Candidate for
Trustee; Orange Unified School District; Trustee Area 6

-- Fiscal Responsibility -- "Like most school districts across the state, the Orange Unified School District will be facing some tough decisions in the next few years. Accountability is fundamental but our choices must be balanced against the needs of our students. I believe that each measure we take must be carefully analyzed to ensure that short-term cost cutting does not impact our long-term goals for student achievement."

-- School Safety -- "Ensuring our students and teachers have a safe environment should be our number one priority. Kids cannot learn, and teachers cannot teach when they do not feel safe in the classroom, a school and larger community. I want to build stronger partnerships between the District, the cities we serve and local law enforcement community to address today's issues neighborhood by neighborhood. The District cannot improve safety by itself, these partnerships will be vital."

-- Student Achievement -- "Our top priority must be high academic achievement. Great strides have been made to improve student test scores in recent years but there is more work to be done. There is also a need to stretch ourselves beyond one-size-fits-all programs and allow for innovative teaching to help our students."

-- Teacher Recruitment -- "How will we attract new teachers to OUSD? Our district has been blessed with hundreds of educators who have dedicated their entire teaching career to educating OUSD students. As they begin leaving the district after their decades of service, we must honor their legacy by encouraging the next generation of teachers to strive for even higher achievement at OUSD. Developing new pools of enthusiastic and promising educators must be a priority for the years ahead."

-- Technology -- "The 21st century student is here and we must keep pace. Technology has opened so many opportunities in education and we need to be at the forefront of both utilizing technology in the teaching process and in training students to be tech ready for the world around them. Computers, video production and other electronic programs are tools that educated students can use to propel their careers to the next level."