Candidate for
Board Member; Poway Unified School District

Hello. My name is Fred Pierce and I am running for the Poway Unified School District (PUSD) Board of Education. I think you will find from my significant experience with education and educational fundraising at the highest level that I am eminently qualified to serve on the PUSD Board, particularly given the budget and curricular issues facing the District.

Professionally, I am President and CEO of Pierce Education Properties, L.P. + a firm dedicated to student housing and real estate serving educational institutions (http://www.pierceeducationproperties.com). From a volunteer and philanthropic perspective, I have been dedicated to education for decades. I served for six years as a Trustee of the California State University ("CSU") System which + with 23 campuses (including San Diego State University ("SDSU") and CSU San Marcos) and 440,000 students + is the largest 4-year university system in the world. While on the CSU Board, I chaired the Institutional Advancement (e.g. fundraising) Committee for five years, and was also chair of the Audit and Faculty and University Personnel Committees. I served on the Finance Committee for my entire tenure on the CSU Board. I have previously served as President of five different university alumni organizations including the CSU Alumni Council (the statewide board that represents the 23 alumni associations of the CSU campuses), SDSU Alumni Association and SDSU's Young Alumni Association. I am currently Vice Chair of the SDSU College of Business Administration Board of Directors, Chair of the College of Business Board's Ad-Hoc Fiscal Committee, and on the Executive Committee of the SDSU Real Estate Program Board. My contributions to education and professional success have led to my receiving numerous prestigious awards including:

• Alumni of the Year ("Monty Award"), SDSU College of Business (1999)
• Outstanding Alumni Award, SDSU Associated Students (1996-97)
• CSU Trustee of the Year, California State Student Association (2000-01)
• Congressional Award of Special Recognition, Congressman Brian Bilbray (1999)
• Resolution of Commendation, California Legislature (2005)
• Resolution of Commendation, Academic Senate CSU (2005)

I am running for the Poway School Board because I think my experience and expertise can enable me to make a significant difference in addressing the conditions that currently confront the District and its schools. I have lived in the District for 17 years. My wife (Christine) and I currently live in 4S Ranch with daughters Peyton (a senior at Westview High School) and Riley (a 1st grader at Stone Ranch Elementary School), so we will have a vested interest in the District for more than a decade to come. While the list of issues and priorities for PUSD is long, if elected I plan to focus significant effort in the following three areas:

• Equal Access to SDSU + Historically, PUSD has been a very strong feeder system from where high quality high school graduates have matriculated to San Diego State University. Today, because of the arbitrary delineation of SDSU's service area as south of State Route 56 (which divides the District), all graduates of PUSD high schools are subjected to higher admissions standards than their peers whose high schools are located south of SR 56. As a result, enrollment of PUSD high school graduates at SDSU has declined by 38% between 2006 and this coming Fall 2010. I will endeavor to work with educational leaders and administrators at SDSU and CSU to have SDSU's service area amended to include all high schools in the PUSD. Our high school graduates deserve to have the optimal opportunity to attend SDSU should that be their university of choice.

• Fundraising + While it is the State of California's obligation to fund public education, the reality is that the State is broke. I believe the PUSD is well positioned to augment its state and federal funding through increased private support. Much like hospitals, universities and private high schools, I will advocate for greater philanthropy + and not necessarily from parents (who are already doing alot!) + but from alumni, private foundations, corporations and philanthropists. Additional funds can be used to eliminate furlough days, pay for extra-curricular classes, programs and activities and fund other educational priorities including reduced class sizes and increased compensation for our teachers. Having chaired the CSU Board's Institutional Advancement Committee and multiple Alumni Associations, I am an experienced fundraiser and know how to establish and grow the fundraising function within an educational institution.

• Legislative Advocacy + The California Teacher's Association is a powerful advocate for education in Sacramento. Likewise, I think part of the role of the School Board should be to advocate for the District's needs to the Governor and Legislature. In the CSU System, Trustees and well-connected alumni are brought together through the CSU's Ambassador's for Higher Education program, where participants are continuously educating the legislature about their funding needs. In addition to the School Board's direct efforts, PUSD should also pursue collaborations with other stakeholders with common interests (other school districts, colleges and universities, employee unions, etc.), like the partnership between K-12 and Higher Education in California that has successfully helped get joint school bond measures on the ballot and approved by voters. I believe the members of the PUSD Board together with administrators, alumni, parents and teachers should increase their presence in Sacramento, and, if elected, I would endeavor to spearhead such an initiative. For almost 15 years on behalf of the CSU Board of Trustees and CSU Alumni Council, I have built many relationships and developed significant experience in working with law-makers in Sacramento to support education and will bring this experience to bear as a PUSD Board Member.