A group called Voices for Excellence in Fresno Unified is running a slate of candidates for four scool board seats in the Nov. 7 election. The group's leaders are Congressman Jim Costa, Assemblymember Juan Arambula, former Congressman Cal Dooley, former FUSD Superintendent Chuck McCully, former school board members Richard Johanson and Nancy Richardson, and Peter Weber, a retired business executive who has been involved in a number of community projects.
The group is supporting incumbents Pat Barr and Luisa Medina and newcomers Julie Hornback and Stafford Parker.
Here's the text of an email that the group has been sending around the community:
Dear friends and colleagues:
Rarely in recent memory has the future of Fresno Unified School District been so filled with hope. Under the leadership of new Superintendent Mike Hanson, the District has set ambitious goals for improving its finances and raising student performance. We are writing to encourage your support for four School Board candidates who are committed to keeping Fresno Unified moving forward on the path of reform.
We sincerely hope you will show your support by replying to this email stating that you will allow us to use your name as an endorser or wish to volunteer. We also hope you can lend your support for a September 26, 2006 fundraiser in honor of these candidates.
The stakes in this School Board election could not be higher for our community. The economic viability of this region is directly tied to the success of Fresno Unified. Employers are routinely forced to leave job openings unfilled because of the lack of qualified applicants. Since today's high school graduates are tomorrow's job seekers, it is up to our schools to make sure students are prepared. Our schools only serve students well when guided by strong leadership on the School Board that ensures the system's academic and financial health.
Two Fresno Unified Board incumbents, Patricia Barr and Luisa Medina, have played leading roles in bringing Superintendent Mike Hanson to Fresno and setting out the vision for academic and financial success. Through four years of hard work and bold leadership, Luisa and Pat have earned re-election, and they deserve your support.
Two eminently qualified new Board candidates, Julie Hornback and Stafford Parker, have the leadership skills to sustain and accelerate the reforms currently underway. Julie is Fresno County's Director of Employment and Temporary Assistance, and Stafford is the City of Fresno's former Director of Housing and Community Development. Throughout their long public service careers, Stafford and Julie have shown the kind of backbone, passion, and capacity for reasoned decision-making that the District needs now, at this critical time i n its history.
And make no mistake: this is a critical time for Fresno Unified. With financial and academic reforms underway, signs of improvement are beginning to show. Starting with its 2005-06 budget, the District has shown that it can meet its financial obligations for three years, averting the threat of a state takeover. The Board recently adopted an ambitious, well-thought out plan to strategically target resources to accelerate student learning and ensure that school environments are conducive to learning.
Despite the good news, immense challenges remain. The district continues to suffer low high school graduation rates and high drop out and expulsion rates. Fewer than 30% of students meet grade-level standards in English and math, and almost half of the schools in the District rank in the bottom 10% on the state's Academic Performance Index (API). At the same time, unfunded liabilities in the workers compensation and the retiree health benefit program threaten the District's long-term fiscal health. Further, while the District is currently enjoying the benefits of a statewide fiscal upswing, it must set aside reserves sufficient to maintain strong academic programs d uring the inevitable next economic downswing.
Years of hard work remain to put the District on solid academic and financial ground. Stafford Parker, Julie Hornback, Luisa Medina, and Patricia Barr have proven that they are the best candidates for the job.
We owe our children a Valley where a good-paying job is within the reach of most residents. And, we owe it to the children to keep Fresno Unified moving forward on the path of reform. Please join us in supporting Luisa Medina (Area #1), Stafford Parker (Area #3), Julie Hornback (Area #4), and Patricia Barr (Area #7) for School Board.
Sounds like fine advertising. It lacks specifics. How exactly are you going to help make our children ready to work?
Are there training modules set up for kids that get there degree and can seemlessly be trained how to work at these jobs that can not find qualified canidates?
If I was a school or a local company I would look for ways to work with local folks and get qualified recent graduates working.
If higher education is the goal make it easily accessible to the kids. I know for a fact that the first test you take when you attempt to enroll at Fresno City College is an assesment test. Are sophmores able to pass that test? If not why not?
Companies and schools need to always be ready to retrain people that need to work and continue education. I have tried Chavez adult school I simply could not afford the nursing books. Thats just for CNA training.
My general feeling about school is that it has become a money maker. Schools look only for ways to get more federal or state funding. Under the auspice of "Think of the children!" far too much has been a boondogle.
I will do everything I can to open my daughters eyes to the joys of learning. Mayfair elementary has done a wonderful job teaching Audrey (daughter) how to read and socialise and follow instructions.
Anyway my basic point is although it is a nice letter with vague ideas I would prefer to see more specific information.
I agree with John that this letter is lacking in specifics. They cite the progress made under the current board in hiring Hanson as Superintendent and averting State takeover, then they support two incumbents and two newcomers without saying why the newcomers are supposed to be any better than the incumbents they are facing.
I live in the FUSD, and am currently undecided on several of these races. I am leaning towards Vang, and am undecided on Davis, Barr and Medina. Can this group (or anyone else) give me some specific reasons (not slogans like "proven leadership") to vote for or against any of these people?
Apparently this group is very new, because I can't find a Web site for them by searching on "Vocies for Excellence" and "Fresno Unified," yet I see that they rented an office at 1067 N. Fulton.
