My Key Issues
Active Oversight: Reclaim Authority, Ask the Hard Questions
Over time, the Board has delegated significant decision-making authority to the Administration. That means many of the decisions families and community members expect the Board to make are not brought before it. As a result, people come to Board meetings asking for change—but the Board does not act, often because those decisions are no longer within its control. That creates frustration and a lack of clarity about how decisions are made. I believe the Board needs to take a more active role—reclaiming its authority, asking challenging questions, and ensuring the community understands why decisions were made.
Transparency: Ensuring the Community has Timely and Easy Access to Complete Information
The Board must prioritize transparency. From simple things like switching to a platform that not only streams and video records meetings, but also generates searchable transcripts, to changes that will take more effort, such as requiring that all Commitees make their agendas and written minutes publicly available, and demanding more thorough and complete written materials from the Administration and Committees in advance of all meetings so the Board and community, not just residents who have children in the schools, can have adequate time to review, understand, and engage meaningfully in the decision making process. The Board must always question whether there are systems and structures in place to ensure that it and the community are fully informed.
Student Outcomes: Evidence-based Curriculum and Instruction, Appropriate Use of Technology, and a Commitment to Equity Focused on Results, Not Just Intention.
Before we ask children to analyze, create, or think critically, we have to make sure they have the foundational knowledge and skills that make those things possible. When they have a solid foundation of literacy, numeracy, and core knowledge, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving follow. Research increasingly shows that these higher-level skills do not develop in isolation, they develop from knowledge and fluency. Research also increasingly shows that technology can be more of a hindrance to learning then a support. That is why the Board must be focused on ensuring the District uses strong, evidence-based curriculum and instruction, especially in the early grades, so that all students can succeed. The Board must ask the questions necessary to ensure that our Tier I curriculum and instructional approaches are aligned with what works for the greatest number of students,. If we want to close achievement gaps, we have to make sure all students, especially those with greater needs or fewer resources at home, are getting strong, effective instruction in foundational skills. This is what equity requires. If we are truly committed to equity, we have to be honest about whether our academic approaches work for all students, or whether they widen instead of closing the gaps between those students who have the most and those who have the least.