PTA Council School Board Forum - An Endorsement for Gucciardi

I attended the well-run, PTA Council School Board Forum last night.  Many thanks to all of the candidates putting time, effort, and emotional energy into putting forth their vision on how to continue to improve our school system.  As advertised by my neighbors Ms. Brownstein knows policy, has a history of school involvement, and communcates her commitment to schools and children clearly and passionately.  My expectation is that she will receive the most votes, including mine, and will be an excellent school board member.

There were two candidates who I knew little about who impressed me yesterday.  MaryAnne Gucciardi was impressive and inspiring.  Since the Board of Education does not have taxing authority a key theme is always how to extract the most benefit from limited resources.  Ms. Gucciardi made a compelling case for how she could apply her personnel experiences as an entrepreneur and school adminstator to influence the district to better utilize technology and leverage partnerships with the community.  While all candidates expressed support for world language programs, a key issue for me personnally, Ms. Gucciardi's case was clearly integrated with her views on education rather than being a sound bite.  On the intangible side, after listening to her answers I felt myself evaluating whether or not I was volunteering and assisting sufficiently in our schools.  On the school board I think she can be the voice of the possible.  I will be voting for her with enthusiasm and will be encouraging my friends to do so as well.

I am conflicted on my 3rd vote.  I like several of the other candidates.  While I believe that all of the candidates have the best interest of at-risk students at heart, Mr. Green's answers were the most compelling to me.  He speaks from the experience of being an educator and his work experience at Upward Bound.  Unlikle myself and most of the candidates who experience the schools through our own children, Mr. Green has been a teacher.  That experience shown through in several of his answers.  The candidates were asked about the perception, one that I share, that instruction stops with several weeks to go before EOG's and other high risk tests in order to prepare and review.  Only Mr. Green expressed emphathy for the teachers on this subject and suggested that we solicit their opinions on how to address it.