Educational Excellence

By Julie Holcomb

I will be a strong advocate for the arts in education and for better preparing our students for life and work through career-linked and technical education.

As a school board member, I will always advocate for the foundational importance of the arts in education. Children learn in different ways, and the arts provide varied paths to understanding and multiple ways for children to demonstrate what they know. Our teachers must be supported to teach in ways that nurture creativity, inquiry, problem solving and intellectual risk-taking along with a high level of competency in reading, writing and mathematics, as well as subject knowledge in science, history, literature and culture. It is essential that all students attain proficiency in the skills assessed by our required State English Language and Mathematics tests, but our evaluation of the success of our schools must go beyond standardized test scores and include assessments of the quality of student work and the development of higher level thinking skills.

Career Technical Education

I will be a leader for expanding career-linked and technical education in Berkeley. All of our students must arrive at high school prepared to do high school level work, and all of our students must graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and in life as informed, inquiring citizens. Expanding career-linked education, technical curriculum, mentorships and summer employment opportunities for our young people will allow them to explore more of the options available to them, to gain skills they can be proud of and inspire each of them to envision a future that will be rewarding and productive.

There is State and Federal money for developing career technical curriculum, and Measure I, the local school facilities bond measure now before Berkeley voters, includes funding for facilities for career technical education. I want to make sure that "career tech" does not only mean "high tech." I will work to ensure that BUSD develops career-linked curriculum that includes courses that allow students to discover and develop mechanical skills and spatial intelligence that can lead to careers in technical fields such as design, architecture, engineering and the trades. BUSD is far behind other school districts in offering this kind of curriculum to students, and I will work to change that.