It's  time for a change, and a choice.  As Evergreen School Board Director, I wish to serve District residents by assuring that students receive the best education available.  We deserve honest and open communication between residents, administrators, teachers, and students.  We all have the right to know how our public institutions operate, how we spend our money, and that we have the right to expect accurate, complete, and timely information from administration without surprises - good and bad news.  If we wish our students to aspire to learning and educational success, to achieve college opportunities, then we need to "walk-the-walk" by putting highly educated and qualified people directing and staffing our public schools.  I believe I bring those skills to the table.

    Improving school district accountability for finances, achieving rapid student academic improvement, expanding teacher support, fixing and maintaining our neglected and deteriorating capital resources while we ensure administrative responsibility are all worthy goals. We can not afford to take significant steps backwards in recent WASL results when we are trying to achieve the next year's state and federal standards for average yearly progress. To be world competitive, we must change our public school paradigm that math courses such as advanced algebra, trigonometry, and pre-calculus are classified as advanced subjects. Other world competitive countries consider these as standard, to be world competitive, we must learn from them as well and change. If we set academic achievement goals for our schools, we must also ensure there is clear accountability developed into those goals for staff as well as students. I believe I can help our district achieve better academic achievement with accountability that we are putting district resources forward in providing the right solutions for the right problems. 

 

    Objective measures are absolutely necessary in measuring student and school performance; and the WASL is only one avenue our district can pursue in accelerating the success of both.  Kids thrive on competition.  Our district needs more programs that provide competitive opportunities in academics much the same as are currently provided in performing arts, activities, and athletics.  For example, I would endorse a resolution that would create interscholastic math competition between district schools for all elementary, middle school, and highs schools.  I think this would allow our best, brightest, and improving math students to compete for their own recognition as well as represent their schools with pride.  We need to recognize excellence of students in all areas of their education by providing competition in academics for math as well as literacy areas.  This would, I feel, help build student academic enthusiasm and further success in testing results.

    As board director, I would encourage the board as a whole to improve lines of communication between administration, teachers, parents, and students by initially enriching access to public information.  Many other districts provide thorough online access to district budgets, board resolutions, school improvement plans, and even email access to each individual board member.  We should have policies that ensure issues and concerns brought by parents, residents and students are fully addressed and responded to until closure.  I believe my experience and acumen in project and strategic management would greatly help this endeavor for all residents, staff, students, and parents.