The Poway Unified Schools are some of the best and highest achieving schools in the State of California.

The State of California, however continues to slip toward the very bottom in achievement, rigor and reputation among states in the country and developed countries in the world. This leads me to wonder about the absolute value of a PUSD education and what we can do to improve our outcomes in spite of the trajectory of our state.

My vision is four fold:

1. Public accountability: PUSD is a PUBLIC school system! Parents and families should have a real voice in understanding and monitoring the education of their children. All curricula should be available for sharing to interested parents. Attention should be paid to concerns about the appropriateness of a curriculum. Methods for assuring adherence to a curriculum should be established. Parents should have avenues of communication with teachers, administration and the district that keep both the schools and students accountable for the individual education experience. While some of these tools are in place, they are not widely understood or facilitated. These tools and processes must be publicized and simplified so that parents aren’t surprised by any presented material, regulations or disciplinary issues.

2. Teacher morale: There are MANY excellent and experienced teachers in PUSD. These great educators have spent years and decades honing their craft and learning to inspire and motivate students in their charge. Much of that experience and ability is now smothered under a blanket of mandated curricula and overbearing standardization. Teachers know how to respond to variance in student behavior, interest and learning ability, they should be allowed to teach in the fashion they know is most effective and work with parents to produce the best outcome for each individual student.

3. Fiscal responsibility: Unfortunately PUSD is burdened with the looming crisis of the capital appreciation bond that we must begin paying in a few years. The tax bill increase will be an unpleasant reminder of past board decision making. The school board is responsible for figuring out how to spend wisely and within our budget and still accomplish the physical maintenance of our property, honor our great faculty and staff with fair salaries and show respect for our tax-paying residents. Budgets can and MUST be balanced. Poor fiscal policy and misguided leadership have our board believing that bonds and loans are required to maintain and improve our district. Proper budgeting, responsible spending and true leadership are the real solutions to our fiscal problems. Like everyone else, my family and I have had to figure out how to manage with our limited means and a school district should be no different. I will never approve spending beyond our means!

4. Quality Education: Liberating teachers, monitoring curriculum and productive discipline are all ways to maintain and improve the quality of education in PUSD. We have all seen how our students have been set back over the last two or three years, losing years of development academically, socially, athletically and in so many other ways due to our reaction to the COVID pandemic. Extra work and creativity will be required to make up these tragic deficits. Our dedicated staffs and faculties along with our talented and dedicated students can accomplish this if the district and board of education requires it of them and allows them to do it.