The Key to Success Is Choice

By Gregory D. "Greg" Stone

From the founding of our country to the present, Americans have understood the power of choice. The free enterprise system we value is based upon choice. Our schools need to understand this principle and increase their success by increasing choice.

Our schools, however, have strayed from the free enterprise model and have supplanted customer choice with bureaucratic rule.

This lack of responsiveness to customers fuels the voucher debate which can be paraphrased as "if I don't have a choice, I'll take my money elsewhere." If the public schools are responsive, the debate disappears.

The Las Virgenes District suffers this same affliction. I was told by an administrator, "If you're thinking choice, you're thinking a private school." It would be hard to find a clearer statement of the prevailing philosophy that says parents (representing students) have no choice.

But parents do have a choice -- in this election.

• Vote for a candidate who will represent parents and students.
• Vote for a candidate who believes the parent is the primary advocate for the student.
• Vote for a candidate who believes parents know what's best for the student.
• Vote for a candidate who believes parent concerns must be given top priority.
• Vote for a candidate who will work to change District procedures to involve parents.

As a Board Member, I will work to improve customer relations, including hiring a customer relations specialist who will improve the District's relations with parents, community, the State, and other customers.

As a Board Member, I will hold informal meetings once a month at which parents can share their concerns on a casual and non-intimidating basis. I will work to create communication channels for parents to use to inform the Board about their concerns.

As a Board Member, I will work to strengthen the relationship between teachers and parents, the primary "on site" delivery team. It is time we revitalize our parent / faculty associations so they truly enhance delivery, and are not merely fund-raising bodies.

As a Board Member, I will work to define the role of administrators as that of facilitators, not dictators. As a Board Member, my emphasis will be on responding to the wishes and needs of those most intimately involved in educating our children -- parents and teachers.