League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 8, 2005 Election
	Dana Tom Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Palo Alto Unified School District

Questions & Answers

1. What approaches would you support to deal with the issues of diversity for students, faculty and staff in the Palo Alto Unified School District?

Palo Alto's increasing diversity is one of its most exciting assets. As a Chinese-American graduate of San Francisco public schools, I am committed to helping our school district reach and empower every child it serves. I support a multi-pronged approach combining challenging, creative, culturally sensitive instruction with strong partnerships with parents, especially those of color. I also support district efforts to hire diverse staff and foster ongoing, collaborative discussion about best practices in teaching and learning. Finally, I believe that our PTA's and Site Councils can be especially effective in bringing parents and staff together and helping all voices be heard.

2. How would you seek to assure voters that the schools are using state and local funds wisely and fairly to protect and enhance an essential investment in our children and our future?

Sound financial management is the crucial foundation for our school district's mission. Having served on the District's Strategic Planning team, I am familiar with our key priorities and financial realities. Moving forward, I support using measurable objectives to evaluate programs and make responsible cost-benefit choices. More than ever, we also need to involve stakeholders in shaping and communicating district goals, spending plans, and policies. Having overseen multimillion dollar budgets during my 21 years in business, I am also ready to blend participative leadership with the highest standards of fiscal accountability. I am not afraid to make tough decisions.

3. What is your opinion of such reforms as creating "schools within schools" to reduce student stress, and how would you help a diverse student population achieve their educational goals, whether they are college bound or not?

We must work hard to uphold and extend Palo Alto's proud tradition of academic rigor and outstanding student achievement, and our efforts must always include attention to helping our students develop the personal resilience they need to make healthy choices and succeed in later life. While schools within schools have shown promise in some places, we can also work immediately, and at relatively low cost, within current school structures. We can, for example, continue to encourage collaborative, hands-on classroom learning; teacher collaboration to stagger deadlines and coordinate assignments; and adequate access to guidance counselors and teacher advisors.