Committed to Educational Excellence and More Funding for Schools

By Carrie B. Du Bois

The greatest challenge facing the San Carlos School District is a financial one. As a revenue-limit district, we are funded well below most other districts in the Bay Area. Additional funding is critical for San Carlos schools to maintain their existing quality. Our schools face enormous challenges, but we must reach a funding level where we can pay teachers adequate salaries, lower class sizes in 4th through 8th grades and add programs that support our students.

I'm committed to continue my work for excellent education in our community. During the last three years, I have served as president and co-president of the San Carlos Educational Foundation and was recognized as Citizen of the Year by the city and Chamber of Commerce. During my tenure on the foundation, our fund grew from $60,000 to $400,000. This fund-raising effort saved vital programs at all seven schools. The foundation is now a strong and stable source of additional funding for each of our seven schools. Further, I helped to encourage a community effort to help centralize our fundraising through a PTA and Educational Foundation partnership. This effort will ensure even more funding for the future. Although great progress has been made, we must continue to find ways to augment the current budget.

I have made significant long-term commitments to other causes as well. Most significantly, I helped to start the Rosalie Rendu Center project in East Palo Alto that serves the needs of impoverished families in our community. I also led an effort to raise $5.2 million to save affordable housing for low-income families living at Carriage Manor in East Palo Alto. This experience adds to the breadth of my abilities. As an experienced fundraiser and leader, I can help to ensure that we continue to build a better financial future for the children in our public schools.

The best school board members have vision and commitment in addition to their deep understanding of school funding and our community's education needs. I have those qualities. I hope to continue my contribution to our community, our schools and our children as a member of the school district's Board of Trustees. If elected, I will continue my enthusiastic and tireless work for our public schools. Thank you for your vote!