I am committed to:
• Achievement of all students, by optimizing bell times, supporting our teachers and administrators, reducing class sizes, individual-izing instruction, and teaching the full curriculum—not just the test.
• Balance in allocating resources for our schools and programs, so every child can learn, thrive, and succeed in school.
• Technology innovations, so our employees can work smarter, not harder and our students can learn more rapidly, with better retention.
• Accountability for results, so students, parents, teachers, staff, administrators, taxpayers, business, and other stakeholders can help improve the return on investment in our local public school system.
The next School Board will face serious challenges:
• Increasing political pressure to “do more with less” in K-12 education due to competing needs, such as transportation and health care (e.g., Medicaid).
• High turnover of teachers and administrators, with the high costs of hiring, developing, and retaining qualified replacements.
• Increasing numbers of Limited English Proficiency students and other learning challenged students who require specialized and intensive instruction.
• Continuing achievement gaps of minority students and students from low-income families.
• Drugs, gangs, guns, and the problems of student absenteeism, behavior, discipline, and dropouts.
I stand ready and willing to help meet the challenges:
• Parent of a Fairfax County Public Schools graduate and former spouse of a high school math teacher.
• Research psychologist and management analyst with over 32 years of experience in developing solutions to human and information resources management problems in the public sector.
• Former member of Fairfax County’s “Character Counts!” Task Force—focused on the character development and recognition programs in public and private schools in Fairfax County.
• Ph.D. Vanderbilt University in psychology, with emphasis on human learning and psychometrics, including aptitude and achievement testing.
• B.A. Ohio University in psychology, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Let’s make our local public schools more effective, efficient, and accountable to all stakeholders.