A better school district creates a better community.
The quality of a city’s public education system affects us all.
A child’s education impacts their life for generations. Our neighborhoods and our communities thrive when our public education system does.
Reopening Schools Safely
We can start with two things: the health and well-being of students, employees and their families should always be the priority and schools provide an essential service. The safe reopening of schools is not a partisan issue. I believe we should be consulting with a diverse set of voices as we progress detailed plans for a safe school environment and to address the challenges we will continue to face in providing a high-quality education during and after this pandemic. These voices include infectious disease specialists, pediatricians, teachers, parents, school nurses, and school leadership.
I believe the following mitigators are essential: access to testing, collecting centralized and accurate data on cases in schools and areas for contact tracing, following federal guidance on safe facilities, targeted vaccine deployment, and waivers for teachers who need them.
We must also be squarely focused on the scholastic and emotional setbacks our students have experienced in the last year, to include the disparate impacts of COVID-19, and work to strategically identify how to make up for this loss.
Open and Productive Funding Structure
Our tax dollars are earmarked to fund our community’s most essential needs. We must persistently work to guarantee there is a return on our investments. This is an active process that requires a continual audit and an essential question: will this help our students? We must provide a coordinated structure that involves administrators and teachers, who know what works best for the children in their learning communities, and commit to shedding wasteful spending on programs our teachers say don’t work.
We must also demand continued accountability to keep capital improvement projects under budget and on schedule, and apply legislative pressure so that our governmental entities provide the relief taxpayers deserve.
We can expect to navigate previously unanticipated pandemic-era changes — we should be prepared for brisk and creative collaboration, preemptive planning, and a system that allows us to measure and ensure fiscal accountability and transparency for the equity projects we must commit to.
As taxpayers, we are not just funding a district, we are funding our community’s future.
Leadership from the Top Down
The board must retain a superintendent that commits to be a champion of equity and access for the students in our district, and whose educational mission aligns with the community’s needs. This leader should have direct curriculum and instruction experience, and a record of success in strategic planning and community engagement. An understanding of English Language Learner supports is critical.
The board and superintendent must operate as a collaborative team, establishing an effective district governance model with positive communication protocols, and partnering to set clear, measurable goals for the future of the district.
A vision of continuous improvement will guide a strategic plan that will align all financial and human resources to meet the needs of every student.
Equity in Action
Education is a civil right. The last year has introduced an unprecedented disruption to our educational system and exacerbated the educational equity crisis in our communities.
We must work to contextualize research and data and develop an Equity Action Plan with evidence of implementation indicators that will incorporate equity into the foundational structure of operations, build capacity, and identify and address barriers that perpetuate opportunity and achievement gaps. We can start by:
Affirming the voices of our community’s stakeholders by involving teachers, parents and students in the visioning process for collective action.
Expanding efforts to translate important documents and meetings (including board meetings) into the primary languages spoken in the homes of our students
Appropriating CRRSA and American Rescue Plan funding swiftly, prioritizing the needs of our most vulnerable students, including undocumented students, students with disabilities, English Language Learners and homeless students.
Expanding access to Healthcare and Behavioral Health Services and providing services to support student mental health by aligning human and community resources.
Providing ongoing training specific to culturally responsive teaching practices, including cultural competence, equity and social justice.
When we pursue equitable practices in education, all students benefit.