They're going to have to get a Web site up so that we can learn more about these candidates and perhaps even participate in an online forum.
If they don't do that, then they surely won't have any credibility in saying that they know how to improve the education system.
This is 2006 now, the 21st Century. The Internet is the way to go with this sort of thing.
I thought the Bee's editorial on Tony Vang today was a little bizarre. Maybe he was wrong on this issue (I don't know, as his reasons were not given), but why a lead editorial blasting him for being on the losing end of a 5-1 vote?
It's pretty transparent that the Bee is in love with Mike Hanson. He does seem to be a pretty smart guy, and maybe he'll get the district turned around (or maybe he won't - it's still too early to tell). But are you going to similarly attack any board member who doesn't rubber-stamp each and every proposal he makes?
Having Juan Arambula run a slate for school Board is like having Ken Lay come back from the dead to run General Motors. Arambula served on one of the worst school boards in the history of Fresno.
Open letter to Juan Arambula and the rest of "Voices for Excellence in Fresno Unified":
You mean "excellence" only in regards to finances and student test scores. You are still worried about drop-out rates and so you should be!
FUSD classrooms, under the leadership of McCully's protege, are back in the 1960's with scripted programs, worksheets, little science or social studies(not to mention the arts and physical education) and no time for critical thinking or problem solving. We are not education citizens, we are education robots. We have an extremely diverse clientle of students and things can't be put in neat little boxes! Just what is the ultimate goal of NCLB? To get rid of good public education? Why would the powers that be want everyone educated anyway? Who will pick up garbage, clean houses, pick the food we eat etc. etc.? The school board is not just a rubber stamp for the superintendent, they should MONITOR him and do what is best for ALL students and ultimately the community. We are in deep trouble and it will only get worse with this "accountabliity" model. Dr. Vang has the courage and integrity to speak out, not molded like the rest of the board members.
I do not understand why a group of people would get together and call themselves "Voices of Excellence". I feel they are not doing us a justice in advising that we support Patricia Barr or Luisa Medina for school board. If they want excellence they should explore a candidate in district 7, which far exceeds any of the qualifications that they have listed. Michelle Arax Asadoorian has a master's degree in educational administration. She is articulate and has won the vote of most people who have had the chance to check her out. Please seek the best candidates for this board. Do not listen to self-proclaimed voices of excellence. Listen to common sense and a voice that represents what the parents need for this school district.
Much of the school literature I have read says that about 80% of a school's 'success', i.e., high student achievement levels can be correlated to the parents' socio/economic status. This is a discouraging thought if an area has lower status folks in it. I understand that the District has been studying 'best practices' procedures from around the country. I would like each of the candidates to discuss what they believe the District should be doing to overcome dysfunctional family units, i.e., those too weary, too busy, too sick, too lacking in schooling themselves to provide the needful backup .
Mclane JROTC students take a stand
They say the program as been canceled; no decision made, associate superintendent says. by Pablo Lopez The Fresno Bee
A group of students complained. Wednesday that administrators have made a unilateral decision to end a key component on the Mclane High School campus - The Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps.
"It's totally unfair," Cadet 1st Lt. Maeketah Rivera told the Fresno Unified school board. "Don't you want young people to become better citizens?"
The cadets said Mclane Principal Frank Silvestro had told them that the program was ending.
Superintendent Michael Hanson directed Associate Superintendent John Marinovich to talk to the students, many of whom wore crisp Army uniforms and red barets for their appearance before the board.
JROTC is a partnership between Fresno Unified and the U.S. Department of Defense. The two entities share the cost to have two retired military officials train the students at each school. Mclane and Fresno High have Army JROTC. Ducan Polytechnical has Air Force JROTC.
Rivera said Mclane students enjoy the military discipline and structure that the program offers. The cadets have rifle teams, drill units and color guards that perform at football and baseball games and other community functions. They also do other community functions. They also do community project like graffiti removal.
Outside the board meeting, Marinovich told the cadet that he was proud of them for brining their concerns to the school board. He said "no decision has been made" about the future of Mclane's JROTC, but her did express concerns.
Marinovich said 80 to 90 students are in the Mclane program, while Fresno High has nearly 290 cadets. Mclane also has only a retired noncommissioned officer teaching the program. It is supposed to also have a retired officer involved, but the school hasn't been able to hire one, Marinovich said.
Cadet Maj. Joshua Wise and Rivera, how ever, complained they they began the year with more then 230 cadets, but Mclane counselors pulled them out of JROTC to attend classes they they didn't need to graduate. Marinovich said he would investigate the complaint.
If the JROTC were to end at Mclane, Marinovich said, the cadets would be given options - they could transfer to Fresno High or Ducan Polytechnical High and join the JROTC programs.
Vanessa Vasquez, Mclane's student body president and a student trustee, said that idea wouldn't work.
"We are Highlanders," Vasquez said, referring to Mclane's mascot. "We can never be anything but Highlanders."
-> The reporter can be reached at plopez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6434.
Please get involved!!!
John.Marinovich@fresno.k12.ca.us
Assistant Superintendent
High School Education
(559) 457-3935
Please contact him and share your expression of opinion.
We have a dream. Our dream was to get a 4 Let Year from JROTC. Go to college and take ROTC. Get experience from JROTC and join the real deal. The ARMY PRIDE Never let down! Fight for your right!