By Carrie B. Du Bois

--Martin Luther King Jr.

I first heard these powerful words from Martin Luther King Jr. last year during an achievement gap conference hosted by the San Mateo County Office of Education. County Superintendent Anne Campbell read the quote from the last page of Linda Darling Hammond's Book, The Flat World of Education. When I heard King's call to action, everything I know from my work in public education and as a community leader came together for me at that moment. It is King's ringing endorsement of a good education for all students that has most inspired me to run for a seat on the Sequoia Union High School Board of Trustees.

My three sons have had the benefit of an outstanding public education. They had a great preschool experience that prepared them for kindergarten. When they started kindergarten, they were ready and eager to learn. They have been blessed with excellent teachers, a caring community that supports public schools, stable housing and the benefits of a crime free neighborhood. My sons have all done well academically and I have little doubt they will all attend the college of their choice.

My experience as an active participant in the San Mateo County School Boards Association, gave me the opportunity to learn about schools outside of San Carlos. This exposure gave me an awareness about the achievement gap, low performing schools, program improvement and the high school drop out crisis. I also saw first hand the stark funding differences between schools in San Mateo County.

Wanting to learn more, I decided to visit as many low performing schools as possible. My journey took me to East Palo Alto, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. What I found in these low test scoring schools surprised me. At every school I found teachers and administrators who cared deeply about kids and social justice. I found parents who loved their schools and admired the teaching staff. I found people with energy to change the world but confront incredibly challenging obstacles. In neighborhoods with high poverty rates, there comes more child abuse, more drug and alcohol addiction, higher unemployment and violence. What was most disturbing for me was to meet children who had given up and lost all motivation to learn. When I met these kids, I wondered how we could help them succeed and how we must get them through high school.

As a community leader, I have been involved in projects that have helped to break the cycle of poverty through education. I have helped to create a vision where parents from different neighborhoods learn to care about each other's children. I have also been a voice for kids who do not have parents to speak for them.

While leading the San Carlos Educational Foundation, I was able to work with my community and help people understand that we can't just be focused on our own kids and our individual schools. If we came together as a community and looked out for all of our children there would be better educational outcomes for all.

The Sequoia Union High School District is the perfect place to teach valuable life skills to students with it's diverse student population. To do this, we must prepare our students before they get to high school. We must help people from different neighborhoods meet and understand each others challenges. Schools with rich and vibrant parent organizations can help raise awareness about schools that don't have the same volunteer support. The sooner we know each other as parents, the better our children will blend together.

The most competitive colleges want kids who not only have academic success but also leadership and community building skills. Through better parent outreach and collaboration, our students can learn valuable lessons about compassion, resilience and problem solving to help them prepare for a global and ever changing world.

My greatest hope for my children is that they will graduate from high school discovering their passion and a desire to continue to learn. I also want them to understand what it means to be a true citizen of this country. I want them to care about democracy, understand philanthropy and know that it is possible to solve society's most difficult problems. These are the things that are best learned at a public school and that is why I would not have my kids any where else.