned into District policy and he can assist our administrators in carrying out their current improvement efforts. My judgment on Richard's candidacy comes from my own board service at another local school, my work with the University of California on high school improvement, and work nationally on technology and education. Two of my sons attend Carmel schools.

Gordon Freedman