On the Issues

The primary responsibility of a school board member is to be an educator and advocate for the children of our district. The Superintendent and her staff play the lead role in setting policies, budgets and procedures and it is our duty to make sure that parents, the community and our children understand and have feedback in those decisions.

I have been a life-long community educator and advocate on many issues especially those surrounding the education of children. I will make it my top priority to be visible, work with our elected leaders and engage the community to guarantee a top-notch 21st Century education for all our children.

• Budget and Funding Cuts:
  The Palm Springs Unified School District has been faced with almost $20 million dollars in budget cuts over the past couple of years. Our Superintendent and staff have done a remarkable job in being fiscally responsible and protecting as much of our classroom services as possible. As a board member, I will use my political experience and relationships with state and federal officials to advocate stopping the drain on our school budgets. I will build community coalitions with teachers, staff and parents to emphasize the dire effects these cuts are having on our children's education.
  
  
• Technology and the Arts:
  It is a proven fact that the arts and technology improve the ability of our children to learn and prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow. It is unfortunate that these programs are usually the first to go when we are dealing with budget cuts. I will continue to fight for the protection and increase in technology and arts funding as I have done as a member of The Pinnacle Fund. We must continue to engage our local communities and elected officials to provide the additional resources for arts and technology development.
  
  
• Keeping Kids Engaged and Reducing Drop-Out Rates:
  Due to the socio-economic makeup of our district, many of our students are faced with issues that make it hard for them to remain engaged in their education, and many are forced to drop out of high school to support their families. We must find innovative ways of teaching our children and employing 21st Century learning techniques to keep them interested in school. The further development of Career Pathways (sometimes referred to as Vocational Education) is a great way to keep our students engaged in the learning environment. These programs also prepare our students for the workforce in our community by teaching them hands on methods in areas such as health care, culinary services and green technologies.
  
  
• Supporting Our Teachers and Staff:
  The front-line of our education system is our teachers and staff. Over the past years they have been faced with increasing class sizes, decreases in classroom resources and disrespectful students. I will utilize my position as a board member to advocate for treating our teachers and staff as the true professionals they are. It is incumbent on us as a society to recognize the value that these individuals have, but also to give them the tools they need to make our children succeed. I will also work with other parents to encourage that we get involved in our children's schools. It is a proven fact that more parental involvement leads to more respectful students and better learners. Our teachers and staff cannot face this task alone.
  
  

Download "Greg's ABC Vision for our Schools"
in PDF here.