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LWV League of Women Voters of California
Alameda County, CA November 4, 2003 Election
Smart Voter Political Philosophy for Michael J. Jurkovic

Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Pleasanton Unified School District

[photo]
This information is provided by the candidate

Last Updated 10/10/03. More Updates To Come..

This is currently a short summary of my positions and priorities. It is not intended to give you a full picture of my positions regarding all topics. For a full picture of my positions regarding all topics, I encourage you to view the 3 Position Papers:

  • Positon Paper #1, entitled Answers to Questions, is a lengthy file that is searchable by using the Edit/Find function on your browser. This is intended to give you a comprehensive view of my positions in question/answer format.

  • Position Paper #2, entitled A Citizenship Class for High School: A New Vision, explains a new vision I have for education of our children with the purpose of fostering model citizenship in our graduating students.

  • Position Paper #3 is a more comphrehensive listing of my bio and platform positions than what is presented in this file.
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I believe that the responsibility of educating all the children of Pleasanton ultimately falls upon the school system, regardless of such facilitating/inhibiting factors as the level of parental involvement, extent of partnership with businesses and the community, student demographics and availability of funding. As a prospective member of the school board, I pledge to accept, fully, this responsibility with intelligence, duty, and integrity.

From the above statement, everything else regarding my philosophy on education follows. From the acceptance of responsibility follows sufficient monitoring and accountability, full and transparent disclosure to the Pleasanton Community, partnership with the Community and institution of programs that ensure improvement, achievement, and success.

Academic Achievement: High Standards With Programs In Place That Appropriately Address The Academic Needs Of All Students.

  • "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND": Reduce To ZERO the ~9.5% Of Students Testing Below Basic Level With Incentives and Programs In Place That Encourage Bringing All Students Up To The Basic Level As Well As Increasing Performance For All Students.
  • More Critical And Extensive Evaluation of Teachers Encourages And Rewards Teachers
  • Bringing Our Curriculum More In-Line With CA Standardized Tests And Providing Motivation For Our Students To Do Well On Them.
  • Incentives and Motivational Programs For Teachers To Encourage Performance Rather Than Years-Of-Service.
  • More Transparent & Informative Reporting Of Standardized Test Results For Our Schools And District. Focus Would Be On Trend-Revealing Graphical Representation And Direct Comparison To Schools/Districts With Similar Resources And Demographics.

Constant Reassessment Of The Strategic Plan & Allocation Of Resources To Respond Quickly To External Influences Such As Economic Conditions And Increasing Enrollment.
  • Teacher/Staff Compensation That Is Allocated To QUALITY-Of-Service, Not Just YEARS-Of-Service. We Should Celebrate And Reward Those Teachers Who Do The BEST JOB Of Educating Our Children.
  • Optimized Management of Facilities & Resources To Best Serve The Community For Now & The Future.
  • Enhanced Partnership With The Pleasanton Community, City Council, & Businesses To Provide For Programs.

Molding of character. Responsible Citizenship. Social, Athletic, Artistic, and Other Non-Academic Development.
  • Community of Character & Community Partnerships Fostering Well-Rounded Student Development.
  • Leading By Example with Integrity, Honesty, Responsibility, Respect, Compassion, Self-Discipline.
  • Promote Responsible Citizenship: Instruction Of Law In High School (This is novel: see website), Volunteerism.
  • Consistent Enrollment Procedures That Foster Neighborhood School Enrollment Patterns & Reduced Class Size.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 18, 2003 08:32
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