I’m running for the Region 9 Board of Education to help achieve four main goals:

1.  To assure that Barlow lives by its official Guiding Principle, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”  High school students have different educational needs that can vary from year to year.  Education should never be a “cookie cutter” process; as much as possible, it should encourage all students toward self-directed achievement as a foundation for future success.  I will always support increased focus on individualized attention, rather than letting students in the middle tiers get “lost in the classroom.”

2.  To continuously improve education at Barlow, both inside and outside the classroom.  As good as Barlow is in most respects, we can always do better.  Continuous improvement in individual achievement and overall test scores, as well as athletic performance and physical facilities, should always be the goal.  (And please…we need to stop making a false distinction between “education” and “athletics” and other important non-classroom activities.)

To put it another way, “good enough” isn’t good enough.  Congratulating ourselves on past achievements is fine, but not at the expense of identifying future needs or raising our standards even further.

3.  To promote sound financial management and honest, effective public communication.  Responsiveness, good communication, and common sense are essential to building public trust and consensus.  Easier to say than to do, perhaps, but we need to continuously keep in mind that the board serves a three-fold constituency of students, parents, and taxpayers.

4.  To bring more clarity and cohesiveness to the Board.  We need new blood with constructive approaches to current and future issues.  Micro-management, infighting, and timidity as a result of past mistakes can’t help but negatively affect overall school performance and morale.

This isn’t just simple board-bashing.  To the contrary, it’s entirely consistent with wholehearted support for Barlow and the three goals discussed above.  Moving forward means addressing our problems honestly, but problems first have to be acknowledged before they can be addressed.  That’s one of the board’s key responsibilities. 

Everyone agrees that Barlow and its students deserve the best we can afford to give them.  A strong, cohesive board is the place to start.

(Redding Pilot, September 20, 2007)