The Santa Clara Weekly has invited local candidates running for office to speak directly to the voters via our pages and website. We asked candidates for Santa Clara Unified School District and to tell voters, in a short essay, about the challenges and opportunities in their jurisdictions and their ideas for addressing problems and leveraging opportunities. Here are their answers.
Our children are our future. Educating our children to have a successful future is the role of our public schools. I am proud to have been a member of the school board for the last 4 years, leading the education of 15,000 students and launching them to successful futures, and I look forward to continuing for 4 more years.
Since getting elected, I have worked to keep Santa Clara Unified growing as the number of students grew. It is gratifying to see many improvements. Dropping our class sizes has had an immediate improvement in teaching. As new housing has been built, we have opened 2 new schools, are working on 2 more, and are in the initial stages of 3 additional campuses. I have worked hard to bring back programs that were previously cut, including music, and add new programs, such as our computer science immersion schools and our innovative Mental Health Initiative, providing wellness counselors to students and families needing social-emotional help.
I have been a presence in our community, meeting with parent groups and talking with community members about issues related to our schools. I have also participated in City events and was twice a member of Santa Clara’s Charter Review Committee. I continue to be part of the discussion so that the school district is considered when changes are made by local and statewide governments.
My goals for the next 4 years as a school board member build on what I have accomplished the last 4 years, reflecting my work on the budget, collaboration, and 21st Century learning:
- Continue to be an integral part of our budget process, ensuring that our budget is a statement of our values. As needs change, our budget must change in line with our student and community needs.
- Work hard to ensure that our board continues to set a model of collaboration that our staff and students can use as an example of the importance of working together inside and outside of the classroom.
- Prepare our students for careers, including those that haven’t been created yet. I continue to work to ensure that from the time our children start school, they are given opportunities with science, technology, engineering, art, and math so that they can discover if these are their passions and find a future of their own.
I hope I have your support. To learn more about me, please visit www.JodiMuirhead.com.