Candidate for
School Director; City of Berkeley

Dear Parents, Neighbors and Friends,

When I first ran for election, in 1998, I saw a dysfunctional organization that I thought I could help. I saw a massive construction effort to rebuild our schools, but no capacity to maintain them. I saw a Board of Education with no working policy manual, paychecks that were late and wrong, missed deadlines, unhappy staff, lost students, angry parents and expensive fines. Our problems were serious and systemic.

As a clinical social worker I knew that it would take time to fix our broken systems and since then I have asked you for your patience many times. I have argued that educational reforms must wait until our fiscal and management systems were repaired. I have said that we must rebuild the car before we can drive it anywhere. Now, the time for patience is over. With the passage of Measure A--a school parcel tax renewal on this ballot--we will have achieved the financial stability and organizational strength we need to improve student achievement. I seek re-election to provide continuity of effective leadership focused on educational reforms.

During the past year we have identified key strategies to improve student achievement which are now imbedded in the structure of Measure A. For example:

• Research that tells us that the most important variable in student learning is effective teaching. Measure A enhances funding for professional development.
• Policy makers need student achievement data to make good decisions. Teachers need data to modify and differentiate instruction. Measure A provides funding to collect data and train us to use it.
• As a Social Worker, I know that families need ready access to health and welfare services. Measure A enhances funding for student and family support services.

Now is the time to use our improved organizational capacity to push forward on student achievement. Now is the time to use our strong partnerships and community resources to better help children facing barriers to learning. Now is the time to pass Measure A. I ask for your vote in order to provide continuity of effective leadership and work with you toward these objectives.

Thank You,

Shirley Issel